Carbon fiber rumor debunked

Wed, 11/12/2008 - 3:19pm — Quincy Pince-Nez
4445

MacBlogz is echoing some of what we've been hearing from our sources.  The recent rumors of a carbon fiber MacBook not only don't make sense from an aesthetic standpoint, they also don't make sense from a materials standpoint.  Our source said that anyone who knows materials science will know it is made up.  Real carbon fiber can't be used in a laptop effectively - while it is strong, it can't be fastened to aluminum or other metals effectively.  MacBlogz echoes this sentiment:

As an engineer who designs carbon fiber parts, I know it’s an amazing material, but it has its limitations. Ultra light and strong organically shaped structures: Yes! Small intricate parts: No. Laptops from Sony and VooDoo claim to be made from carbon fiber, but it’s not the woven type you see on a Formula 1 car. Its merely injection molded plastic with tiny little pieces of carbon fiber in it. One could call it a marketing ploy.

Why aluminum beats carbon fiber in Apple’s notebooks:

- Anodized aluminum is many times harder than carbon fiber in epoxy, thus very scratch resistant.
- You can easily tap screw holes into aluminum, not into carbon fiber.
-
CNC machined aluminum has tolerances down to a few microns, carbon fiber is much less exact.
- Aluminum can be cast, milled and forged into almost any geometry. Carbon fiber cloth is limited by the geometries it can fit around and there can be no sharp corners.
- Carbon fiber cloth must be laid up by hand before curing - aluminum cutting and forming is automated.
- Aluminum is easily recyclable, carbon fiber less so.

Bottom line...  Don't expect a carbon fiber laptop from Apple or trust anyone who says one is in the works.

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Comments

Carbon Fiber is cool but not very strong!

3336

I think this is not a plausible rumor because I don't think it's strong enough to go up against daily use. Great idea, though!

CF MBA... no!

3431

Carbon Fiber would not fit well with Apple's recent efforts to be more enviromentally friently. CF does not break down or biodegrade and, although it can be recycled, the recycling process is energy intensive and the resulting product has limted uses.

Although CF is the "IT" material for many high performance pieces of equipment, in many cases, the resulting product with it's frame, CF and resins, weighs the same or a little more that aluminum models. In cycling, a scandium/aluminum frame often beats a CF frame on the scales.

carbon fiber

3628

I don't think anyone who has more than half a brain actually believed this was a legitimate rumor.

re: carbon fiber

3431

I don't think.

Fixed.

Good for iPhone

3628

Carbon Fiber will probably be good to replace the back on the iPhone 3G.

But.....

3528

......rumors often have a shred of truth. I have no doubt that Apple's design and engineering labs experiment with all kinds of materials. And that probably means they continue to experiment with a carbon fiber notebook. While the technology may not be there now, what's to say they're not working with it, testing, and perhaps one day in the radical redesign, we'll see something.

So the rumors are probably both true and false. Depends upon what one means by "Apple's working on a carbon fiber [insert product here]."