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New 13-inch MacBook to be Bumped to 2.4GHz, NVIDIA 320M
- Thread starter MagicWok
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Waterjet cutting
I'll weigh in here briefly.
The Al unibody fab process certainly would be more expensive than both stamping out sheet aluminum or molding plastic, with a lot more waste. The fact that the Al waste is very easily recyclable and the net result of the process is a better, more durable product is the trade-off.
But if the polycarbonate MB cases were cut from solid blocks using the same process, the cost per unit wouldn't be too much different than Al, I would imagine. I don't know enough about physics and material properties to know whether or not polycarbonate would be any stronger milled vs. molded. whereas Al benefits from not being deformed and stretched by a stamping process. Waterjetting as a large scale production method is great for perfect tolerances and maintaining the integrity of the stock being milled (no heat-related fatigue or weakness from deformation) but it is much slower and more expensive than other techniques. Great for prototypes or one-offs, not so great for millions of units.
BTW, you can waterjet cut just about anything, even wood. Go to any custom waterjet service online and look at the materials list. Polycarbonate could easily be done--I just don't know if it would be worth it from a structural standpoint. Maybe purely for aesthetics--making the product line all look more similar.
I'll weigh in here briefly.
The Al unibody fab process certainly would be more expensive than both stamping out sheet aluminum or molding plastic, with a lot more waste. The fact that the Al waste is very easily recyclable and the net result of the process is a better, more durable product is the trade-off.
But if the polycarbonate MB cases were cut from solid blocks using the same process, the cost per unit wouldn't be too much different than Al, I would imagine. I don't know enough about physics and material properties to know whether or not polycarbonate would be any stronger milled vs. molded. whereas Al benefits from not being deformed and stretched by a stamping process. Waterjetting as a large scale production method is great for perfect tolerances and maintaining the integrity of the stock being milled (no heat-related fatigue or weakness from deformation) but it is much slower and more expensive than other techniques. Great for prototypes or one-offs, not so great for millions of units.
BTW, you can waterjet cut just about anything, even wood. Go to any custom waterjet service online and look at the materials list. Polycarbonate could easily be done--I just don't know if it would be worth it from a structural standpoint. Maybe purely for aesthetics--making the product line all look more similar.
The new magsafe has been around since October of 2009.
http://www.apple.com/macbook/features.html#more
http://monster.traxxas.com/showthread.php?t=159674
Aluminum is stronger. So for the same stiffness, you can use much thinner aluminum
Problem is, all we have to work with is logic - until someone who has access to specialized - and perhaps slightly confidential - information pipes up.
Logic would indicate that if an milled aluminium unibody was as cheap to make as a molded polycarbonite one, then a) it would have been done before, and b) other entry level manufacturers would be using the milled aluminium block process.
1) The cost to Apple to develop their aluminium unibody process would have been non-trivial. Up until that point, no other laptop maker was using the process so everything would have had to be developed by Apple (and their partners) from scratch.
On the other hand, molding polycarbonite is a common process, and any number of factories could bid on an Apple contract, with no major development needed.
2) Even now, when the aluminium unibody process is common knowledge, no entry level laptop by another maker uses it. There is a huge marketing advantage to create a cheap Mac Book Pro look-a-like. Yet, a cheap aluminium unibody laptop is not in wide circulation - if one exists at all. There are, however, all sorts of polycarbonite (and other plastics) cheap laptops.
Those two points above would indicate to me that the aluminium unibody bit costs more to make than the polycarbonite bit.
One other cost needs to be factored in. Even if the "per-unit" cost is pretty close, Apple (and partners) still need to recover the cost of the research and development of the aluminium unibody process, plus the cost of building a purpose built factory. The polycarbonite development costs have already been recovered since this is now a standard and widely used process.
Just some more idle speculation....
Great job on the rationalization. I like my aluminum unibody because its made out of High tech robots utilizing extremely heavy dense metals.
I think apples military can take Vietnam, apple has so many nukes from all the outdated products. Once people recycle there old computer after getting a new one they become nukes. Also the iPods become gernades and the broken headphones either become assassination wire or are used in the nukes. The old airports serve as long range transmiters so apple can sit in there headquarters and just press a button and they have full control of the nuke from long range.and the gps from all the recycled first gen iPhones guides the nukes. So let's move on we talked about the iNuke, iNade, and the iWire. So next is the WTF ********* OMG IM BEING ATTAC............End Transmission
Really made me lmao!
Was it the poor grammar that made you LYAO?
One of the properties of Aluminum is that it is light. To call it heavy is being disingenuous.
This is freaking Aluminum not Unobtanium. Develop what? They had an engineer design a case, made a template out of it, and off it went. The same R&D went into the polycarbonate case design. Apple didn't develop the machines to create it, just the design.
For the palms! Yet right now, the palm rests are about as hot as the undercase on my Al MacBook. Sounds like someone who wanted a Al case and cheaped out.
Macbook is 1.08 inches thick. 13" Macbook Pro is 0.95 inches. It shows that the casing is thicker with the plastic Macbook.
Someone with material engineering background can probably dig out more info on the weight/volume.
It shows the casing is higher, not thicker. The inside is not a solid block of plastic or aluminum, it's hollow so that the internals can fit.
Seriously, you have a problem with your logic...
Or someone who needs to hit the gym. Such a heavy unit and all. Its going to be horrible putting that unibody iPhone in my back pocket. I might need a back brace.
"Can you please... for the love of God and your own life... stop the godDAMN hammering!?"
Wow, did not realize the process was that simple, think I'll go start making my own macbooks.
Since the popular theme on this thread seems to be you can't make a statement without some sort of factual evidence to back it up, where is yours?
Personal attack is a sure sign of weakness in debate.
Actually, I have both an Al Macbook Pro and a White Macbook. In winter, the cold wrist pad definitely bothers me. Couldn't wait for the MBP to warm up.
Wow, did not realize the process was that simple, think I'll go start making my own macbooks.
Since the popular theme on this thread seems to be you can't make a statement without some sort of factual evidence to back it up, where is yours?
So are you telling me Apple invented the machine to stamp or cut the unibody cases? The Waterjet was invented in the 50-60's. I don't believe Mr. Jobs had even smoked his first joint by that time.
Wow, did not realize the process was that simple, think I'll go start making my own macbooks.
Since the popular theme on this thread seems to be you can't make a statement without some sort of factual evidence to back it up, where is yours?
I think it's safe to assume Apple, a consumer electronics company, did not have to invent any heavy machinery and used some of the already available units on the market in the factories spread out over Asia.
And of course you can't claim facts without proof. They're not facts if they're not backed up by evidence.
Grow some skin. There was no attack in claiming you cheaped out. (There is in the grow some skin comment though, but your claim of weakness is also one, so hence, you showed weakness first, but there I go and attack you twice in one post...).