I recently handled a ca. MacBook Pro from 2004, and it feels awful, like a collection of parts barely holding together. My 2008 unibody MacBook still feels nice to the touch and rock solid, even though it has been dead for many years now.
Unibody was a huge investment for the company and my understanding is that this was in part one of Ive’s highest career points.
If I remember correctly, before unibody laptops the chassis was a separate component inside, with everything including the case attached on the outside.
Yep - the case was pressed aluminium, which cant be returned back to it’s original shape after it has been deformed or bent, so the fitment around thinner spots near the ports and cd drive would always look a bit off after a few years of use.
Thicker aluminium on the unibody is less prone to bending, and much easier to assemble once you’ve overcome the challenges that come with milling, such tooling, optimising the materials usage and recycling the swarm and scrap.
I agree, I just gave away my wife's 2007 macbook from grad school and it was a great piece of engineering. I also really like my 2004 T41p until the magnesium hinges broke in half - otherwise another great laptop. For the people saying these new ones are expensive, both of those machines 15-20 years ago were much more expensive.
I recently handled a ca. MacBook Pro from 2004, and it feels awful, like a collection of parts barely holding together. My 2008 unibody MacBook still feels nice to the touch and rock solid, even though it has been dead for many years now.
Unibody was a huge investment for the company and my understanding is that this was in part one of Ive’s highest career points.
If I remember correctly, before unibody laptops the chassis was a separate component inside, with everything including the case attached on the outside.