Apple Tried And Failed To Make A Black MacBook Air

[tjb1]

Never heard of anodizing?

[nagromme]

Originally Posted by crawdad62

I can't believe oily finger prints held them back. I had a black MacBook and it was a magnet for finger prints.

For all we know, complaints over fingerprints were one of the lessons they learned when they canned that model! (It was cool, though, for sure.)

Apple makes really great-looking products, with great fit-and-finish, and a great software experience to boot. That makes even tiny flaws stand out, when they would go unnoticed in a more cheaply-made device.

For instance, I moaned over a slight curved unevenness in my old PowerBook G4’s lid gap. Then I looked at other (non-Apple) laptops all around me. They were worse! But you hardly noticed. Yet the flaw stood out amid Apple’s perfect, simple, aluminum lines and uncluttered design (not crawling with PC-style vents and hatches and screw holes and painted plastic).

Heck, my friend’s Dell’s DVD drive cover fell right off, and I barely noticed! You know if that happened to 10 owners of a mass-selling Apple product it would be: “surprisingly widespread manufacturing woes leave Apple’s laptop future murky.”

If this rumor is true, Apple made the right call: building/stocking two separate sets of models is an expensive proposition if what it gets them is just a blog-hyped “fingergate” scandal. And 99.999% of people who would want a black Air (maybe even me) will still settle for a silver one; and Apple hasn’t lost a customer then.

[fkhan3]

Oh man! if not black how about darker aluminum like gunmetal color? those would look sick too.

[thederby]

Originally Posted by theman123

If Lenovo can make a quality aluminum black laptop, why can't apple?

is the lenovo aluminum?

fwiw, my work laptop is an early production dell e6420 that was sent to us for evaluation. it also has a black lid that absorbs/shows body oils.

we were told at the time that the lid panels were ungoing some changes and the "final" spec wouldn't show oil/smudges to the degree that mine does.

sure enough, the newer ones have a different paint/coating on them.

"black" isn't easy.... ask anybody that's owned a black car.

[acslater017]

Originally Posted by crawdad62

I can't believe oily finger prints held them back. I had a black MacBook and it was a magnet for finger prints.

Maybe they learned their lesson

[FroMann]

Makes sense, time for Apple to "re-invent" black aluminum notebooks.

[h4ck]

i find it hard to believe that apple would hire someone that doesn't know when to use an apostrophe.

everyone else, there is no apostrophe in 'pros' or 'airs' - an apostrophe is used to denote ownership, or in a contraction. this is 4th grade grammar. no excuses.

[Apple OC]

Originally Posted by RedReplicant

Hm, that's a shame. I'm kind of curious what they did with the trackpad to make it black, doing the rest of the computer isn't difficult.

quite simple ... it is Glass

[acslater017]

Originally Posted by tjb1

Never heard of anodizing?

I'm pretty sure they've thought of using their existing materials.

But email Jonny Ive.

[acslater017]

Originally Posted by h4ck

i find it hard to believe that apple would hire someone that doesn't know when to use an apostrophe.

everyone else, there is no apostrophe in 'pros' or 'airs' - an apostrophe is used to denote ownership, or in a contraction. this is 4th grade grammar. no excuses.

u shud use Capitol letters

[acslater017]

Originally Posted by Macopotamus

I have seen black aluminum PC laptops, surely Apple can pull it off if Sony and Lenovo can.

When has that ever been the standard by which Apple does things?

[ioannis]

speaking of "soaking body oils", when are they going to replace those plastic keys with something that don't get all 'shiny' after a month's use? They look ugly as well. What about glass keys (ala touchpad) or something like that?

[thederby]

Originally Posted by tjb1

Never heard of anodizing?

i have at least half a dozen anodized (black) things in my house that show finger oil smudges..

anodizing isn't a fix for this issue.

[tjb1]

Originally Posted by acslater017

I'm pretty sure they've thought of using their existing materials.

But email Jonny Ive.

I dont get why they would even try Powder Coating...I do it at home and I just dont see it as a computer coating. Not very strong as far as scratches go and smooth texture. Anodizing on the other hand would make the aluminum harder and keep the nice texture.

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by kjjnk

Sounds like the aluminum pitting that happened on the pre-unibody MacBook Pro's (which I believe were powder-coated) from your oils and sweat.

That's EXACTLY what has happened to my current MacBook Pro and the PowerBook G4 before it. I'm glad they are not going to let that happen again. I can't believe my oily skin ate away at the aluminum. Feels and looks like plastic underneath. lol

[justinfreid]

A very similar thing happens on my CR-48, the prototype ChromeBook Google gave away to 60,000 or so people.
If my fingers or palms are at all dirty, touching them to the CR-48 leaves what looks like a corresponding wet area. It's not nice looking.

I also heard Apple tried and failed to make a MacBook OUT of air. The plans are blowing in the wind.

[carlivar]

But a sharp edge below the touchpad is fine. It's okay if users consistently have a painful red abrasion on their hands or wrists as long as the computer looks good!

[wordoflife]

Ultimately that is the reason that the top brass (Jobs) killed the idea... it was just too easy to make the computer look like crap.

Actually, I agree with this. Look at the 2006 MacBook Pros. They still look very nice (provided they were taken care of). I mean, VERY nice.

[OllyW]

Originally Posted by kjjnk

Sounds like the aluminum pitting that happened on the pre-unibody MacBook Pro's (which I believe were powder-coated) from your oils and sweat.

The original MacBook Pro also had an anodised aluminium case as did the PowerBook that came before it.

[tjb1]

Originally Posted by OllyW

The original MacBook Pro also had an anodised aluminium case as did the PowerBook that came before it.

Anodizing and Power Coating are two completely different coatings... One is a chemical coating/plating and the other is a plastic coating that is sprayed on and melted.

[pjhamill]

Originally Posted by h4ck

i find it hard to believe that apple would hire someone that doesn't know when to use an apostrophe.

everyone else, there is no apostrophe in 'pros' or 'airs' - an apostrophe is used to denote ownership, or in a contraction. this is 4th grade grammar. no excuses.

Yeah, because Apple wouldn't hire a talented engineer because their grammar wasn't perfect, get real!

[malman89]

How is this any different than the awful condition the black MacBooks easily got themselves into after use? After seeing those palm rest areas, it made me feel much better about having a white MacBook

[roadbloc]

First a white iPhone and now this. I guess Apple just aren't good with colours.

[jtgreen86]

I just wish they would use a black bezel on the Air. That's really the only thing keeping me from buying one at this time. The other MacBooks have them, why not the air?

[OllyW]

Originally Posted by tjb1

Anodizing and Power Coating are two completely different coatings... One is a chemical coating/plating and the other is a plastic coating that is sprayed on and melted.

I know, I'm an engineer.