Apple Sourcing Carbon Fiber Components for Upcoming Product?

[phillipduran]

CF would be great though — durable, strong, light, and it doesn't interfere with WiFi and cell signals.

Are you sure? I know that carbon fiber and 2.4ghz radio signals can be a bad combination. RC aircraft flyers have to take precautions to make sure their radio signals don't get blocked by receivers in carbon fiber fuselages.

I don't know about WiFi or cellular signals. I'm sure it all has to do with what the frequency is and carbon fiber does absorb the signals from some radio frequencies.

 

[o0jelly0o]

iPhone 5S
128GB Storage
10+ Hour Battery
Scratch-free, shatter-free Carbon Fiber back.

APPL PLS.

No one wants or needs that much storage, simple as that (hence why Apple hasn't gone above 64). If anything they will start going lower storage due to iCloud.

 

[8281]

True, it has all those advantages, however it's thermal properties aren't very good. This is where aluminum excels. And with all that heat generated by the latest CPUs and GPUs, that will be a major obstacle. Loud continuous fans anyone?

Yeah, didn't think about the heat...But new processors are always getting more efficient. One can hope they'd find a way to mitigate heat problems.

 

[nickgri]

Fibers

Basalt fabric cloth would be just as attractive as carbon fiber-comes in gold as well as black- costs easily three-four times less and does NOT conduct electricity. It does not shatter as easily as Carbon and is a ten times better electrical insulator than fiberglass. A little bit heavier but not much-nothing to detract from the benefits. Made from volcanic rock it is recyclable, and the fibers are pultruded so they are considered non-respirable-safe.
basalt-mesh-fiber has info.

 

[g0odfr1end102]

But it's the 7th generation !
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Had to be done

Haha, nice one

 

[brdeveloper]

Basalt fabric cloth would be just as attractive as carbon fiber-comes in gold as well as black- costs easily three-four times less and does NOT conduct electricity. It does not shatter as easily as Carbon and is a ten times better electrical insulator than fiberglass. A little bit heavier but not much-nothing to detract from the benefits. Made from volcanic rock it is recyclable, and the fibers are pultruded so they are considered non-respirable-safe.
basalt-mesh-fiber has info.

Nice info, if it's true. I want a lighter, thinner tablet-laptop which can act as a tablet sometimes and could run a desktop OS at work.

 

[Tech198]

Going back to the old skool

You all seem to be over-looking, why we are all Apple people in the first place..

Maybie Apple just "lost" its touch of being fanshionable?

I reckon this would change how "we see a Mac", not to metioned there would be an even more of a stand-point ver price, as it will NO longer be unibody....

This is what apple successed over everyone, and now there just going to thow it away, just it was last nights dinner, over more light weight.

Apple will no longer be the number #1 computer everyone turns to in a Myers.

Its the first thing i always motice... Dunno about anyone else.

 

[jaedreth]

Carbon Fiber products

Here are the technical issues involved:

Carbon Fiber is already electrically conductive, like the current aluminum shells.

However, one needs to make a special carbon fiber composite formula to provide the same thermal conductivity.

So, Apple is likely working on getting as much thermal conductivity out of carbon fiber as they can before deciding on a formulation for products.

So I don't expect Carbon Fiber in the upcoming product cycle, but perhaps it will be present in the next cycle.

 

[oBMTo]

No one wants or needs that much storage, simple as that (hence why Apple hasn't gone above 64). If anything they will start going lower storage due to iCloud.

Yeah, 7 billion+ people in the world, and not a single one of them wants more than 128Gb. LOL, brainwashed much?

 

[serenegrace]

Yeah, 7 billion+ people in the world, and not a single one of them wants more than 128Gb. LOL, brainwashed much?

They're marketing to the masses, not the 1%. How many people do you honestly know that want or need 128GB+ storage on their phone? That's what a laptop is for.
Also, in relation to the actual topic, I don't think carbon fiber is going to be of any use. I rather like the aluminium on my MBP...

 

[ULFoaf]

Nasty stuff

Carbon fiber is nasty stuff. The fibers are hazardous, the resin are bad. I hated working around it. So much for the "green" claim!

I may not be justified by health concerns of an owner, but I probably wouldn't buy something made this way. It truly creeps me out thinking how nasty the process is.

 

[Tech198]

Thats a point....

Just when you think Apple is now back on the 'environmental ' checklist, would will this carbon fibre mean for Apple ?..

This is probably why Apple can have the green ticks, over everyone else.

+1 yet another reason to not have carbon fibre..

edit: I'm marking these as I go What else am I going to do during the day.

 

[MrMacBookPro]

I personally think Apple should leave the aluminum.. That is there signature look of there computer.. If anything change the design to make the MBP thinner with still have a DVD drive...

 

[Tech198]

I personally think Apple should leave the aluminum.. That is there signature look of there computer.. If anything change the design to make the MBP thinner with still have a DVD drive...

How can that work ?

The macbook Air was only made thinner, by dumping the drive...

Its already a slim drive in current MBP (not-Retina)

How can you go thinner?, the disc won't fit in.

 

[whoknows87]

hehe yeah right real Carbon fiber i thought it's too expensive? Macs are already expensive enough retina displays+CF?

 

[powers74]

No it wouldn't....

Good points. I was just thinking from a manufacturing perspective, it's easier to get CF to do what you want it to in large flat sections without a whole lot of intricate, detailed areas, as opposed to say, a tiny little MBA or iPhone. Then again apparently that asian company just did one... CF Maybe even cheeper than aluminum in a TV scenario as well. Also from a "sustainability" standpoint, people don't discard their TVs as often as a laptop. CF not being very recyclable, might be able to justify it easier...

Maybe a MacPro update? Anyway it was just a thought.