Computer's housing CNC'd from solid aluminum

[Merkava_4]

There was only one way to achieve this level of precision: mill the unibody from a solid block of aluminum using computer numerical control, or CNC, machines — the kind used by the aerospace industry to build mission-critical spacecraft components.

http://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html

These new MacBooks are sweet.

What does this have to do with tools?

It's made using a CNC machine; remember?

 

[billymade]

Watch this cool video where they show the whole production process; from extruding the aluminum to CNC machining and final product! Click on the "The New MacBook: Watch the video"; on the right hand top of the webpage: http://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html

 

[speed bump]

To bad they spend all that money on building the case and put low end (Foxconn) hardware inside and that its a Mac.

 

[billymade]

Well, before all the haters start coming out of the woodwork; just watch the video and appreciate the production process, if you can't stand or hate Apple/Mac computers...

 

[2barevo]

To bad they spend all that money on building the case and put low end (Foxconn) hardware inside and that its a Mac.

foxconn ain't too bad. it's quanta that you got to worry about.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

I don't like Macs. Stupid inferior single-mouse-button'd computers.. Grrr..

 

[Danglerb]

Without the Mac you would all still be using DOS and paying the same to Microsoft. The modern PC is just a warmed over Mac anyway, so whats the point.

OTOH CNC sounds like a SERIOUSLY silly way to make a laptop case.

 

[eschoendorff]

I don't like Macs. Stupid inferior single-mouse-button'd computers.. Grrr..

Yeah... right. If you knew what you were talking about, you'd know that the Mighty Mouse is actually a multi-button mouse and that the buttons are programmable. I can right click no problem. In fact, the Apple Mighty Mouse kicks your mouse's ***.

You guys can hate all you want... but when our PCs at school are slow, I can come home and use my Mac network and get all my **** done. The Macs work.

 

[Merkava_4]

In fact, the Apple Mighty Mouse kicks your mouse's ***.

LOL!

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

Yeah... right. If you knew what you were talking about, you'd know that the Mighty Mouse is actually a multi-button mouse and that the buttons are programmable. I can right click no problem. In fact, the Apple Mighty Mouse kicks your mouse's ***.

You guys can hate all you want... but when our PCs at school are slow, I can come home and use my Mac network and get all my **** done. The Macs work.

It's not Macs I don't like, it's a combination of Macolytes and Apple's security patching policy. I've had to recover from more crashes on the MacBooks than I have on the PCs at work, by the way.

By the way, this mouse kicks Mighty Mouse's ***. R2 Mark II

And my normal Logitech mouse that was $10 at Wal-Mart has 5 buttons and an X/Y scroll wheel. And the left and right click buttons on my Logitech can be pressed simultaneously, unlike the Mighty Mouse, which really helps in gaming and CAD.

 

[PAToyota]

I don't like Macs. Stupid inferior single-mouse-button'd computers.. Grrr..

Hmmm... Right clicks on Mac... Left clicks on Mac... Uses scroll wheel on Mac... Left pans with scroll wheel on Mac... Right pans with scroll wheel on Mac...

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

Hmmm... Right clicks on Mac... Left clicks on Mac... Uses scroll wheel on Mac... Left pans with scroll wheel on Mac... Right pans with scroll wheel on Mac...

You can do that with a $10 trip to Wal-Mart on PC instead of a $50-$70 trip to the nearest Apple store (which turns into ~$100 really fast since the nearest place to get Apple junk is in OKC as far as I and the Mac users know).

 

[DiStOrTiOn]

Look, Mac computers are for hippies, and others, that don't know how to use a real computer. Nobody showed much interest in them until the ipod became fashionable, and they started to make the macs look like the ipods. Then all of a sudden, people buy macs. Can we say, trendy? I dislike mac computers, they do crash, they do get viruses, it's just that until lately, no one even cared enough to make a virus for the mac, that's why they don't get them, not because they have superior virus protection, because they don't. They're computers for people with no computing skills, for those who can't double click, the hippies, the old, and the infirm.

 

[jpelosi2002]

It looks like a better cost alternative could be die-casting, electro-polish then anodize. Just seems silly to cnc on such a large scale of production for a piece that complicated. But with asian slave labor anything is possible these days.
Jim

 

[PAToyota]

You can do that with a $10 trip to Wal-Mart on PC.

Actually, I'm using a Logitech G5 on my Mac - just like PC users aren't constrained to Dell mice on Dells, HP mice on HPs, etc.

Not trying to get into the usual Mac vs. PC war that always seems to come up when Macs are mentioned, but they've always worked better for me than PCs - especially since OS X came out.

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

Actually, I'm using a Logitech G5 on my Mac - just like PC users aren't constrained to Dell mice on Dells, HP mice on HPs, etc.

Not trying to get into the usual Mac vs. PC war that always seems to come up when Macs are mentioned, but they've always worked better for me than PCs - especially since OS X came out.

I switch mice and keyboards depending on what I am doing, thanks to USB. I, too, am trying to avoid the Mac - PC war and keep it diplomatic. I'd hate for them to take away Mac - PC comments, too.

I think if they are going to keep putting the Foxconn junk in, they should just build the case the normal cast plastic way. Of course, stamp the frame from aluminum. And they should really fix the filesystem... it is total junk to program for and why some POSIX software does not work on the "100% POSIX-compliant" OS X.

 

[Jononon]

Cool, I love watching that kind of process in action :nerd:

To bad they spend all that money on building the case and put low end (Foxconn) hardware inside and that its a Mac.

Foxconn produce electronics for everyone, including manufacturing the Playstation, Wii, and Kindle.

 

[KenS]

Look, Mac computers are for hippies, and others, that don't know how to use a real computer. Nobody showed much interest in them until the ipod became fashionable, and they started to make the macs look like the ipods. Then all of a sudden, people buy macs. Can we say, trendy? I dislike mac computers, they do crash, they do get viruses, it's just that until lately, no one even cared enough to make a virus for the mac, that's why they don't get them, not because they have superior virus protection, because they don't. They're computers for people with no computing skills, for those who can't double click, the hippies, the old, and the infirm.

Well, I work in a mixed environment of Macs, WinTel and Unix/Linux boxes and provide support for all. I am also an experienced cross-platform programmer. I'm writing this from a Mac that sits side-by-side with an HP.

It is true that all platforms can be susceptible to exploits. That's why on both Mac and WinTel machines there are a steady stream of security updates. However, from your post it's obvious you have little understanding of the underpinnings that drive each respective platform.

In its current iteration, the Mac has its proprietary user interface sitting on top of a Unix system (FreeBSD to be exact). Hold down Command/S on startup and you boot directly into Unix. If you feel that Unix is "for people with no computing skills, for those who can't double click, the hippies, the old, and the infirm," well to be frank, you are quite misinformed.

Oh, and by the way, all the current Macs-- being Intel based-- allow direct booting into Windows, or as many users prefer, running Windows in its own window on the Mac Desktop. And it's obvious from you post that you have no realization that high-end Macs are among the fastest Windows boxes in the world.

When you install Windows onto a WinTel box, you must enter a monstrous serial number and then have the setup verified via internet to Redmond. From that point on your machine is tied to the mothership. Too many hardware changes and you better be ready to for your machine to be crippled. In fact, it's all these communication holes that hackers exploit to raise havoc in the WinTel world.

On a Mac, there is no serial number and no OS protection. It's load and go boys. And the way Mac software is designed, you have to go way out of your way to launch an application and infect your machine. On a WinTel box, the software nicely launches code in the background without user intervention just the way Microsoft designed it. Hence viruses, trojan horses and all sorts of nasty exploits spread like gangrene and keep McAfee and Symantec coders fat and happy.

On my Mac I run OS X, Windows XP (I bet that's what you're running because Vista is such an abomination. I'll be waiting to hear your confession here.) and Unix. Try that on your-- let me guess-- Dell?!?

Another point, the iPhone basically sits on top of a stripped down version of OS X with its Unix underpinnings. I seldom hear Windows users complaining about their iPhones even when they're spewing venom about the Mac. And back home on their Gateways they're happily using QuickTime to view their movies and shop from iTunes.

Any of these sound familiar: Word, Excel, Quark, Photoshop, ad infinitum? All developed on the Mac.

I can use any machine I want. I'm equally at home on any platform. I always go for the Mac.

Here's a little bit of Windows VB code for you to run on your box, if you can figure it out how to do it:

dim as long i

for i = 1 to 100
print "I'm clueless."
next

I would suggest prior to posting you get a better grasp of understanding about what you're talking about.

p.s. Just for you I have attached a photo of the Windows "Blue Screen of Death" [that's the name Windows users gave it, not Mac guys] running on, you guessed it-- a Mac. Fortunately we can just quit out of it and continue writing about garages on this forum.

 

[Tom R]

WOW...a bit too much caffine???...or is that really your indepth analysis of the differences between a Mac and a PC???

Look, Mac computers are for hippies, and others, that don't know how to use a real computer. Nobody showed much interest in them until the ipod became fashionable, and they started to make the macs look like the ipods. Then all of a sudden, people buy macs. Can we say, trendy? I dislike mac computers, they do crash, they do get viruses, it's just that until lately, no one even cared enough to make a virus for the mac, that's why they don't get them, not because they have superior virus protection, because they don't. They're computers for people with no computing skills, for those who can't double click, the hippies, the old, and the infirm.

 

[Danglerb]

If a computer isn't a tool, what is?

The Mac is just the Snapon of computers, nothing wrong if you prefer Harbor Freight (pc).

 

[Moose-LandTran]

If a computer isn't a tool, what is?

The Mac is just the Snapon of computers, nothing wrong if you prefer Harbor Freight (pc).

Mac is the Mac of computers. Overpriced imported **** that aint all it's cracked up to be.

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

If a computer isn't a tool, what is?

The Mac is just the Snapon of computers, nothing wrong if you prefer Harbor Freight (pc).

I resent the remark comparing a PC to Harbor Freight. Now, if you get more specific and say the large manufacturers such as Dell, Gateway, HP are comparable to Harbor Freight, then I shall agree with you.

 

[Stuey]

I can't watch the video. Why? Because apple insists that I must install a new version of quicktime to do so.

Mac likes to do things the Mac way, which often results in double the cost. Sure the OS is nice and all, but the hardware prices are very inflated.

You can take most products, slap them into Apple packaging, and watch how the fanboys flock to overpay for it.

For the most part, I hate Dell, HP, Compaq, and all other similar companies. All four of my running desktops were configured, assembled, troubleshooted, and maintained by me, and they perform much better than any comparably priced pre-assembled systems. Plus there's a minimum of "bloatware" that manufacturers love to install in new systems.

ANYWAYS, I'm pissed that I would need to install quicktime to watch that video - QT has a habit of running in the background and even when I disable it, it finds a way to reenable itself sometimes. Why can't they just move to a universal format that works in all browsers, the youtube way.

 

[KenS]

ANYWAYS, I'm pissed that I would need to install quicktime to watch that video - QT has a habit of running in the background and even when I disable it, it finds a way to reenable itself sometimes. Why can't they just move to a universal format that works in all browsers, the youtube way.

Stuey,

Get a Mac. QuickTime runs flawlessly. Automatic or manual upgrades at your command. Probably something in Windoze re-enabling it-- kinda like the wizards popping up all over at the most annoying times.

 

[KenS]

Just to be a contrarian on my own platform, the new Aluminum MacBook mentioned when Merkava began this thread does not come with a FireWire port. That kills the eminently useful Target mode and means that iMovie that ships with it is crippled by not being able to import video from any FireWire camcorder. Other FireWire devices are also rendered useless. It's sheer-- but quite typical-- Apple arrogance.

See Moose, no platform's perfect. I'm guessing you've never spent more than five minutes on a Mac.

 

[DiStOrTiOn]

Yeah, I regretted posting that about 10 minutes later, but I was already in my car on the way to school. KenS, you make a very good argument that I don't really know what I'm talking about, and I stand corrected. That said, I do not, and will not ever, purchase a dell or any other mainstream computer companies product. Too much **** on there when you buy it, and they're cheap machines, with cheap parts. One of the main gripes I have with apple is over the way inflated price on their machines, I just can't see why the extra cost is justified, when (and I know this is true for pc's as well), you can build a better one for half the cost. Another issue is with Quicktime and iTunes, two programs I greatly dislike. The first time (and last) time I had iTunes on my PC, it installed a process named IPODxxx.exe. No matter what I did, the process never went away, and everytime it would pop up in the process tab of the task manager, the computer would blue screen. Quicktime, I just don't like, it never works properly, and it always needs something else before it will work properly. And, as Stuey said, it runs in the background even after you disable it, eating up resources. I also don't think that the Mac programs are intuitive for someone who is used to PC's and their familiarly standard menu layouts. While Mac's have their place in video and audio editing, I just plain do not like the company or the products. Now, while Macs are capable of running windows, why should you have to purchase and install a second operating system, just so that you can run other programs not offered in Mac format? Why doesn't apple make their OS capable of running windows software? I think they're way overpriced, and not any better at computing than PC's. But that is cool that you can boot into Unix.

 

[Frank Elson]

I worked with Macs for more than 20 years. They're overpriced rubbish.
I've had various PCs for almost the same period at home - and they're rubbish as well.
Most people on this forum can do what I eventually did, built my own. It is not rubbish, it's now five years old and running better than the rubbish - no longer Macs as the newspaper industry has finally woken up - that we have at work.
...and I got to use a bunch of my tools building it

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

Why get a Mac just to run QuickTime? By the way, the when QuickTime updates itself is when QuickTime goes back to starting automatically. I wish OU would back off of the Mac-only thing. It causes a lot of problems for students and instructors at their satellite campuses.

Other than having a computer that is CNC'd from a solid block of aluminum, what is the point of getting a Mac when your PC works just fine?

By the way, I DON'T primarily use Windows, my O/S of choice is Linux. I do use Windows Vista, and after adjusting to it I find it a much more rewarding experience than XP. I still have yet to have any of these "much documented" problems that were not a problem with a hardware or software vendor. It does have an interesting "feature" I've found on my Win2K3 network: it will print to printers that are supposed to authenticate through active directory without authentication. It will also browse the domain and access shares without active directory authentication right out of the box. XP at least prompts me for a password to access shares or print to printers. However, the Vista domain network behavior goes back to XP-like when on a Win2K8 network.

The "Vista problems" are the same problems people had with Windows 1, 3, 95, and XP: major changes which were for the better once you adjusted.

 

[Jononon]

The "Vista problems" are the same problems people had with Windows 1, 3, 95, and XP: major changes which were for the better once you adjusted.

Your parody of a Microsoft fanboi is priceless !

Wait, surely you weren't serious ?

 

[Bolster]

I'm a Mac user since 1988. I tried to cross over to PCs several times (out of work-related peer pressure) but could never adjust to PCs long term. The main reason I have kept Macs is because they are generally stabler, and are easier to fix when they do have trouble.

99% of all the problems I've had on a Mac were traceable to Microsoft software (word, powerpoint, excel, etc.) From my perspective, Microsoft publishes a compilation of of bugs, and calls it software. I've often wondered if Bill Gates' master plan was to make such crappy software for the Mac that its reputation would be tarnished. But then, Microsoft software is no better or stabler on a PC, so that can't be it.

I thought the vitrolic anti-Mac bigotry had died out in the 1990s when Apple was on the financial ropes, and the common wisdom was that the company would not survive. Even more surprising this bigotry is alive today, since Macs and PCs now run Intel chips, and you can configure your Apple to run as either an OSX Mac or a Windows PC. (I have both OS'es on my machine.)

Hippies aren't the ones using Macs; college students are. FYI, the arch-nemesis of all hippies, Rush Limbaugh, is a die-hard mac addict. As for the old and infirm, stop by your local elder nursing home (where the aging hippies are) and you'll find yesteryear's PCs.

 

[Bolster]

Can any Mac person explain to me why one can not cut and paste text from a Word document into a text box in a web page?

Of course a Mac can do this. I just copy-pasted this text from MS Word into the forum entry window. Prime suspect if it's not working? MS Word. Truly craptacular software.

 

[Bolster]

Are you kidding? I have used Macs off-and-on, as needed (school mostly), but not owned one. Even in my limited experience with them, they have not even resembled a stable platform until OS X came out....

Now YOU must be kidding! If you're comparing stability between old Mac OSs and old Windows machines (and I have owned both concurrently), the Mac was stabler and much more fixable, in my experience. However, if you are comparing old Mac OSs and DOS, then DOS gets the nod for stability.

 

[BrianAltenhofel]

Your parody of a Microsoft fanboi is priceless !

Wait, surely you weren't serious ?

I may have come across as a Microsoft fanboy, but I'm not. There are many flaws in their operating system all in the name of user-friendliness. The more user-friendly you make something, the less secure and robust it is.

The "Vista = ****" articles in magazines look like they copy-pasted the same ones from "XP = ****" with Find-Replace XP->Vista. I remember my uncle complaining about going to 95 from 3.11fwg (I was only 9 then).

The biggest complaint I hear at work is "you can't find anything in the Start menu." Once I show them the search bar in Start menu, I rarely hear anything but praise for Vista again. 99% of the complaints I hear both with Vista and Office 2K7 have to do with UI changes. Once you adjust and realize you can make wholesale changes to a document in one screen instead of reading a book to find that one function hidden away in an obscure and illogical array of menus, then you don't want to go back.

Up until using Office 2K7, I preferred OpenOffice. Up until Vista, I used Linux 95% of the time; that has dropped to about 75% of the time.

And if part of your rationale for me being a Microsoft fanboy is my Win2K3 network, that O/S was already here and wasn't my choice. I believe Microsoft has no place in the server world, including Exchange.

By the way, XP's EOL date is Jan. 31, 2009.

 

[Bolster]

Certainly not. My claims came from (comparatively at least) unbiased observation...

Well, I'm glad to know you're unbiased. And that we have your word on it.

 

[KenS]

Most people on this forum can do what I eventually did, built my own. It is not rubbish, it's now five years old and running better than the rubbish - no longer Macs as the newspaper industry has finally woken up - that we have at work.

Yep, the newspaper industry is doing everything it can to slash costs and keep up its 25+ percent profit margins. In some operations the Macs went out with in the process as web width was being shrunk to super-tab size. You just don't need the productivity of a Mac in an environment where you can throw together a $350 WinTel box from TigerDirect, add a $18,000 a year "reporter," and jack up the profit margins at the cost of product value.

I assume the papers you mention are still using QuarkXPress or InDesign. Guess which platform their source code was developed on?

I do understand your "build-my-own-box mentality." Sink a couple hundred into it, shell out a couple hundred more to Microsoft, and give it to Goodwill next year-- oh wait, they won't be accepting computers anymore since they're considered hazardous waste-- then build a new one. You know what it's worth.

 

[1320stang]

Shoot, I've had FAR more luck with Vista than XP other than loading some software on when it first came out.

I've ran AutoCad for 14 years for work and before OS X you couldn't use a Mac. Windows is so familiar that we run Windows based machines, which is what most of our industry runs (as well as AutoCAD) so to remain compliant....

 

[paramudduck]

Eh this site don't even run on windows thank goodness.

 

[KenS]

I've ran AutoCad for 14 years for work and before OS X you couldn't use a Mac. Windows is so familiar that we run Windows based machines, which is what most of our industry runs (as well as AutoCAD) so to remain compliant....

I will grant you that AutoCAD owns the market. Nothing even close on the Mac.

 

[PAToyota]

Take a look at VectorWorks - blows AutoCAD out of the water...

 

[kidder]

DiStOrTiOn - where in the world do you get your info? Stick to working with your hands. I have both my MCSE and ACSA and both platforms have good and bad points but get a clue before you go off half cocked. As with tools - each tool has its purpose. It is good for competition \ the breed to have two of anything. Do you think Snap-on would be as good as they are with out Mac, Craftsman? Finally, I am a administrator on 4000+ client network. In 10+ years none of the Mac's on the network has got one virus of any type! I cannot say that about our Windows clients. I cannot say that about a 8 hr day!