What Grade Aluminum alloy is the Touchbar MBP made from.

[TheRealAlex]

I see tons of threads about how easily scratched or damaged these new late 2016 MBP Touchbar units are getting scratched or damaged even out of the box.

So I am asking if anyone has credible information about what type of Aluminum alloy

Is it the cheapest 6061 or 6000 series Aluminum which is mass produced. I know some Cannondale bicycles are very collectible if they are 7075 alloy with zinc.

So I feel like Apple added a lot of Magnesium to the new alloy making is lighter but much softer.

 

[fs454]

I see tons of threads about how easily scratched or damaged these new late 2016 MBP Touchbar units are getting scratched or damaged even out of the box.

So I am asking if anyone has credible information about what type of Aluminum alloy

Is it the cheapest 6061 or 6000 series Aluminum which is mass produced. I know some Cannondale bicycles are very collectible if they are 7075 alloy with zinc.

So I feel like Apple added a lot of Magnesium to the new alloy making is lighter but much softer.

Where are you seeing these threads? Can you link to a couple that aren't the out-of-the-box scratch? The out-of-the-box scratches are from a tooling issue during manufacturing, not because the aluminum is soft. I don't find mine picking up scratches or dents and I don't overtly protect it. It's been on quite a few flights, too.

Any aluminum product is going to show a scratch or a dent if you drop something hard onto it from a distance. I don't believe they went backwards with the new models in terms of strength.

 

[snaky69]

I see tons of threads about how easily scratched or damaged these new late 2016 MBP Touchbar units are getting scratched or damaged even out of the box.

So I am asking if anyone has credible information about what type of Aluminum alloy

Is it the cheapest 6061 or 6000 series Aluminum which is mass produced. I know some Cannondale bicycles are very collectible if they are 7075 alloy with zinc.

So I feel like Apple added a lot of Magnesium to the new alloy making is lighter but much softer.

6000 series aluminum definitely isn't cheap. I'm not quite sure where you get that from.

They likely use extruded blanks, probably 6063-T5 then machine them down.

 

[poematik13]

Every time a new product launches this forum feels the urge to stir up some kind of controversy/-gate about something they believe is defective. The negativity feels good for a lot of you

But soft aluminum? Lol, come on. You are all metallurgists now? Ridiculous.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Every time a new product launches this forum feels the urge to stir up some kind of controversy/-gate about something they believe is defective. The negativity feels good for a lot of you

But soft aluminum? Lol, come on. You are all metallurgists now? Ridiculous.

I think we as consumers have every human right. To know what exactly we are buying. Apple makes a big deal about being green Arsenic Free Berylium Free etc. So it should be no issue to know what grade or Aluminum alloy the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is. This push back feels like Taco Bell's CEO who refuses to say what Grade of Beef is used in Taco Bell food.

Back to Apple my suspicion based on speculation is that a newer alloy has been used to save weight but is less brittle but softer so more prone to scratches.

Case in point before I returned my 2016 Touchbar MBP I could scratch it with my fingernail the alloy is that soft. Vs the Alloy on the iPad Pro is much more rigid and will not be scratched by a human finger nail.

 

[fs454]

Case in point before I returned my 2016 Touchbar MBP I could scratch it with my fingernail the alloy is that soft. Vs the Alloy on the iPad Pro is much more rigid and will not be scratched by a human finger nail.

Really though? It was a permanent scratch that could not be rubbed off? I was not afraid to turn mine upside down and try that, and I couldn't produce a single lasting scratch. Plus, I have a metal bracelet and an Apple Watch buckle that clanks against the computer constantly as I type and I don't have any markings from that, either.

 

[leman]

Case in point before I returned my 2016 Touchbar MBP I could scratch it with my fingernail the alloy is that soft. Vs the Alloy on the iPad Pro is much more rigid and will not be scratched by a human finger nail.

Hey Wolverine, how is it going?

 

[bizack]

I see tons of threads about how easily scratched or damaged these new late 2016 MBP Touchbar units are getting scratched or damaged even out of the box.

So I am asking if anyone has credible information about what type of Aluminum alloy

Is it the cheapest 6061 or 6000 series Aluminum which is mass produced. I know some Cannondale bicycles are very collectible if they are 7075 alloy with zinc.

So I feel like Apple added a lot of Magnesium to the new alloy making is lighter but much softer.

You should keep your MBP until it becomes a collectible because of the aluminum.