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Apple Still Searching for Engineers with Plastics Expertise

ee13lbp said:
As much hate I'll get for this, I really hope they don't expand the line any further with more plastic products.

I really like the weight and feel of aluminum and glass and Apples current design consensus seems so much better than the plastic fantastic of 06 and before. :(
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Yea it makes me wonder as growth slows from market saturation if they will try to lower materials cost by making everything plastic again to retain shareholders.
 
Coming soon plastic iPad and iPad mini. It makes sense since apple is losing market share in the Chinese tablet market. They will probably release a cheaper version of the iPad with plastic case just like they did with the iPhone.
 
You know, we'll see, but I wonder, since a lot of the aluminum for the iPhones is mined in the China, and the China is starting to crack down on mining *supposedly* driving prices of raw materials up... maybe something related to that... or, you know, I really have no idea. I like the aluminum though.
 
aerok said:
It's just to point out that Apple will continue making plastic products.

I really don't understand why people like you get irritated over something like it. Just skip the news if it does not interest you, jeez...
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Well Apple never stopped making plastic products so...

And the reason it annoys me is the stuff that gets reported here and on other rumor sites gets picked up by mainstream tech sites and all of a sudden it's big news that Apple has a job opening for a plastics engineer and people start jumping to conclusions on what that means. So this one job opening apparently means future iPads are now going to be plastic so Apple can compete with no name white box android tablets in China. :rolleyes:

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winston1236 said:
Yea it makes me wonder as growth slows from market saturation if they will try to lower materials cost by making everything plastic again to retain shareholders.
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So that's why they have 18 job openings for CNC machining experts?
 
SchneiderMan said:
Let's hope these won't crack like the iPhone 3G/S models.
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That's exactly why Apple is looking for plastic engineers, its much hard to make a plastic product that holds up than one would think. Take a look at the iPhone 3G, 3GS, the notorious cracking palm rests of the MacBooks, etc. Apple doesn't want that failure to continue.
 
Great so they haven't solved the issue making durable plastic a couple of weeks out from release of the plastic 5c.

I just remember the horrible feeling I had when my white 3G started developing cracks and within days the internet was awash with other reports of the same issue.

Sure makes me want to rush out and buy a 5c. (reality is though I'll get the 5S if I don't hold out for the 6 next year)
 
Rogifan said:
How about MacRumors throw up a post about the 18 job openings for CNC machining experts. Or the recent job opening for an iOS human interface designer. What's so special about this particular job opening?
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it allows them to show a "5C" on the frontpage ;)
 
powers74 said:
You know, we'll see, but I wonder, since a lot of the aluminum for the iPhones is mined in the China, and the China is starting to crack down on mining *supposedly* driving prices of raw materials up... maybe something related to that... or, you know, I really have no idea. I like the aluminum though.
Click to expand...

no no no no no

raw materials is nothing

say the block of metal is 2 dollars and goes to 4

Or 4 dollars and goes to 8

big whoop
 
aerok said:
Only thing missing would be having the Nexus 4 available at that price in retail, until then, I don't think Apple should worry.
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You could say the same about Apple being with only AT&T for that long stretch. Never under estimate the competition. I bet Apple said "don't worry" when Android first came out.
 
musicianm said:
I am. 7 years.
4 weeks PTO. By year 10, 5 weeks.
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I'm at 13 years. 18 days vacation, 6 personal and a great 401k keep me here. The job ain't "sexy" but it puts good food on the table, a nice car in the driveway, and a good savings for retirement.
 
I remarked to my self how nice my iPhone 5 looked as I was moving it into another case. Now I notice how nice the case looks. In fact, my 5 looks identical to my wife's 4s since we have the same model case. Anyone out there not use a case? Just make the phone a black plastic monolith and design some cool replacable cases.
 
I wonder if the 5C will have better reception than the 5S due to the plastic enclosure?
Right after, or perhaps even before, better battery life, better reception is what I wish for the most.

My 5 and my wife's 4S have a really weak signal where I live — while the Sony Walkman Phone I used to own 4 years ago had great signal strength leading to perfect audio/speech quality. I really miss that.
 
As much as I like aluminum as used on my iMac, mba, iPad 4 and iPhone 5, it's not exactly the perfect substrate for everything. I really loved my iPhone 4 and 4S because of the hand-feel it had. I get that glass isn't ideal for all the obvious reasons, but it has just the right feel, imho.

I hope that Apple tries to push the envelope when it comes to plastic, in the same way they did with aluminum and glass. There are clearly benefits and it does not need to have a thin cheap feel, like some phones are now - especially those with removable plastic backs...
 
itguy06 said:
I'm at 13 years. 18 days vacation, 6 personal and a great 401k keep me here. The job ain't "sexy" but it puts good food on the table, a nice car in the driveway, and a good savings for retirement.
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Yes, forgot the 401k. 50% up to the first 6%

Yes I could switch for more money, but then I would lose the people I enjoy being around, and lose the 4 weeks, back down to 2. I hate starting over.
 
ee13lbp said:
As much hate I'll get for this, I really hope they don't expand the line any further with more plastic products.

I really like the weight and feel of aluminum and glass and Apples current design consensus seems so much better than the plastic fantastic of 06 and before. :(
Click to expand...

Like the HTC One. Way better than iPhone. Period
 
wackymacky said:
Great so they haven't solved the issue making durable plastic a couple of weeks out from release of the plastic 5c.

I just remember the horrible feeling I had when my white 3G started developing cracks and within days the internet was awash with other reports of the same issue.

Sure makes me want to rush out and buy a 5c. (reality is though I'll get the 5S if I don't hold out for the 6 next year)
Click to expand...

Because if Apple has this one job opening for a plastic expert it means there are no employees currently working at Apple that have experience with the material. :confused:
 
Great. As if we don't have enough e-waste and islands of plastic the size of Texas in our oceans, let's combine both e-waste and plastic waste just to shave off a few cents on profits and make really "fun" and "trendy" colors. :rolleyes:

After the numerous issues with the plastic white and black MacBook's and 3G/S iPhones, you would think a company would learn.
 
jmgregory1 said:
As much as I like aluminum as used on my iMac, mba, iPad 4 and iPhone 5, it's not exactly the perfect substrate for everything. I really loved my iPhone 4 and 4S because of the hand-feel it had. I get that glass isn't ideal for all the obvious reasons, but it has just the right feel, imho.

I hope that Apple tries to push the envelope when it comes to plastic, in the same way they did with aluminum and glass. There are clearly benefits and it does not need to have a thin cheap feel, like some phones are now - especially those with removable plastic backs...
Click to expand...

2015 Macbook Pro...with Gorilla Glass (version 5) casing.

in "my future world" Gorilla Glass version 5 is near-unbreakable
 
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