Apple Exploring Liquid Notebook Cooling Systems for Cooler Laps

[Erendiox]

As someone who works with apple portables on a regular basis and seeing what customers manage to do to them... no... Just no. The last thing apple needs to put in their laptops is another fragile component that will total the machine if customers find a way to break it. They always do.

 

[SPUY767]

2.5GHz dual-processor from 2004. For some reason people wanted liquid cooling to fail, so I think the so-called problems were overstated.

--Eric

Wasn't that liquid cooling more of a glorified heat pipe solution than the hardcore fluid pump units that "extreme" omputers use?

 

[Eidorian]

Wasn't that liquid cooling more of a glorified heat pipe solution than the hardcore fluid pump units that "extreme" omputers use?

I believe it was a scaled down self-contained liquid cooling system.

There's MSDs available on the liquid coolant used.

 

[perrohunter]

That's obviusly going to be for "The coolest laptop they've ever made"

 

[Courtaj]

For goodness' sake, it's only a patent application. Take a look at the graphic: it's a concept, not a statement of immediate intent!

 

[DAAAAAAAVE]

damn that would be cool. loloololololol couldnt help the pun. but yeah my laptop is hot as and liquid cooling would be a good solution if they could make it decent. would mess with the whole "has someone spilled something on their laptop" warranty claim. you could just make a leak in your liquid cooling if you did and warranty claim

 

[djellison]

Hitachi already have this... July 2002
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/hitachis-water-cooled-p4-notebook-20020719/

Bingo - as I said earlier - I knew I'd read somewhere of another firm trying it a long time ago - so what exactly, are Apple trying to patent here?

 

[Firefly2002]

Yay! Powerbook G5!

This is really a bad idea.

 

[iSamurai]

...heat could be dissipated through an aluminum plate located behind the computer's display.

Isn't the laptop casing itself made out of aluminium???

 

[DAAAAAAAVE]

Isn't the laptop casing itself made out of aluminium???

Yes so it could use the back of the display itself as a heat sink.

 

[Sesshi]

Jeez! About time!!!

It's MR's Rickroll, isn't it?

Thing is though - we've had liquids in our laptops for some time in the form of heatpipes. Active liquid cooling would be a very good idea, although I'm pretty sure that Apple will do the prettiest and least effective version of it once it becomes prevalent.

 

[diamond.g]

I am not sure why so many here think Apple would use a conductive liquid for cooling. I guess many here are expecting Apple to take the cheap way out.

 

[djellison]

many here are expecting Apple to take the cheap way out.

That's what they do.

 

[SeanMcg]

I'm amazed...

,although I don't know why, that people seem to think that innovation and technology advances are dead, or that engineers cannot learn from past mistakes.

Of the negative posts I've seen here, I haven't seen very many that don't refer to past mistakes or old technology. The conclusion is then drawn that it is therefore a bad idea.

On a more positive note, I could envision a hinge where the heated fluid travels through the length of the hinge in a tube. That tube would be surrounded by another tube perhaps, or other elements, transferring the heat into a radiator system in the back of the display. The tube wouldn't have to flex and could be a part of the hinge itself. None of the fluid would enter the display.

Notice I said fluid, and I make no assumptions on what that would be.

Just an idea.

 

[The Flashing Fi]

As mentioned above, I think Apple is taking the wrong approach.

If components are getting cooler, why not just use the excess heat to power a fan or your battery. It'd sure be better than running the risk of water damage.

You do know that there is no heat to energy converters (not a direct conversion process). The only way that I can think of to get heat into electric energy is by using the heat to heat up a water in a water tank and using the water to power a turbine, which could be hooked up to a fan or generator. But that would still require a fluid, a turbine, a compressor (to expel heat) and a heat pump (which would have to be driven by the turbine).

As you can see, it really wouldn't be feasible in a laptop.

 

[thecritix]

At the end of the day, anything that makes laptops cooler and is well produced doesn't bother me.

So long as it doesn't leak. If my lap is cooler i don't care how they do it.

To me this idea is a non conductive liquid flowing straight over the 'chips' (i dont have a great knowledge of laptop internals!)

That would be clever no?

 

[iMat77]

I see it as a good idea, in principle...

So one could still cool the notebook while closed (when working with a cinema display for instance) without limiting the airflow of the machine. The second thing is that the computer could get really quiet (more than today, even if I am already happy with it).

The problem is that any liquid flowing from the bottom casing to the rear screen must have a bendable pipe somewhere below the screen.. (ben once, twice, three times.... it is prone to breaking!).

The second problem I see is the liquid's "inertia" (it must flow in order to dissipate heat). I am no engineer, but if I shut down the computer after intensive use I might get some really hot liquid close to the CPU. This heat will not be dissipated unless the liquid flows.

I think the idea is, in itself, really interesting and might open lots of new possibilities, but on the other hand poses a great amount of challenges.

Having a slightly thicker screen doesn't bother me that much, as its thickness is not percieved when open and, if the weight is well balanced, doesn't create discomfort in use.

 

[Mal]

OK, I'm confused at some of the comments here. Why would any part of this system have to bend? It doesn't have to enter the screen hinge, merely reach that area to access the vents. The entire system could be completely sealed and stationary, so no significant points of failure unless there was a very poor design (which Apple is good at eliminating design flaws).

jW

 

[DAAAAAAAVE]

OK, I'm confused at some of the comments here. Why would any part of this system have to bend? It doesn't have to enter the screen hinge, merely reach that area to access the vents. The entire system could be completely sealed and stationary, so no significant points of failure unless there was a very poor design (which Apple is good at eliminating design flaws).

jW

People are saying that parts need to bend because the back of the screen would be used as a heat sink and the actual heat would be coming from components in the base (CPU etc.) meaning that the liquid would need to move from the components, through the hinge to the back of the screen then back again.

 

[flottenheimer]

How come there are 58 Positives and 63 Negatives on a story that basically confirms that Apple believes in innovation?

R&D is a good thing my friends.

 

[bilbo--baggins]

I guess they didn't learn their lesson from the leaking G5's. Personally I don't want anything water-cooled sitting in my lap.

First thing I thought of too.

Should come with a warning: beware - this product will completely self destruct after the warranty expires.

But hey - at least it's recyclable.

 

[joboy]

How come there are 58 Positives and 63 Negatives on a story that basically confirms that Apple believes in innovation?

R&D is a good thing my friends.

I had a PowerMac dual G5 that was pampered and undamaged. No moving around for three years. It sprung a leak in the cooling system and trashed the motherboard and power supply. Apple gave up trying to fix it and gave me a new Mac Pro. They treated me well, but it cost me a lot of uncompensated downtime that is lost income to me. I believe that they should learn from their past mistakes. In addition, laptops suffer a lot of bumps and stress that a desktop does not. They're now experimenting with a vulnerable system in a riskier, mobile environment. I surely won't buy one. Make that 64 negatives.

 

[tonyl]

No, no more liquid cooling!! Think about terrible leakage of liquid cooled G5s after 2-3 years.

 

[Mal]

I had a PowerMac dual G5 that was pampered and undamaged. No moving around for three years. It sprung a leak in the cooling system and trashed the motherboard and power supply. Apple gave up trying to fix it and gave me a new Mac Pro. They treated me well, but it cost me a lot of uncompensated downtime that is lost income to me. I believe that they should learn from their past mistakes. In addition, laptops suffer a lot of bumps and stress that a desktop does not. They're now experimenting with a vulnerable system in a riskier, mobile environment. I surely won't buy one. Make that 64 negatives.

Learning from past mistakes is a good thing. Running away from a good technology because of a past mistake in implementation is a bad thing. Just because they messed up doesn't mean they should never try again, and obviously if they do it'll have been after years of research into making sure it will work properly this time. Apple doesn't want to repeat that mistake either. They just want to put that technology to good use (assuming they intend to actually make these liquid cooled laptops).

jW

 

[tonyrobbins]

2.5GHz dual-processor from 2004. For some reason people wanted liquid cooling to fail, so I think the so-called problems were overstated.

--Eric

Name a reason.. a valid reason.

I had the exact same 2.5 dualie g5. 4 years and a month after purchase, the liquid coolant leaked, took down the mother board, power supply, ram and airport card. Apple acknowledged the coolant problem as wide-spread and honored the month-expired Apple Care. After multiple repair attempts, sent me a new Mac Pro.

Lucky you to still have it working. You're 4 years in? Snap out of your state of denial. Your machine is doooooooooooomed! buahahahaaa