Unibody design

Unibody-Design is the brand name for a construction principle introduced by Apple in 2008 , in which the monocoque principle of vehicle construction is transferred to the manufacture of notebook housings. This was used for the first time in the MacBook Air model series and was then allegedly extended to all Apple notebook models, although the principle was not consistently implemented in some devices marketed as unibody.

The housing is milled from an aluminum block and u. a. At the same time, the cable routing or special fastenings for the inner parts are milled, which should not only make the housing slimmer and more stable, but also crackle-free in long-term use.

In the case of various devices marketed as unibody, such as the MacBook Pro A1286, the display housing, for example, was made from several parts connected by screws and adhesive, which led to a high number of defects. Because the hot exhaust air from the cooling system was directed towards the screen and therefore often loosened the adhesive, the durability of the screen housing was impaired to such an extent that it frequently broke after a while.

For a short time, the unibody design was also implemented with a white plastic housing instead of aluminum for the last generation of the MacBook . However, this was not pursued further because these screens were comparatively fragile and aluminum also offers other advantages in terms of use. In the meantime, other notebook manufacturers are also adopting this monocoque construction principle.

Web links

Promo video from Apple (contains a description of the unibody structure at 0: 40–3: 00 min; MOV ; 154 MB).

Individual evidence

^ Ina Grätz: Full Metal Jacket. In: Ina Grätz , Sabine Schulze (Ed.): Apple Design . Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2011, pp. 76–86. ISBN 978-3-7757-3010-5 .
^ Apple Special Event, October 14, 2008. Jonathan Ive : "For years, we've been looking for a better way of building a notebook. And we think, we've found it. We had a really significant breakthrough, that culminated in the design and manufacture of this product. This is our MacBook Air. ”( Video , at 4: 13–4: 33 min).
^ Louis Rossmann: The truth about Apple's engineering. April 24, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018 .

[1] Ina Grätz: Full Metal Jacket. In: Ina Grätz , Sabine Schulze (Ed.): Apple Design . Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2011, pp. 76–86. ISBN 978-3-7757-3010-5 .

[2] Apple Special Event, October 14, 2008. Jonathan Ive : "For years, we've been looking for a better way of building a notebook. And we think, we've found it. We had a really significant breakthrough, that culminated in the design and manufacture of this product. This is our MacBook Air. ”( Video , at 4: 13–4: 33 min).

[3] Louis Rossmann: The truth about Apple's engineering. April 24, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018 .