Comments on: Rebrickulous: Cutting Through The MacBook Rumors

By: PeterK

PeterK — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:10:28 +0000

And now I did set my MBP display resolution to 720×480 and visited Rouhlydrafted.com. It’s a apple netbook, oh gosh!

By: Jon T

Jon T — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:54:41 +0000

Glad what I said above may just be about to happen after all..

“Apple should circumvent all this with an iSlate, a 6 or 7 inch tablet that can house into a 20″ or larger screen. Then you can forget Netbooks.”

Apple device sized between iPhone, MacBook detected online.. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/22/apple_device_sized_between_iphone_macbook_detected_online.html

By: NormM

NormM — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:54:51 +0000

@daniel: Although you correctly labeled the laser/waterjet rumors as ridiculous, you also said, “The future of new MacBooks is not carved blocks of metal, but rather precision stamped metal. That is demonstrated pretty clearly in the design of the MacBook Air.” You went on to use the example of the Air as proof that nothing more than stamped metal was needed to achieve various desirable characteristics. Like the rest of us, you were unaware that Apple was doing something more interesting than stamping metal for the Air.

I only point this out because I don’t see that you have any reason to be defensive about not knowing everything. You know a lot more than any other tech pundit I’ve seen. I greatly respect and trust people who bend over backwards to point out their own errors. Only politicians are never wrong.

By: jerome_from_munich

jerome_from_munich — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:49:43 +0000

I would like to correct something about lasers. Industrial lasers CAN cut through solid blocks of metal. For steel, something like 2cm is common. Aluminium maximal thickness is smaller, because it has a higher thermal conductivity. Laser are also used by the construction industry to cut through concrete, typically up to 10cm.

See for examples on metal http://www.cut-tec.co.uk/laser_cutting.html and http://www.industrial-lasers.com

[It's not that lasers can't cut metal, it's that they aren't of practical use in doing the shell milling Apple would be using to develop laptop cases. As the site you link to says, "Industrial laser cutting machines are predominantly used to cut parts from flat-sheet material."

Vaporizing the metal and blowing it out of the way is not really comparable with using tools to drill out precision cuts. Apple may use some applications of both lasers and water jet cutting, but it appears that nearly all of the CNC machine work done to shape the MacBooks is mechanical.

It appears that the rumors were based on second-hand reports that lost what they were reporting in translation, and ended up with a story that made no sense. Seems to be an example of the Gettier problem.]

By: jecrawford

jecrawford — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:33:57 +0000

@danieleran

So what is the new Margin-reducing” “game-changing” thing that is going to shake Apple’s competitors?

Did Apple hold off of the iPhone-like track pad because of the present economic climate? Or will the 17″ update include it in due course?

I am interested in your views.

John

By: danieleran

danieleran — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:06:04 +0000

FYI:

9to5mac said Apple would use an “entirely new manufacturing process that uses lasers and jets of water to carve the MacBooks out of a brick of aluminum.”

BusinessWeek mused: “Screws might be minimized or eliminated entirely. Seams joining different pieces of metal would disappear.”

These were both wrong. As I said, “lasers only cut through large blocks of metal in James Bond movies (manufacturers might use high pressure water jets to prototype models, but not to build mass produced laptop shells by the millions).”

Apple demonstrated a process of machine milling aluminum. The video shows water being used to irrigate waste material, not to cut the metal. Apple is cutting blocks of metal, but not using water jets nor really lasers. In fact, the use of lasers to pit the surface of the sleep indicator light is extremely slight; laser etching the speaker perforations are at least visible, but certainly not anywhere near “cutting blocks of metal” to shape. Further, neither is new, as both were used in the Air in January and the Bluetooth Keyboard a year ago.

Further, unlike BW’s speculation, there are obvious seams just like the Air and there are screws holding it together.

By: CCS

CCS — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:05:16 +0000

@jecrawford: Easier to take apart? Easier to recycle?

Oh, and the case does make use of laser cutting too. Perforations for the sleep light. Can’t wait to inspect one up close.

By: jecrawford

jecrawford — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:30:03 +0000

Probably “cut” from two pieces of aluminum, not a solid block.
SJ says waste aluminum is recycled.

I wonder what the real advantage over time is for this technology?

By: CCS

CCS — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:32:59 +0000

From http://www.apple.com/macbook/
“Precision aluminum unibody enclosure.

From one solid piece of aluminum comes a MacBook that’s thin and light, beautifully streamlined, and durable.”
____________________________________

So much for the Brick being totally myth. ;-)

By: benlewis

benlewis — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:54:33 +0000

@Daniel: Like the Nirvana reference. Personal aircraft, hmm. I wonder if anyone’s tested the Air to see if it works with Bernoulli’s Principle?