

Carbon fiber iPad on the way? - pelf
http://www.9to5mac.com/60691/hire-indicates-apple-shift-from-aluminum-to-composites/

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buro9
It's entirely possible that this is the case, however the weight savings over
such a small amount of Alu isn't really significant when compared to the
thermal benefits of Alu for heat dissipation.

If they were to go with carbon cases, I could imagine it a lot more if these
were parts that didn't require heat dissipation properties... the lids of
MacBook Pros might be a good contender.

Even then would people like the look? One of the things in the carbon bicycle
world is that there's little point in painting carbon as the paint increases
the weight and you start to lose some of the benefit... on an computer device
you'd lose more in that the thermal properties would be further degraded (and
carbon isn't great at heat dissipation anyway).

And then there's shock absorption. Carbon is great for resisting knocks, but
tens to have to be engineered with directional forces in mind. Hit it in a way
that wasn't designed for and it becomes more like a car crumple zone.

I notice on the cited patent that the corners are not carbon fiber, this is
usually because carbon fiber resists sharp angles, but could also allow the
corners to be made of alternative materials to help alleviate the directional
force problems mentioned above.

Anyhow... is interesting, but not sure we'll be seeing it on all cases soon.

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ericd
Apple rumors are somewhat interesting as general tech news, but don't belong
here unless there's some big potential impact on people's businesses, etc.
Flagged.

