

Apple may use Carbon Fiber in Next Macbook - tontoa4
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/11/11/apple_may_turn_to_carbon_fiber_for_lighter_macbook_air.html

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iigs
Carbon fiber has a bunch of desirable properties, but I don't believe that
absolute thickness (thinness) is generally considered one of them.

As far as I know the most common uses for carbon fiber are when light weight
and high strength are needed, such as in aerodynamic panels on race cars --
nobody cares if the panel is .5mm or .5in, so long as the outer surface is the
right shape and the weight is as low as possible.

If my understanding is correct, these attributes are counter to one of the key
goals of the MB Air (the goal of being as thin as practical). It will be
interesting to see the exact CF weave and resins they select as a compromise.

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rudyfink
Yes, I'd postulate this would not be an engineering decision as much as it
would be related to the "because it's cool" principal of design, which is
related to the "because it'll sell" principal of marketing.

~~~
ntoshev
principle

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uuilly
I think that carbon fiber is a really good insulator which is not good for a
computer. Think carbon fiber mufflers on motorcycles not getting hot.
Composite skis don't get cold. I suppose plastic is the same in that
respect... But there is something from my days as a machinist / composite-ist
telling me that all the heat will stay in and everything will melt. My
memories are hazy but it doesn't feel right...

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hugh
This actually sounds pretty good to me. Ideally in a laptop you want to get
rid of the heat through the vents, not through the case. Nobody likes burning
their thighs and/or wrists, and that's a big problem with the metal macbooks.

Now I come to read the article more carefully, in fact, the part they're
considering replacing with carbon fiber is the bottom cover, which suggests
they really are thinking in terms of heat conduction, even though that's not
mentioned in the article.

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briansmith
Using carbon fiber in laptops is nothing new. IBM, Lenovo, Sony, and Panasonic
have been using Carbon Fiber for years. My Lenovo T60 (over two years old) has
a carbon fiber "roll cage" that you can see when when you open it up, and it
wasn't even the first carbon-fiber-based ThinkPad.

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tjmc
Acer have been using carbon fiber on the cover/screen backing of their Ferrari
series laptops for over 4 years. I've had one for a bit over 3 years and it's
still in great shape, despite quite a few knocks in transit. Carbon fiber's a
good material to put behind the screen - light and very strong.

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blackguardx
Well for maximum effectiveness, there needs to be a substrate on which to lay
the carbon fiber. Having just a sheet of carbon fiber mesh and cured resin
isn't nearly as strong as that same sheet covering some other material like
foam or wood.

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m0digital
For a 3 lb MacBook Air, I seriosuly doubt they'll need to reinforce it with
anything. A six layer carbon fiber bottom will be more than adequate.

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bep
Why wait? I think The Voodoo Envy is good enough
<http://www.voodoopc.com/#/productsenvy>

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helveticaman
It's frustrating. I can't stay mad at Apple for the sleazier things it does
because it makes such beautiful stuff.

~~~
litewulf
This is why people have things called character and stuff. ;)

(Not a personal slam. I just wish sometimes people would call out Apple on
being sleazy before their "but its so prettyyyyy" rationalization kicks in.
Because otherwise Apple will continue making you bend over backwards.)

~~~
helveticaman
Point taken.

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sker
I hate to be a troll but, how is this relevant? Feels like digg..

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hugh
I reckon hardware design issues are interesting, especially when they involve
fancy new materials.

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crabapple
wow apple is desperate. they are using unibody aluminum chasis to convince
people to pay $2k for laptop internals they could get from dell for $600. case
mods must be where its at since the macbook pro is not meaningfully different
under the hood than the previous macbooks.

carbon fiber?? why not try to see if you can freeze-frame star trek iv at the
point where scotty has his forumla for transparent aluminum on the screen.
that should catch a cool $5k per unit at least.

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laut
More flush with cash and profitable than desperate I'd say.

