[dale1v]

Which is why I'm thinking that the aluminium blocks would be just a little larger than macbook size, keeping wastage to an absolute minimum, saving money (I guess)

[groundedsst]

Originally Posted by cash7c3

According to 9to5mac the rumored Apple "Brick" is just that. A brick. Well a brick of aluminum carved out into a pretty Macbook via a new Apple manufacturing process.

The rumor goes that instead of outsourcing Macbook production to China and Taiwan Apple will be starting up their own sophisticated manufacturing proess to carve Macbooks our of a solid peice of aluminum using lasers and high pressure jets of water.

Using this method is superior to the methods used to created Apple computers now and has some advantages.

• Carving out of aluminum eliminates the need to bend the metal and create weak spots or microfolds and rifts.
• There are no seams in the final product, so it is smooth.
• Screws aren’t needed to tie the products together.
• The shell is one piece of metal so it is super light, super strong and super cheap.
• You can be a whole lot more creative with the design if you don't have to machine it.

The new Macbooks still seem to be on track for October 14th so if you're on the edge of your seat waiting for one you only have a eight more days to go!

I did a company tour about 3 years ago and watched a company manufacture aluminum laptop bodies for the military out of 7075 alum. There is a ton of waste but it is recouped.They use a machine that takes the scrap and compresses it to remove the cutting fluids and such from it and it makes a puck. This puck can then be recycled and it brings a pretty penny in this form.

I can say I don't think this is going to be economical in the long term but who am I to say... im only a engineer.