Since we heard those
"Brick" rumors the other day, the mill has been all but silent... until now. It's hard to tell exactly what we're looking at here, but damned if this doesn't look like some fancy new MacBook Pro
carved out of a single piece of metal (except for those sides, so, there goes that theory). We'll let you make your own decisions after giving this the once over, but if this is what Apple has in store for us, our curiosity is definitely piqued.
Update: MacRumors
reports that the photo originates from
this Chinese site.
Update 2: More pics appear to have surfaced,
check them out here!
posted Oct 8th 2008 3:15PM
Seriously?
..|..
My thoughts
looks like a regular macbook pro with some shiny plastic on it.
why would they put in the headphone and mic jacks but not anything else?
that's just the conductive metal, not the actual port..
The port line-up and the metal on the audio in/out ports makes this look more like a 15-inch MacBook. Especially because the space between the keyboard and the edge looks just a little bigger than a 15-inch MBP (Just like a 12-inch iBook was a little bigger than a 12-inch PowerBook).
Anyone else think so?
P.S. And because it looks like some sort of mini-DVI port or something between the USB and Audio-in there.
At no point in the articles about this is there any evidence it is actually an apple part....
The Chinese forum just keeps timing out as well.
please please... just come out with the damn thing!
Waiting for the new MacBook !!!! Hope its around 12" inch o 13" inch... I dont want a 15" inch notebook....
Where did the keys go?!
Leave the internet and never come back.
There aren't any keys. That's why it's called the MacBrick Pro.
Macs are not supposed to be used!
I hope we're getting a new Apple laptop, it's a bit overdue.
Hollowed out?
Erm... why is that low ranked? It looks like it's been hollowed out?
I don't think you realize that asking the readers why they low-ranked isn't going to make them rank you higher.
maybe because it's obvious? i dunno. i wouldn't have done anything, but i upranked you to cancel out someone else. people here can be very assuming and quick to judge.
very cool looking, hopefully we will know soon!
I agree. I am not even a Mac fan but that is totally badass. To me the pic looks pretty clear.
cue fanboy exaltation in 3...2....1.....
Ha Ha LOL! Apple Powns you noob! Apple Rulz and Microsux sux!
How's that? :)
that picture really sucks
lol
it was taken with an iPhone.
Yet another sign that iPhone camera needs a serious upgrade.
You can't even take a decent spy shot with it.
I bet yeah that Apple releases these crappy ass pictures on upcoming macbooks just to bring back the hype... They are sneaky that way.
I wants! Lets see ebay the old powerbook and macbookpro and... ?
Anything from Apple is good. Even the fart from Steve job is good, lol.
You are a terrible troll.
Made me LOL. :D :D
That is really, really hot.
When the entire top of the laptop is a single piece of aluminum, and the keyboard is (presumably) screwed directly into it, there will be absolutely no keyboard flex.
And that is sexy.
You know keyboard flex is determined by the backplate right? Not the surface it is showing on, and unless they have broken the laws of physics and can install a keyboard during the Brick process the backplate will need to be a separate piece
Unless they carved the entire laptop out of aluminum .. Then it would truly be an iBrick
I am not sure i understand how this is all that much different than the macbook pro on my desk, i have a single piece of aluminum for the top, and the bottom that is connected by a nice soft maleable piece of plastic that can take a beating on the edges.
What i don't understand is how a single piece of aluminum is better than multiple, isn't it easier to take apart and fix if it is multiple pieces? Can someone give me a real legitimate reason for making these things out of a single piece that makes them that much better than a typical laptop with a strong skeleton?
and to make this remotely close to answering your question: Keyboard flex doesn't seem to exist too much anymore, they back these things as tight as they can - i just pressed a finger down on the "g" key and saw no movement...
Engadget's comments have become so inane lately (after having read through the first page of comments)
If its all one piece how do you remove the battery? Oh wait its a mac never mind.
"Can someone give me a real legitimate reason for making these things out of a single piece that makes them that much better than a typical laptop with a strong skeleton?"
Any joint is a weakness. It relies on two things to hold it together and that's two areas that need to be machined to exact specs and two things that can fail. The strength of the connector (screw, latch, glue etc.) and the durability of the fitting (slot, screw hole etc).
One piece should retain the same strength consistently of the entire piece if the material is not flawed. It also wouldn't need to be bent to shape which would weaken the material, since it would just be carved to that exact shape.
Hmmm...I guess that's why a WELDed joint is stronger than the native material itself. Where did you learn about material science?
Making it from one piece is not necessarily better than from a well designed collection of parts. It all depends on the stock you start out with and how you align stresses and defects. It does make for good sales copy, though.
It would be easy enough to cast or forge a case, and I'd be rather surprised if the current pros don't have die cast panels.
As a side note, welds may be stronger than the native material, due to being a mini casting, but the heat affected zone around the weld is usually weakened significantly.
how does a picture like this ever come around in the first place??? i mean does a factory worker just go hey i wanna take a really shitty picture of something that hasnt come out yet? Im not doubting the authenticity but I guess i just dont get it.
It's called free marketing. Apple dishes out a pic here, rumor there and we all run around talking about it. Consumerism is a blast!
I'm almost positive that Apple purposely "leaks" this stuff to generate rumors and buzz around their [supposed] upcoming products.
If Apple leaks deliberately, their lawyers won't be fighting to get articles and even entire websites to be pulled.
That's what they would want you to think. Plus, because of fierce competition, they can only safely leak so much, Microsoft admitted this when asked about why they are secretive about Zune updates until an announcement is made, I can only assume the same applies to Apple.
@liin: You're confusing "deliberately" with "openly".
ThinkSecret did get shut down. Most did get pulled. Those weren't just pretending for public.
Siting Microsoft's practice and then saying Apple would have done the same isn't convincing and isn't logical at all. I have seen Nokia, Nikon, Microsoft, Lenovo, Dell and even Zeiss to pull the all too familiar tease of releasing bits of info that never add up to the big picture, and providing its audience with a countdown that'll reveal the mystery. But I've never seen Apple done one in the past decade. To me, Apple don't like to build anticipation, (especially when it'll postpone potential buyers of current stockpile), but the fans do. Apple like to just drop the bomb, at least Steve does.
My point was, Apple is sneakier. They leak certain, non-vital bits out about the product, such as the design (past 2 generations of nano), without spoiling features that their competitors could use against them, (genius, etc.). ThinkSecret was probably one of the few sites that was looking for data (and was successful) beyond what Apple wanted the public to know before the launch, so they had to shut it down.
that has been on my flickr all day LOL
I miss mr. blurry cam's blurry adventures :(
Are you calling iPhone cam "blurry"? oh nooo...
spass, you must me new here.
@ Toxicpiano
you win money. i miss him too!
LOL @ spass
ah, lets see I want to take a pic of the secret apple notebook and send it to a blog where millions can view it .. *evil laugh* now let me just take a crappy macro/close-up so I don't spill the beans like I really should ... with such intent that is ..
Everytime I see your avatar, i read your comments with the voice of Apu in my head
that is so funny..! I do that to! hahaa :p
I just hear apu saying that!
Looks pretty plausible to me. It seems to go along with all the new design changes Apple is implementing. I however have a hard time believing that it is in fact all one piece. The edge looks put together, not one continuous piece, and there doesn't appear to be a bottom, making the "Hollowed out" shape. The idea it is the new case though does seem pretty good to me, just not sure about the all one piece thing.
Well, there is that issue with putting things inside it... like the keyboard, mobo, etc. If it were really all one piece, somehow forged around an existing mobo/keyboard etc that would be cool, but not so much expandable, servicable (hey, perfect for Apple!)
They're making it one piece so the battery won't be user replaceable.
looks pretty cool, seems like the chicklet style keys will run right through the body of the computer. you can see the F keys at the top, etc. definitely the pro, though, as it's wider with the speaker on the side.
It's those key cut-outs that make me think this is fake. Or, maybe Apple has totally overlooked the potential problem of replacing a broken keyboard under warranty: the hard drive, wireless antenna plugs, and mainboard would all have to be removed to access the damaged part. Every recent Apple notebook has required you to toggle a couple tabs on top, the smart way to do it.
thats the poit apple is no longer giving warranties and if the serice it it will be damn expensive, casual apple.
So is this engineer the only person thinking about how much machining something like that is gonna cost?
I'm not apple fan but a laptop with the housing machined from a block of aluminum sounds awesome.
I am going to bet that it will be a cast aluminum shell, machined in only a few areas for proper tolerancing. That will make a very robust, flex free chassis...
I was thinking about that too. As an engineer who works for an aluminum producer, machining ingots or billets is a lot more expensive than pressing or extruding out a shape. Also machining out a laptop case would take significantly longer than assembling one from 3 or 4 pieces. On top of everything else the price of aluminum has skyrocketed, along with most other metals, over the past 3 years and machining leaves you with a lot of left over scrap. Even if Apple sells their scrap to be re-melted and recoups some of their materials cost, I don't see how this laptop isn't significantly more expensive than the current MacBooks, if this is indeed not a fake.
Hmm, looks like space for a mini-DVI port on the side there. Me no likey.
You mean the FireWire slot?
BTW
Pink is definitely NOT your color.
I don't think the color is the problem.
Geez, leave the boy alone... ;)
No, chad. I think he's referring to the port that's smaller than the DVI port on my macbook pro that has the same (not firewire) icon next to it.
I'm glad they're not radically changing the way this thing looks, as some rumors have hinted at. I am a big fan of the understated style of the current-gen MacBook Pros
I didn't realize that "understated" really meant "Let's Make Everything White"
Time to go break out the dictionary...
In case you're oblivious to the tailing "Pro" or are otherwise oblivious to the Macbook vs Macbook Pro difference, the Macbook Pro has only been available in aluminum since it's debut. The Macbook is the one that's white.
wouldn't it be ironic if this came out and it doesn't power up. get it? ok i got nothing.
This definitely seems real. The rumors a couple weeks ago cited use of a Mini-DVI port, which this picture clearly shows to the left of the headphone jack.
Wow, I'm totally excited now.... not! It will probably just be
another JAOPOAH (just another overpriced piece of Apple hardware).
I don't really like that the keys don't seem to be flush with the rest of the case. Also if all those ports are on the left I wonder if something is new on the right side of if maybe the DVD slot is on the right now.
Here's a tip: using an abbreviation that you then have to explain the meaning of, defeats the purpose of using an abbreviation.
Also, when "just another" appears both immediately before and within the acronym, i think it leaves the acronym sortof self-defeating. Wait. I mean: AWJAABIBAWTAITILTASSD.
I think the million (okay, 2000) dollar question is: how easy will it be to access/repair/modify the internals?
I would like it to have HDMI out, also carrying audio with it. Would make a nice media center as well for my HDTV.
I'm right there with HDMI - Big plus point to get some media/presentations onto flat-screen TVs.
Now Apple can release notebooks where you can't remove the battery. Good for them.
"now"?
Why is it that every time a secret photo comes out the photographer is the same guy that's shot all the UFO pics throughout history? "Quick the guard's coming, hide."
I think this could look really sharp. But I'm missing the advantage. You still have to get the electronics inside it so there must be a cover somewhere. How is this different than the current Macbook Pros other than the process in which it's manufactured?
If the keys are placed in from the back or the inside somehow, it seems like it would be a bitch to replace the keyboard if that becomes necessary. I have a Powerbook and I can say that even though it's a bit tough to pull it apart, you can do it and replace innards fairly easily.
I won't buy anything built like this until after I see/hear about how you take it apart to repair it. Apple repairs are just too goddamned expensive after the warranty/Applecare runs out.
Where is the back to this case? I only see half of it, and isn't is supposed to be one piece?
Brian.
Is that a S-C-A-R-Y skeleton looking hand I see reaching for the unit on the left there? Boo skeleton, leave us alone!
Oh wait, its just a reflection of the lights from the ceiling...
im done with apple
Are they seriously gonna name the next MacBook Pro "Brick"??? You know what they call a computer when it freezes right?
The name is for the rumored manufacturing process. I doubt they would stick that name on the computer itself.
feb, that's the name of the manufacturing process, not the computer.
But something has me confused about the photo, why would they individually wrap cases in cellophane? Doesn't make any sense from a mass manufacturing perspective as it would just need to be removed for the components.
Looks like a 17" MBP, look at all the space on the side of the keyboard.
Can we please file this under "does anyone give a fuck" category? Honestly, Apple Fanboys aside, who cares.
Umm.... I care. And I am in no way an Apple fanboy.
Note the lack of bottom on the case... so... not so much on the whole case being made from a single block of Al.
You do know they need to put computer parts inside, right?
It looks like it's built like a tank, but isn't it wasteful? I suppose/hope they are reusing the negative space which is carved out of the "brick".
Anyone think Apple can continue with their high priced stock price, when it's a new world of $300 and below notebooks?
Almost certainly wasteful, even if they reuse the negative space by melting it down into more bricks it takes a lot of electricity to get the temps required for such a process.