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how are apple laptops so thin?

post #1 of 13
9/1/06 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 
i have dell e1505 and always thought it was pretty thin. but today i saw someone's apple laptop and it was noticeably thinner while still having a dvd drive.

what's apple doing differently?
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post #2 of 13
9/1/06 at 6:54pm
You think those are thin? Go to Fry's and check out all the notebooks. Sub notebooks are amazingly thin and light and some have the DVD drive.
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post #3 of 13
9/1/06 at 7:25pm
look @ some Sharp computers....they are freaken skinny like a mofo.


what does apple do different? well...most companies start with efficiency...how can they deliver the most useful product for the lowest price yet still have nice profit margins...which adds up to a reletively sleek design, but nothing to write home about, and to add to the useful parts, they are aware new components need better cooling, and to include this better cooling the notebook must be slightly bigger. Apple starts with a different moto...they have that "sexy" image uphold so they start with "how thin and cute can we make a computer with reletively modern components" as such they are forced to give up performance (in case of macbook underclock the X1600) to solve the speed issue....and even then they over heat like there is no tomorrow...
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post #4 of 13
9/2/06 at 3:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by abf
look @ some Sharp computers....they are freaken skinny like a mofo.


what does apple do different? I haven't the slightest idea
fixed
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post #5 of 13
9/2/06 at 3:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by her34
i have dell e1505 and always thought it was pretty thin. but today i saw someone's apple laptop and it was noticeably thinner while still having a dvd drive.

what's apple doing differently?
it has to do with the design of the notebook. As much as abf's answer is decidedly biased anti-apple, some of what he said is true. Dell asks their ODM designers to make them notebooks that are primarily functional. With the exception of the XPS series, which Dell wanted to be flashy, the majority of Dell's notebook line does not have a specific look in mind.

Apple, as abf pointed out, wants its notebooks to look distinctive. In consequence, they tell their ODM designers that their notebooks need to be functional AND need to have a certain form factor. This form factor guideline is part of what makes Apple notebooks much more expensive than Dells: there are more stringent guidelines of hardware placement in order to get everything into the appropriate form factor, which is more work and thus costs more.

Several companies have notebooks of comparable thinness. They either order specific models or buy already existing models from the ODMs they contract from. Or in the case of Asus, as they're an ODM themselves, they just make them to their own specs.
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post #6 of 13
9/2/06 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe
it has to do with the design of the notebook. As much as abf's answer is decidedly biased anti-apple, some of what he said is true. Dell asks their ODM designers to make them notebooks that are primarily functional. With the exception of the XPS series, which Dell wanted to be flashy, the majority of Dell's notebook line does not have a specific look in mind.

Apple, as abf pointed out, wants its notebooks to look distinctive. In consequence, they tell their ODM designers that their notebooks need to be functional AND need to have a certain form factor. This form factor guideline is part of what makes Apple notebooks much more expensive than Dells: there are more stringent guidelines of hardware placement in order to get everything into the appropriate form factor, which is more work and thus costs more.

Several companies have notebooks of comparable thinness. They either order specific models or buy already existing models from the ODMs they contract from. Or in the case of Asus, as they're an ODM themselves, they just make them to their own specs.

can you speak more specifically/technically on what apple did different? if someone were to open a apple laptop and a dell laptop, what would be the differences? (thinner heatsinks? smaller fans? slot loading optical? thinner lcd?)
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post #7 of 13
9/4/06 at 4:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by her34
can you speak more specifically/technically on what apple did different? if someone were to open a apple laptop and a dell laptop, what would be the differences? (thinner heatsinks? smaller fans? slot loading optical? thinner lcd?)
This site has a couple of pictures of the inside of the MBP.

From what I can tell the MBP has:
1) Thin lithium polymer primary battery instead of the normal lithium ion batteries.
2) Super slim optical drive, 9.5mm instead of the typical 12.7mm. Some other notebooks use these as well.
3) Soldered CPU on the motherboard instead of a socket.
4) Thin keyboard with shorter key travel.
5) Low profile fans (from the looks of those pictures)
6) No bottom intake vents, so clearance for airflow not necessary.
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post #8 of 13
9/4/06 at 10:11pm
The same way they are so thigh burning hot?

lol
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post #9 of 13
9/6/06 at 2:17am
you bought an e1505. It puts power/performance ahead of mobility. As stated, that's how Dell designed it. What else did you expect?
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post #10 of 13
9/6/06 at 12:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazybum131
This site has a couple of pictures of the inside of the MBP.

From what I can tell the MBP has:
1) Thin lithium polymer primary battery instead of the normal lithium ion batteries.
2) Super slim optical drive, 9.5mm instead of the typical 12.7mm. Some other notebooks use these as well.
3) Soldered CPU on the motherboard instead of a socket.
4) Thin keyboard with shorter key travel.
5) Low profile fans (from the looks of those pictures)
6) No bottom intake vents, so clearance for airflow not necessary.


The CPU is soldered in? Is this true for all Intel Mac books?
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post #11 of 13
9/6/06 at 1:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by her34
i have dell e1505 and always thought it was pretty thin. but today i saw someone's apple laptop and it was noticeably thinner while still having a dvd drive.

what's apple doing differently?

If you think apple laptops are thin, chek this:
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/rev...ntro4757.html#
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/note..._vaio_X505.htm

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post #12 of 13
9/6/06 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazybum131
This site has a couple of pictures of the inside of the MBP.

From what I can tell the MBP has:
1) Thin lithium polymer primary battery instead of the normal lithium ion batteries.
2) Super slim optical drive, 9.5mm instead of the typical 12.7mm. Some other notebooks use these as well.
3) Soldered CPU on the motherboard instead of a socket.
4) Thin keyboard with shorter key travel.
5) Low profile fans (from the looks of those pictures)
6) No bottom intake vents, so clearance for airflow not necessary.

Actually I don't see any heatpipes at all on the images, but location of two fans suggests strategic layout of components and good planning for airflow. Definitely good engineering.

My personal opinion is that shaving yet a little bit more thickness from mid-size laptop is not worth it. Being thin is a must for ultraportables but not for mid-size computers. Thickness range should depend on the overall volume and other dimensions, i.e. "well built" = "having good proportions"
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post #13 of 13
9/6/06 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustican
The CPU is soldered in? Is this true for all Intel Mac books?

Yes

It was also true for the G4 Minis and all the G5 based computers. I don't know about the G4 iMacs.
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