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Apple hardware design coincidence?

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Re: Apple hardware design coincidence?

#5
Something to do with multiple Apple products being cut from the same sheet of aluminium to reduce waste, perhaps? From Ive's comments in the Objectified documentary:

'This is the bezel for the iMac. When we remove the aluminium from the display in the centre here, we actually take that material, and then we can make two keyboard frames from it.'

[2min30 into this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVG4LcoY4Y ]

Re: Apple hardware design coincidence?

#7

Something to do with multiple Apple products being cut from the same sheet of aluminium to reduce waste, perhaps? From Ive's comments in the Objectified documentary: 'This is the bezel for the iMac. When we remove the aluminium from the display in the centre here, we actually take that material, and then we can make two keyboard frames from it.' [2min30 into this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVG4LcoY4Y ]

I thought the iPhone frame was steel. Besides, even if the materials were the same there'd be a kerf.

Re: Apple hardware design coincidence?

#8
It could of course just be a coincidence... however I am reminded of the story about how the (new) Mini Cooper exhaust tip was modeled on the bottom of an aluminum beverage can, because the designer happened to find one lying around when building a mockup, and afterwards no one saw any reason to change it. Maybe a designer traced their iPhone while working on an early sketch of the laptop, and then the detail just stuck?

Re: Apple hardware design coincidence?

#9

Something to do with multiple Apple products being cut from the same sheet of aluminium to reduce waste, perhaps? From Ive's comments in the Objectified documentary: 'This is the bezel for the iMac. When we remove the aluminium from the display in the centre here, we actually take that material, and then we can make two keyboard frames from it.' [2min30 into this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVG4LcoY4Y ]

I think it is directly tied to this process; but it's definitely something deliberate (and I assume thought out for a while) as well.

Re: Apple hardware design coincidence?

#10
Reminds me of a story I heard from one of the package guys from Apple when I worked there:

The iPod classic package at one point, if you recall, had a recess that the iPod sat in so you'd see the iPod sitting there waiting to be popped out when you opened the package. That recess was white, but the package engineers didn't like the lack of contrast where the recess walls met the recess base, so they tooled out a small sub-millimeter section of material so it would cast a subtle drop shadow on the base.

That kind of attention to detail, on packaging no less, is one of the big reasons I'm a big Apple fan.

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