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Apple Researching High-End Titanium MacBook Casings With Unique Textured Finish
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To quote Steve Jobs from the TiBook's release, "Stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum".
And if they could solve the problem with finishing the titanium like this patent describes that would be great. The paint flaking off the PowerBooks was a real issue and the finish wasn't as attractive as anodized aluminum.
When you go into the kitchen and get a glass of water, do you often struggle to stop it from slipping out of your fingers? Probably not, right? Contrary to popular impression, glass isn’t slippery on skin; it’s only slippery on fabrics. We don’t have trouble holding onto glossy surfaces because our fingers do act like suckers; they don’t have a textured finish. Contrast that with the smoothness of something matte like a MacBook trackpad.
I think you may have missed it, but the article mentions high-gloss. Our Space Gray MacBooks do have some reflective and refractive properties, but they’re definitely not high-gloss!
It certainly needs more pressure to hold a glass of water than a glass of water that has matte printing on it (from experience of beer rather than water).
Fingers wouldn’t leave fingerprints behind if they had no texture.
Matte glass is super slick compared to clear glass. Just look at the Magic Trackpad. Same with the iPhone pro models with the matte glass. They are very slippery compared to normal glass.
TLDR: A titanium MacBook would be more scratch-resistant; but (to get the same stiffness) the titanium panels would be 40% heaver.
Details: I don't know what aluminum alloy is used in the current MBP, nor what titanium alloy they have in mind here, so it's hard to compare them precisely. But, broadly speaking, titanium is significantly harder than aluminum, and thus it should be significantly more resistant to scratches and dents. That, I think, would be its main advantage (plus the marketing cool factor).
By contrast, a key downside of Ti is that, for the same weight, it would be 2.7 x more flexible than Al:
The Young's Modulus of Ti is ~120 GPa, compared with ~70 GPa for Al. Thus, based on inherent stiffness alone (comparing panels of the same thicknesss), Ti is ~120/70 = 1.7 x as stiff as Al. However, the density of Al is 2.7 g/cm^3, compared to 4.5 g/cm^3 for Ti which, for the same *mass*, means you could make the Al panel 4.5/2.7 = 1.67 x as thick.
So you're probably thinking it's a wash, right (Al is 1.7 x less stiff, but you can make the Al panel 1.7 x thicker)? Well, no. The kicker is that panel stiffness goes as thickness^3. Thus, by making the Al panel 1.67 x thicker, that increases its stiffness by 1.67^3 = 4.6 x. Hence, net net, comparing Al and Ti panels of the same mass, the Al panel would be 4.6/1.7 = 2.7 x stiffer (4.6 x more stiff from the added thickness, 1.7 x less stiff from the lower inherent stiffness).
Consequently, to get the same stiffness, you'd need to increase the mass of the titanium panel by 40% [2.7^(1/3) = 1.4.]
So if you really want a metal with a high stiffness:weight ratio, you should go with a really light, hard metal, like beryllium (beryllium is not recommended for other reasons). Or you could maybe get the best of both worlds by going with Ti (scratch resistance) reinforced with ceramic fibers or carbon nanotubes for extra stiffness.
Details: I don't know what aluminum alloy is used in the current MBP, nor what titanium alloy they have in mind here, so it's hard to compare them precisely. But, broadly speaking, titanium is significantly harder than aluminum, and thus it should be significantly more resistant to scratches and dents. That, I think, would be its main advantage (plus the marketing cool factor).
By contrast, a key downside of Ti is that, for the same weight, it would be 2.7 x more flexible than Al:
The Young's Modulus of Ti is ~120 GPa, compared with ~70 GPa for Al. Thus, based on inherent stiffness alone (comparing panels of the same thicknesss), Ti is ~120/70 = 1.7 x as stiff as Al. However, the density of Al is 2.7 g/cm^3, compared to 4.5 g/cm^3 for Ti which, for the same *mass*, means you could make the Al panel 4.5/2.7 = 1.67 x as thick.
So you're probably thinking it's a wash, right (Al is 1.7 x less stiff, but you can make the Al panel 1.7 x thicker)? Well, no. The kicker is that panel stiffness goes as thickness^3. Thus, by making the Al panel 1.67 x thicker, that increases its stiffness by 1.67^3 = 4.6 x. Hence, net net, comparing Al and Ti panels of the same mass, the Al panel would be 4.6/1.7 = 2.7 x stiffer (4.6 x more stiff from the added thickness, 1.7 x less stiff from the lower inherent stiffness).
Consequently, to get the same stiffness, you'd need to increase the mass of the titanium panel by 40% [2.7^(1/3) = 1.4.]
So if you really want a metal with a high stiffness:weight ratio, you should go with a really light, hard metal, like beryllium (beryllium is not recommended for other reasons). Or you could maybe get the best of both worlds by going with Ti (scratch resistance) reinforced with ceramic fibers or carbon nanotubes for extra stiffness.
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Oops. Well I think they are still just going for the gloss that is like the aluminum, just like the titanium Apple Watch.
Yes but how does that benefit the user? I didn't hear any one complain that their macbooks are falling apart because its made from hardened clay. The current macbooks are light enough, unless its significantly lighter.
I don't think my 2014 13" MBP is particularly heavy, but I immediately noticed and appreciate the weight reduction in the M1 MBP.
It benefits the user if the user considers it a benefit, otherwise it's just a thing that the MacBooks come with. I doubt it will affect price any more than remaining with Aluminum will because Apple will figure out how to use Ti in a cost-efficient manner.
Of course it does - all iPhone with matte backs have been a lot harder to grip that gloss backs - sweat, moisture and oil grips to gloss better than matte. The gloss glass iPhones gripped better than the current matte etched ones, however your hands grip to gloss stainless steel better too.
I wasn't being ironic, genuinely - I don't ever want to see USB-A ports ever again on a laptop.
With dongles, the ugliness is visible to the user all the time, instead of only when they turn the computer and look at its sides.At least the ugliness isn't built into the laptop
But you're correct, USB-A is way uglier than this.
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Exactly. When Apple does this it misses the forest for the trees. It's necessary to consider not just the device itself, but to think more broadly and consider the device in actual usage.With dongles, the ugliness is visible to the user all the time, instead of only when they turn the computer and look at its sides.
The equivalent problem existed with the "trashcan" Mac Pro. By itself, it was very clean and compact. However, in actual use, a larger tower would have been much cleaner since the latter would have had the space to store multiple drives and peripherals internally, while with the trashcan your desk ended up littered with those peripherals and external drives: