October 2008
The term “brick” was mentioned in a 9-to-5 Mac when their source said that the MacBook update is “all about the Brick.”
9-to-5 Mac now claims that the “brick” isn’t a specific Apple product but rather a manufacturing process that uses lasers and jets of water to carve MacBooks out of a solid mass of aluminum (a.k.a. a “brick”).
The a new lineup of MacBooks is scheduled to be released on 14 October 2008.
Apple declined to comment on its plans, but the company has made patent filings related to the design of notebook enclosures. In May 2007, it filed for a patent on a design for “enclosure parts that are structurally bonded together to form a singular composite structure.… That is particularly useful in portable computing devices such as laptop computers.”
An entirely new manufacturing process could be what Apple’s Peter Oppenheimer (CFO) referred to as a “product transition” will cut profit margins to help shut out rivals during his Apple’s Q3 2008 earnings conference call with analysts. BW adds that the transition is among the reasons Apple said it expects to make lower gross profit margins.
If this is the case, Apple probably isn’t building the new “brick” machines in the U.S. Although Apple announced plans for a new campus in Cupertino, CA two years ago to support its growing workforce, it’s two years behind schedule.
Kevin Keller, an analyst at market research firm iSuppli adds “If they’re doing this at all, there is no doubt in my mind that it would have to happen in Asia,” Keller says.
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