Apple Exploring Carbon-Fiber Enclosures for Future Devices

[MikeELL]

This one is for the materials science geeks on this forum. I had a look back to this patent where Apple was researching Carbon fibre shells:
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/04/3...iber-composite-materials-for-exterior-shells/

I was also looking at how long they've been working with Liquid metal:
http://m.gizmodo.com/5608322/is-apple-working-on-liquid-metal-terminators-or-what

And it seems to me that they are pursuing BOTH technologies with equal effort. It seemed strange to me that they would put so much effort into to two technologies when they would likely only use one for cases/structural requirements.

And then I found this excerpt from a book which describes how to fuse carbon fibre with metal alloys to create a sandwich which is similar to the first patent l linked to above.:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id...zfsvjjgl445HD_urpHU&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

The (carbon) fiber layer is laid down carefully in the proper orientation on top of a metal foil and then covered with another metal foil. The metal-fiber sandwich is then compressed (the foils help retain the fibers in place) and heated to above the melting point of the metal. This heating with compression causes the metal foils to melt and infuse with the fibers, thus wetting the fibers and distributing the metal throughout the structure.

Based on all this, my guess is that apple is making some kind of fusion casing material that will be mouldable like liquid metal, have the extra strength of carbon fibre, and have the strength/weight properties of both. That would also explain some of the "darker" metal/liquid metal pics that have been floating around.

What do you think?

 

[baryon]

you mean like mercury?

Let's clarify that Liquid Metal isn't liquid metal. It's just a name for a precision metal manufacturing method, as I understand. Your MacBook Pro won't melt at room temperature

 

[KnightWRX]

They recently changed their website menu bar to Liquid Metal Black:

What makes you think Liquid metal is black anyhow ? It's no blacker than aluminium which can be anodized black or Carbon fiber which can be painted a light shade of grey.

Seriously folks, that black macbook concept art could be made out of anything, as much as their "dark" look can represent any material on their site. It has nothing to do with supposed Liquid Metal or Carbon Fiber or Aluminum.

 

[Maury]

And the downside

The benefits of carbon fiber over traditional materials has included high tensile strength, low weight and low thermal expansion.

... and the downsides are very high cost and extreme scratch-ability.

It's certainly possible that internal supporting structures could be made of CF, but it would not do for the exterior. LiquidMetal actually makes sense there, but LM is even more expensive than CF.

 

[Maury]

Let's clarify that Liquid Metal isn't liquid metal.

No, depending on the definition, it is.

To be more specific, LM is an amorphous solid. So is glass. Ever heard someone say glass is a liquid?

 

[Magnus Reftel]

Liquid Metal SIM ejection tool

Weren't the "SIM ejector tools" made of Liquidmetal?

Supposedly, but the iPad 2 one seems not to be:
http://www.iphone-my.com/2011/03/unsung-ipad-2-feature-new-sim-ejector.html

So they made a Liquid Metal trial by using it for the SIM ejection tool, and then switched back to bent paper clips? Let's hope this carbon fibre thing has better success...

 

[Cheerwino]

This one is for the materials science geeks on this forum. I had a look back to this patent where Apple was researching Carbon fibre shells:
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/04/3...iber-composite-materials-for-exterior-shells/

I was also looking at how long they've been working with Liquid metal:
http://m.gizmodo.com/5608322/is-apple-working-on-liquid-metal-terminators-or-what

And it seems to me that they are pursuing BOTH technologies with equal effort. It seemed strange to me that they would put so much effort into to two technologies when they would likely only use one for cases/structural requirements.

And thenI found this excerpt from a book which describes how to fuse carbon fibre with metal alloys to create a sandwich which is similar to the first patent l linked to above.:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id...zfsvjjgl445HD_urpHU&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false



Based on all this, my guess is that apple is making some kind of fusion casing material that will be mouldable like liquid metal, have the extra strength of carbon fibre, and have the strength/weight properties of both. That would also explain some of the "darker" metal/liquid metal pics that have been floating around.

What do you think?

Cool. Thanks for contributing something insightful and interesting, MikeELL (unlike some folks--like me).

 

[ChrisAlexander]

I think the next one will probably be made out of a nice polished wood...

 

[steadysignal]

Carbon Fiber = Ricer.

GReddy.

Rice, rice, baby...

 

[ciTiger]

+1 liquid metal
-1 carbon fiber

 

[g.fabian]

I think most consumers do not know carbon because they never had something like a racing bicycle made of it.

Many people will think apple has made the product worse or is just trying to safe costs when they see a carbon MacBook for the first time because they think it is "plastic" and not something high tech.

Christian

I couldn't disagree more. Apple is a master of marketing, its what makes them so successful. They could sell a computer made out of glass if they wanted to and I'm sure the consumers would just gobble it up.

And besides, apples target market is, lets be honest, the richer more educated portion of the world. Point being, if you can afford to lay down $1,000+ for a computer, I'll gamble that you've at least heard of Carbon Fiber.

 

[jonnysods]

Carbon fibre just won't look as good as aluminum.

I really hope that they get it in gun metal grey one day though. Some colour variety would be great!

 

[rosalindavenue]

I remember rumors here in 2004 or so about a possible forthcoming carbon fiber G5 Powerbook.

Here's a thread (courtesy of mroogle):

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/66949/

note that that thread even turned to liquid metal....

 

[ghostlyorb]

Sweet! sounds cool!

 

[28monkeys]

People always ask for more, when it's not the time.

 

[vincenz]

As long as it doesn't look anything like that ghastly image, I'm all for it.

 

[Alvi]

Is Carbon Fiber as Eco Friendly as Aluminium?
No


Maybe that's why they haven't gone for it?

 

[iMattcotv]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

That "Liquid Metal (LM)-Carbon Fiber (CF)-Liquid Metal" fusion process sounds extremely strong. Though it sounds like it would be thickening and equally as heavy as glass, and possibly even more expensive than using CF or LM separately? Correct me on this one if you please.

Even if that's the case, I can't wait to see what Apple does with this. I would very much like an iPhone that's 5x more strong than glass.

Any new news about "Transparent Alunimum (TA)"?

CF-LM-CF for the back + TA for the front = one stable, cheap, light and extremely durable phone!!!

 

[Zeus86]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

anything than this cheap aluminum!!! there is a dent on my 2011 MacBook and I don't know where it came from. I had a blackbook for almost six years and no scratches or dents.

 

[roocka]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

This one is for the materials science geeks on this forum. I had a look back to this patent where Apple was researching Carbon fibre shells:
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/04/3...iber-composite-materials-for-exterior-shells/

I was also looking at how long they've been working with Liquid metal:
http://m.gizmodo.com/5608322/is-apple-working-on-liquid-metal-terminators-or-what

And it seems to me that they are pursuing BOTH technologies with equal effort. It seemed strange to me that they would put so much effort into to two technologies when they would likely only use one for cases/structural requirements.

And thenI found this excerpt from a book which describes how to fuse carbon fibre with metal alloys to create a sandwich which is similar to the first patent l linked to above.:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id...zfsvjjgl445HD_urpHU&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

The (carbon) fiber layer is laid down carefully in the proper orientation on top of a metal foil and then covered with another metal foil. The metal-fiber sandwich is then compressed (the foils help retain the fibers in place) and heated to above the melting point of the metal. This heating with compression causes the metal foils to melt and infuse with the fibers, thus wetting the fibers and distributing the metal throughout the structure.

Based on all this, my guess is that apple is making some kind of fusion casing material that will be mouldable like liquid metal, have the extra strength of carbon fibre, and have the strength/weight properties of both. That would also explain some of the "darker" metal/liquid metal pics that have been floating around.

What do you think?

I agree with this poster. If Apple can make the composite of carbonfiber and Liquidmetal, it will be much stronger and probably much less expensive to produce.

Look at the Omega Liquidmetal video on YouTube if you're curious how this works.

 

[Adidas Addict]

Carbon fiber defies it's cost and looks very cheap and tacky.

 

[osofast240sx]

so glad none of u guys work for Apple. No Vision

 

[TheUndertow]

Carbon fiber is ok, lightweight, and non signal degrading.

IMO those things make it better than okay.

It sounds like they're looking to change CF a bit from how we normally view it (either through new fab techniques or somehow changing the color of the final product.)

Costs for CF have come down substantially in the last 10 years...i don't think we're that far off from it replacing aluminum...etc

 

[gonnabuyamacbsh]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

anything than this cheap aluminum!!! there is a dent on my 2011 MacBook and I don't know where it came from. I had a blackbook for almost six years and no scratches or dents.

It was probably a gentle breeze...

 

[TheUndertow]

Carbon fiber defies it's cost and looks very cheap and tacky.

Maybe the fake stuff...

Real, high quality CF applications are amazing.

Not all Carbon Fiber is equal...