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Carbon Fiber Macbook unibodies? Hellz yeah
- Thread starter gonnabuyamacbsh
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Just as it is the case with carbon fibre iPhone cases affecting the reception, wouldn't a carbon fibre case affect wireless transmissions on a MBP also? (ie, wifi)
Certainly not any more than the giant block of METAL that the case is made of now does...
And what would the advatange of using this over alu be? Other then aesthetics?
Carbon fiber is lighter and stronger than aluminum. Think automobiles, more and more car manufacturers are replacing aluminum bodies with carbon fiber bodies.
There are certain aluminum alloys that are stronger than carbon fiber (from what i've read in the past at least), but the cost might be excessive.
Awesome idea...
I was thinking about this recently that Apple should come out with a carbon fiber version of their laptops. Long battery life and lighter weight go hand in hand. No need to go crazy with faster GHz processors and just improve the battery life, weight and heat management and you got a great machine. Knowing Apple, they'll slowly introduce carbon fiber by replacing small parts in their laptops and eventually transitioning to carbon reinforced unibodies, then, maybe, full body machines.
And also, cost will have to be managed throughout this transition. With any new improvement there will be an associated up cost and as manufacturing cost decline, these newer laptops should be more affordable. Hopefully, Apple will keep the price of new laptops comparatively the same as they are now (or slightly more) for the top of line models.
Lighter weight MBPs will definitely be coming to an Apple store near you. When? Who knows, but it's coming.
I was thinking about this recently that Apple should come out with a carbon fiber version of their laptops. Long battery life and lighter weight go hand in hand. No need to go crazy with faster GHz processors and just improve the battery life, weight and heat management and you got a great machine. Knowing Apple, they'll slowly introduce carbon fiber by replacing small parts in their laptops and eventually transitioning to carbon reinforced unibodies, then, maybe, full body machines.
And also, cost will have to be managed throughout this transition. With any new improvement there will be an associated up cost and as manufacturing cost decline, these newer laptops should be more affordable. Hopefully, Apple will keep the price of new laptops comparatively the same as they are now (or slightly more) for the top of line models.
Lighter weight MBPs will definitely be coming to an Apple store near you. When? Who knows, but it's coming.
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If you look at higher end racing bikes where strength to weight is also important there was a trend from steel to aluminum and titanium to mostly carbon today. The only thing that come close to carbon is titanium. Wait. Didn't Apple do something with titanium in the past? 
As far as heat dissipation, the engineers will have to address how to efficiently conduct heat around CF (carbon fiber) parts...it's all in the design and Apple being the company they are, will have an elegant solution. It's doable.
As far as the recycling aspect of CF...it can be recycled.
(End of useful life/recycling section)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber-reinforced_polymer
I've been in Road cycling (bicycling) for a long time, and I have much experience with CF bikes and parts (I use to be a WeightWeenie, actually still am but not as much). I have a pair of very expensive CF wheels (LEWs) that conduct heat very well when paired with the right brake pads. Let's just say that I can stop effectively coming down Angeles Crest in SoCal without concern.
Heat is definitely a concern in cycling as it will be in, say, laptop applications. It just has to be designed and engineered properly. No doubt, alloys will be used for heat dissipation in combination with CFs in future laptops made by Apple...I have no doubt about it.
As far as the recycling aspect of CF...it can be recycled.
(End of useful life/recycling section)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber-reinforced_polymer
I've been in Road cycling (bicycling) for a long time, and I have much experience with CF bikes and parts (I use to be a WeightWeenie, actually still am but not as much). I have a pair of very expensive CF wheels (LEWs) that conduct heat very well when paired with the right brake pads. Let's just say that I can stop effectively coming down Angeles Crest in SoCal without concern.
Heat is definitely a concern in cycling as it will be in, say, laptop applications. It just has to be designed and engineered properly. No doubt, alloys will be used for heat dissipation in combination with CFs in future laptops made by Apple...I have no doubt about it.
They simply have to put all the heat where it is usually supposed to go in the first place, out the back vents.
I kind of doubt they would use Carbon fiber. It would probably be lighter and stronger, less prone to drop damage or getting dents, but it doesn't look as nice. I doubt they can build a carbon fiber notebook that has a finish like the current unibodies and that is definitely more important for them than functionality. It has always been this way. Also carbon needs to be a lot thicker to be sturdy. As thin as the aluminium unibody is on some parts will break immediately. Thus i might look a lot different.
I might be wrong as you can in theory do a lot with this stuff and always paint it. On the other hand Apple probably works and multiple prototypes and a carbon based patent doesn't mean anything definitive.
Wifi signal quality would be much better. It is a little sad that my current half a year old MBP has much worse wifi reception than my 5+ year old Samsung plastic notebook.
Aluminium is just not the perfect material for a Notebook. It looks good and feels solid, but plastic is usually more solid when actually dropped and it doesn't heat up as much, causes less allergic reactions and doesn't block wifi.
I kind of doubt they would use Carbon fiber. It would probably be lighter and stronger, less prone to drop damage or getting dents, but it doesn't look as nice. I doubt they can build a carbon fiber notebook that has a finish like the current unibodies and that is definitely more important for them than functionality. It has always been this way. Also carbon needs to be a lot thicker to be sturdy. As thin as the aluminium unibody is on some parts will break immediately. Thus i might look a lot different.
I might be wrong as you can in theory do a lot with this stuff and always paint it. On the other hand Apple probably works and multiple prototypes and a carbon based patent doesn't mean anything definitive.
Wifi signal quality would be much better. It is a little sad that my current half a year old MBP has much worse wifi reception than my 5+ year old Samsung plastic notebook.
Aluminium is just not the perfect material for a Notebook. It looks good and feels solid, but plastic is usually more solid when actually dropped and it doesn't heat up as much, causes less allergic reactions and doesn't block wifi.
some sony vaio z come with a mix of carbon fiber and aluminium.
very light.
when people say 'solid' i'm not quite sure what people are saying. CF is more rugged but it's less rigid than aluminium.
you can do some crazy twists and bends on the vaio. solid?
very light.
when people say 'solid' i'm not quite sure what people are saying. CF is more rugged but it's less rigid than aluminium.
you can do some crazy twists and bends on the vaio. solid?