wtf is all this about october 14th not being the release date? so they should just effing release it online and be done with it. they nneeeeeeed to come out october 14th.
Srsly. From one Dallas Texan to another.
God damn it. Now I'm just angry.
wtf is all this about october 14th not being the release date? so they should just effing release it online and be done with it. they nneeeeeeed to come out october 14th.
Actually, machining of solid aluminum alloys is very common for production. I know this because I machine electronics housings as production items out of extruded bar, albeit those items can justify the price.
CNC'ing the case would probably make it stronger
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
The laser and waterjet machines I have worked with have plenty of detail, tolerance and precision. While we're on the subject every laser or AWJ I know of is computer controlled, making it a form of CNC.
You would "CAD" a design, not CNC it. CNC is used in the actual manufacture not the design portion. CNC is used in just about everything manufactured these days in some sort, weather it be CNC'ing the molds for plastic parts (the machine itself that makes these parts from the mold is CNC as well).
You don't need a "Huge Computer" to CNC things, a 486 with the right software will do nicely. It's not computer power on the cutting end that makes the difference.
Magnesium cuts like butter (most alloys). The chips only ignite somewhere upwards of 3000+F, which if you achieve it in a manufacturing process you have other problems besides igniting chips. Magnesium is generally one of the easiest materials out there to cut, nice fine chips and doesn't gum tooling. It does not catch fire anywhere near as easily as you make it out to.
There are a lot of people who make their living figuring out how to best manufacture things given the available processes. Trading off time, cost etc. It's not a haphazzard process, especially for a company like Apple.
You make a lot of statements without knowledge. Just about all of them are wrong.
Don't you guys ever just get tired of it?
I just wonder... how strong does it really need to be? Even with half-decent internal shock-mounting, dropping or whacking an indestructable case filled with electronics and screens and an HDD is likely to damage something. There's a point at which something's simply strong enough for the typical usage scenario, after which you're just in the territory of overkill or pure aesthetics, and start needing to compromise other aspects of the usability - like weight, serviceability, and cost. The current MBPs have got to be already approaching or at that point.
It's all about balance and hitting the right compromises.
With a CNC'ed case, you have the ability for more control over how much material that you leave, or have, in certain areas. I've seen, and felt, notebooks that were so cheesy that I thought I could twist them and break them. Using metal affords the opportunity to strengthen the shell without sacrificing any durability but weight could still end up being an issue.
I would doubt that machining would play a major part in this new design. If you had 'lights out' robotic machining and ran 24x7 you might be able to keep the price down but the complexity could be a real issue. I don't think it's impossible, just rather impractical and exotic. Still, if they could pull it off, it would be a trip to see... It would be a hot and likely expensive product.
They have it in a case when they travel but somehow it comes back with a few more love taps and road rash... I wonder what happens to that thing on the road and I'm glad that I don't know... That poor thing came back from Mexico with some major damage on the hinge area and it still worked! They are worth every penny in my book.
I agree that machining is common for production, just not with the size, volume, and probably complexity of something like a laptop case. I accept that I might be wrong in this, but I have rarely if ever seen a high-production part for a consumer product of the size and detail of a laptop casing that was individually machined from a blank. When you consider the simplicity and relative expense of other machined parts for other industries - bike parts for example (yeah, I'm into bikes - could you tell? lol) - and then apply that to a much more complex form such as a laptop casing, I just can't see how you'd get the costs down enough to justify it. Not to mention the gains (minor, if any) from using a vastly more complicated process, and material-intensive process even factoring automation and recycling.
I've never witnessed waterjets at work, but for some reason I'm having a hard time imagining some man/machine repetitively hollowing out a brick of alu around 14"x9" down to a wall thickness of a few mm, and then subsequently machining out the port sockets, key sockets, hinge areas, etcetera - it just seems far fetched for a part that probably needs to cost under $20 (and likely a LOT less than that).
What kind of electronics casings do you machine? Just curious... if they're expensive, they're probably nifty... and I've got a soft spot for nifty![]()
Bluetooth sure. USB - you still got ports, which would be your gunk problem. although i never had gunk in any of my ports...
As far as bent pins... Think about how Dell does their docking through a 1 highspeed D shaped port and also how the old parallel printers used to connect to the cable on the printer side. No Pins, but rather slides together almost like a USB.
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Now apple could take that similar concept and apply it here. the tablet slides in on rails and into the port.
Hurt them? The stock is already down almost 60% from its high. You think its going back to $10?![]()
I just hope the "brick" moniker isn't meant to apply to the size of the new trackpad. Because that's a possibility. But I'd love to see a super sweet new manufacturing process...
This is retarded s***t written by a reporter that has never opened a computer. What does he think the mother board and hdd etc will be made all fro the same piece? STUPID!![]()
This is retarded s***t written by a reporter that has never opened a computer. What does he think the mother board and hdd etc will be made all fro the same piece? STUPID!![]()
I prefer the strategy theory: "Bricking" prices to compete with the increasing sub $1k market.
It's simple, it's in line with what we already know based on Jobs' own words, it doesn't require a miracle of engineering and quite honestly, in the currently financial climate/crisis, it's the one thing that might keep people with limited spending power (that means joe bloggs, not you & I) buying Apple products.