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Apple may turn to carbon fiber for lighter MacBook Air

appleinsider.com — Apple enthusiastically claimed ownership to the world's thinnest notebook earlier this year with the introduction of the MacBook Air, but is rumored to be unsatisfied with the system's weight, which it now hopes to drop below 3 pounds.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 11, 2008

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  • d0nkeym0nkey, on 11/11/2008, -8/+44I don't want it to get any lighter, I just want a Firewire port :p
  • jgopp, on 11/11/2008, -6/+42I can see the option coming to the apple store..

    "Add Carbon Fiber case for only $799"
  • Jimbo51, on 11/11/2008, -0/+29That's just a silly idea
  • weezere, on 11/11/2008, -2/+27carbon fiber rocks!
  • barstool, on 11/11/2008, -3/+22The Sony X505 was (still is) the the thinnest notebook.
    It was the first to have the new type of keyboard.
    It was made of carbon fiber.

    It had firewire.
  • Pake, on 11/11/2008, -6/+22You're being too generous. $799 would be their asking price for carbon fiber decal.
  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -6/+21is apple going after the ricers?
  • hamellr, on 11/11/2008, -3/+18I'm very surprised that Apple hasn't already done this. It makes sense on so many levels. The only problem I could see would be in the area of heat dissipation vs. metal.
  • yetAnotherCroc, on 11/11/2008, -0/+12Makes 'em easier to throw?
  • jayzeus, on 11/11/2008, -5/+16Yep, just another reason for them to charge way too much for a laptop.
  • evolutn, on 11/11/2008, -0/+11How much horsepower does the carbon fiber add?
  • suprememilo, on 11/12/2008, -1/+12Function over form, you mean a macbook pro?
  • handler, on 11/11/2008, -1/+11Ricers? Check out what some of the most expensive sports cars are made from. Ricers use fake carbon fiber.
  • Jimbo51, on 11/11/2008, -0/+9True, but that extra weight pays dividends at the point of impact
  • hartley, on 11/12/2008, -1/+10No, ricers can only afford the hood.

  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -17/+26Only a douche bag would buy this...a nerdy douche bag.
  • hartley, on 11/12/2008, -1/+9The only problem I see is an even more inflated price.
  • inactive, on 11/12/2008, -1/+9although they already make them fast, dependable and easy to use...
  • filovirus, on 11/11/2008, -1/+8Apple, please pay attention...Matte screen options.
  • rolf, on 11/11/2008, -0/+7SSD improves a lot more than that. Reading a lot of small files for instance or starting up multiple programs (not cached yet) -- SSD blows hard drives out of the water.
  • Praelior, on 11/11/2008, -4/+11Who would be willing to spend a couple hundred extra for a slightly lighter book?
  • jasmus, on 11/11/2008, -0/+7Isn't that thicker than a macbook air?
  • Octanus, on 11/11/2008, -2/+9This just in: Apple filling MacBook Air with nitrogen to lighten the load.
  • freeballin, on 11/11/2008, -6/+13hopefully this fixes apples recent string of wifi problems
  • specialbuddy1, on 11/11/2008, -0/+7Isn't air already 78% nitrogen?
  • xaxxon, on 11/12/2008, -1/+7I think you're missing the point of the MBAir. It's not for doing video editing.
  • Daniel591992, on 11/11/2008, -3/+9Too many people :(
  • lowdose, on 11/11/2008, -1/+7what next apple? a giant spoiler on the back? or maybe a "type R" decal?
  • peestandingup, on 11/11/2008, -2/+7Its pretty damn light already. Anyways, its good to have at least some solidness to it or else it'll feel too cheap. Not to mention flying off your lap if you so much as move the wrong way.
  • chaon93, on 11/11/2008, -0/+5@Radan I do believe he pliability of carbon fiber panels can very depending on the resin that is used.
  • jotux, on 11/11/2008, -1/+6OVER 9000!!!!
  • morcheeba, on 11/11/2008, -0/+5Carbon fiber is conductive, so it won't help. But, I never had any problems with my Air's wifi, either.
  • Flytrap, on 11/11/2008, -2/+6Everyone currently spending a couple of extra hundred bucks for a solid state disk to improve their boot up time by a few seconds.
  • pixeldust, on 11/12/2008, -0/+4Uh, The MacBook Air is selling extremely well. Obviously someone is buying them.
  • KJSatz, on 11/12/2008, -0/+4Helium?
  • kevlar21, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4or if the wind blows
  • mrsteveman1, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4Found him

    http://video.aol.com/video-detail/euro-guy-21508/9 ...
  • bbardlbradd, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3*Most* laptops are considerably larger too. I have a Macbook Pro, the new one, and it's pretty thin, but not at thin as the Macbook Air, and I couldn't imagine what this computer would do with less space and made of plastic. Macbook Lava.
  • Brentg7, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3@Radan Carbon fiber is extremely rigid. In fact it is more rigid then aluminum or steel. That is why they make F1 cars out of it.
  • bbardlbradd, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3New unibody macbook pro, I don't have problems either unless I'm in XP, then I get random dropped connections, but so does my girlfriend's Dell so it's probably the router.
  • Pitak89, on 11/11/2008, -3/+6They are obviously marketing to babies with crippled arms. Why else make it lighter?
  • smcavoy, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3like they needed one. if you don't like it and/or the price... don't buy it.
    but of course the interwebs wouldn't be the interwebs if everyone that had a pointless comment and kept it to themselves....
    ;)
  • kangy3213, on 11/11/2008, -4/+7But it has the apple logo!
  • morcheeba, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3Hold up an Air next to a 12" PB, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
  • mrBitch, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3@tupperbacharach RE: " I fail to see how the X505 sales and popularity affect the fact that it was thinner than the Macbook Air ... "

    I fail to see how making statements that are completely false assist you in whatever point you are trying to make :

    Apple's MacBook Air is 0.76 inch at it's fattest end (although it does have a size of 0.16 inches at the thinnest point).

    " A special-edition Sony Vaio X505 which went on sale in 2004 came close to Apple’s Air with a measurement of 0.8 inches at the fattest end. "
  • KJSatz, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred a 12" Air over the 13", but for me, a MAJOR priority is a fullsize keyboard. I don't have the hands of a seventh grader, though some people do...power to 'em.
  • Radan, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3Oh, really? I've always believed that carbon fibre was very light and hard to break but in the same time rather soft which made it bendable.

    Nevermind my above comment then :)
  • ClevelandBrown, on 11/12/2008, -4/+7It's funny because Apple's products are overpriced.
  • Octanus, on 11/12/2008, -0/+3Something like that, the only lighter gas is hydrogen, and that's probably not the best choice unless they want exploding computers.
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