New 'Ultra-Thin' MacBooks Launching in Second Half of 2016 May Sport Metal Injection Mold-Made Hinges

[MacRumors]

Last November it was reported that Apple was working with suppliers to "fully redesign" many of the MacBook's internal components to achieve a slimmer design. Today, DigiTimes reports one of those redesigns is a move to metal injection mold-made hinges.

Metal injection molding is a metalworking process that's used to create very small metal pieces that are typically used by Apple for the internals of products like iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple is looking to use the technology for its MacBook hinges to save space and achieve an "ultra-thin" design, according to DigiTimes.

The new hinges will be supplied by Amphenol, who claims to produce some of the thinnest sliding hinges in the world on its website. The company partners with Microsoft to produce the parts for the hinges on the Microsoft Surface 4.

While DigiTimes has a mixed track record reporting Apple's future plans, the report does corroborate an earlier report that Apple was working toward a slimmer MacBook, likely scheduled for release after WWDC 2016. However, it's unclear which MacBook lineup these reports are referring to. Apple's refreshed MacBook is expected to include faster Skylake processors and Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C.

Article Link: New 'Ultra-Thin' MacBooks Launching in Second Half of 2016 May Sport Metal Injection Mold-Made Hinges

 

[MrFeezy]

At this point, I'm not really desiring something thinner, especially with the latest iPads and macbook. Then again, apple says I don't know what I want.

 

[Ferazel]

A Mac rumor!?! Sacrilege! Anyways, I'd be curious what the perf advantage is of the Skylake upgrade and if they can finally deprecate the MacBook Air.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Kaby Lake with some serious GPU improvements and 64 GB of DDR4 RAM plaease.

 

[Blue Sun]

There you go boys, a rMBP rumour. At long last!

 

[Kevsta26]

Oh my god would Apple just release a redesigned MacBook Pro already!! It's already been nearly 2 months over the average amount of time for updates and over a month longer than the past 4+ releases! Come on, I've got an early 2011, I'd like to upgrade soon!

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Funny, this would have been a good use for LiquidMetal™.

 

[sinoka56]

if apple could announce when they would be releasing the new RMBP so that people can start saving, that would be great ....

 

[stiligFox]

Anyone remember when the MacBook Air was first announced as "Ultra-thin?" And suddenly the new MacBook is only "thin."

 

[Westside guy]

I don't want thinner if I have to sacrifice any more ports or battery life. As a matter of fact, the (perhaps sketchy) rumors from a few weeks back of a new, thinner MacBook Pro redesign coming this summer cemented my decision to go with the current-gen machine... which I'm enjoying very much, by the way!

The current 13" rMBP only weighs 3.5 pounds. I can comfortably hold it by the corner with one hand, just like I did with my second-gen MacBook Air. It's plenty light.

Stop with the thinner. Give us better performance and increased battery life in the same size package, please.

 

[sunapple]

Going to great lengths to achieve thinner design leads to breakthroughs like the unibody construction or smaller more efficient internals. Those do make a real difference in every day use, so I applaud thinner devices!

 

[Aston441]

All I ever wanted was a MBA with a higher rez screen. But I'll take a MacBook with a real processor.

 

[dooyou]

So possible Apple is doing the same thing like dell with their xps series? No power machines any more just ultrabooks.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Give me a (touch)tablet with macOS, like Lenovo helix or MS ; just better.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

As long as battery life remains great, and no ports are sacrificed for achieving this, I think it would be great.

Edit - Ah, they're just taking about the Macbook, yeah so no extra ports on this one either, never mind.

 

[multipasser]

Apple and creating niches! It is thin enough for us! You do not have to make it thinner.. nobody cares! We want 4 usb ports, utp, hdmi ports. You want a paperthin laptop were we need to buy expensive usb-c cables or hubs just to connect a printer or a networkcable.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

I see less and less of "Designed in California"

 

[navaira]

PLEASE don't make the hinges look like that disgusting Spectre thing. No matter how thin they make the Macbooks.

 

[69650]

After all these juicy Mac rumours for a change, I'm going to be gutted if they don't announce them at WWDC in June. Pretty please Apple, I need a new design MBP to brighten up my desk.

 

[Crosscreek]

It will be so thin you can hide it behind a toothpick.

 

[Creep89]

Thinner, thinner, thinner.. Oh, come on, Apple. I need powerrr inside my rMBP and not a thinner design with less power.

 

[peterh988]

Oh my god would Apple just release a redesigned MacBook Pro already!! It's already been nearly 2 months over the average amount of time for updates and over a month longer than the past 4+ releases! Come on, I've got an early 2011, I'd like to upgrade soon!

I'm trying to squeeze every last drop of life out of my 2007 MBP (and what a great servant it's been).

But I really need to update, was hoping to have something at WWDC, especially as I have a course to go in in late July that I'd like to use it for.

Oh, and in Space Grey, please!

 

[zhenya]

So possible Apple is doing the same thing like dell with their xps series? No power machines any more just ultrabooks.

The XPS series effectively spans the spectrum from devices under $800 to the Precision 5000 series http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-m5510-workstation/pd?ref=PD_OC which is really just a 15.6" mobile workstation in an XPS body. 45w quad-core processors, dedicated video cards, Xeon processor options, up to 32GB RAM. All in a device nearly 60% thinner than today's 15" MBP, .6 pounds lighter, in a smaller overall footprint.

If Dell can put that together, hopefully Apple can do it even better.

 

[justperry]

Apple and creating niches! It is thin enough for us! You do not have to make it thinner.. nobody cares! We want 4 usb ports, utp, hdmi ports. You want a paperthin laptop were we need to buy expensive usb-c cables or hubs just to connect a printer or a networkcable.

I really, really, REALLY wish someone starts to get rid of the most horrible connector in use today (Rj45), it should go the same way as the Dodo and the VGA connector!

 

[Dave245]

I'm looking forward to this, i wonder if the light up Apple logo will be gone? i have a 2011 Macbook Pro i'd like to update at some point.