MacBook Air to go on carbon fibre diet?

By Leon Bailey on Wed 12 November 2008

Another one for the rumour pile this – Apple is planning on dropping the MacBook Air’s weight by replacing its underside with new a carbon-fibre design.

That, at least, is the measured estimation of Kasper Jade over at AppleInsider – the source of this latest rumour. Jade reckons Apple is unsatisfired with current MacBook Air’s weight and wishes to drop it below 3lbs (or 1,363 grams, metric chums). So is there any substance to Jade’s claims? We’ll consider that after the cut.

If AppleInsider’s Jade is to be believed, then Apple wants to drop the MacBook Air’s weight by 100 grams, to 1.263kg (2.784lbs) by swapping out the bottom half with a new carbon-fibre shell. But is he to be believed? Well, he’s certainly done his research: he contacted the tech-dissection specialists at iFixit to ask for a breakdown of the Air’s weight distribution. Jade concludes from this that, at 152g and 11.15% of the total, the MacBook Air’s bottom cover is its second heaviest 'structural' component.

Jade admits that his story is being published "strictly as a rumo(u)r" but goes on to say that AppleInsider believes Apple’s desire to shift to carbon fibre is believed to be "far along" in the development cycle.

Anyway, rather than regurgitate all of Jade’s findings we urge you to head on over to AppleInsider and digest it for yourself – it’s a good read.

[AppleInsider]

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