Gizmodo
"Can we say that the MacBook Air has a perfect, sophisticated external appearance, but its insides are full of waste?" And by waste, the Japanese engineers doing Nikkei's teardown really mean screws. Thirty of them. (We thought it was marvelous.) Apparently, Apple is as anal about its manufacturing specs as it is about aesthetics. A common practice for Japanese PC companies is to let the manufacturing plant "improve" the design or implement ones that cut costs. Like, use less screws. But one of the noted that:
"The MacBook Air gives me an impression that its manufacturing plant packaged the computer exactly as ordered by Apple."
The high build cost is "astonishing" to Nikkei's teardown squad. They then go on to claim that they "can't find anything technically superior" about it and that they could "make the same computer at a lower cost."
Yet somewhat ironically, Apple's OCDness about manufacturing is portrayed as if it's compromising good design:
Based on the results of our teardown project, we guess Apple is not paying much attention to both workmanship of the hardware design and comprehensive cost reduction...The MacBook Air's mysterious internal design might be a violent antithesis against Japanese manufacturing, which allows no compromise even in detailed parts of the hardware.So, um whose expertise do you trust? Engineers laboring under the Eye of Jobs? Or ones on the plant floor looking to make stuff cheaper? [Tech On]
Comments
Cutting costs doesn't always improve the final product.
fewer screws
Ahhhh... the REAL reason why a Dell falls apart while a Macbook doesn't...
Take the good review and combine it with the bad review = it's ok ;)
fewer screws.... countable nouns use fewer.
less salt
fewer grammar nazis.
thats why I like to cut corners.
These are japanese engineers, not chinese engineers.
Cost reductions don't mean a worse product, it just means less waste.
Would you feel better if your tires were held on by 12 lug nuts instead of just 4? I guess you might if you bought a mac.
Hmm. Mine is full of win. At least the hard drive is.
@officeboy: When it comes to electronics, I would rather the product have 12 screws holding it together, than 4 thank you very much.
@officeboy: My tires are held on by 5.
I just comes to show you that EVERYTHING can be improved.
Even a MAC.
Hm. Their idea of less screws = more children that choke on your "cost-reduced" and lead-contaminated toys.
Take your extra screws and put em in your head.
I agree with the Japanese. Everytime I take something apart, I put it back together with half the screws.
I think I agree with the Japanese on this one. As much as I want to like the MBA, it just seems like they took this idea of smallest. notebook. evar. and ran with it, but they just kept running and running and running, until they couldn't run any more. Run Jon, Run!! And by the time they finished, they obviously lost sight of some key objectives while focusing too hard on the WOW! factor. Or, should I say, the BOOM! factor.
I would happily walk around with the second, or even third smallest laptop on the market, as long as its merits make up for the lack of cutting edge design.
And if it's gonna hold my MacBook together better than without - leave the damn screws.
@ideaman2020: My tires are held on by prayers and rubberbands.
More != Better
That having been said.
Less != Better
and sometimes
More == Worse
along with
Less == Worse
Now, define better: More profitable, just as secure while being more profitable, or more secure.
Not like Apple tries to compete on cost/price anyway. Besides, Chinese communist slave labor hardly factors into the equation. The Japanese would have robots applying the screws.
@Falconfire: and you'll end paying $1300 for a $800 laptop.
It's been the Japanese engineering tradition of reducing costs and waste that has made them a international business power.
I trust the planet's industrial engineer, will likely wants to update the design to a simplier, faster, easier one.
@workingonyourinvoice: You stole the rubber bands from your shelf didn't you...
Let no man say that Apple doesn't give you more screws for the buck.
And this is one of the reasons why Apple hardware is worth a premium in cost. Isn't it nice buying a product where you know the manufacturerer actually had to bother to use all the screws to assemble it; instead of just the ones that were convenient?
@ANoel: Well, people here are always talking about how you get screwed by Apple's pricing for their hardware...
@Xavoc:
It was me.
I took them for my sexperiments.
I can't say anymore.
Fucking Air...
@ideaman2020: Oh man, I love lug nuts!!!
Those Japanese who made those comments, rather than criticize Apple's design -- why dont they design something better? Also, the MacBook Air is in its first generation. Of course in FUTURE REVISIONS the Air will be more efficiently manufactured.
If they are SO DAMN SMART why didnt they make a more efficiently manufatured, less expensive Playstation 3 in its first generation?
My five-year-old Powerbook G4 disagrees with the need for fewer screws. Not a dent or scratch or twist in it.
How many laptops have you bought in five years?
Nice new look for comment posts. :)
@ANoel: Oh, ok. Carry on then!
I'm a manufacturing engineer and from the japanese standpoint waste is identified as extra steps to produce (not necc. extra parts). From the 60/70's on the TPM (toyoa production model) is being used in most high end manufacturing environments. Im not sure how much the extra screws will add in terms of product longevity or robustness, but I do know that the operators involved and the time it takes to put those screws in is costly. Even if you needed 12 hold down points there are other alternatives to screws that can be cheaper. If screws are required, they can also be used for multiple items; I.E. holding the case together also holds down a circuitboard, etc. Again, im not sure that this is a viable alternitive, im just commenting on the 'wastes' that are referenced in the article.
this is like comparing super cars against economic cars. the mba is a supercar. it's not for everyone. it's for pompous richies or desperate trendsetters in debt. if you see any child carrying this you are morally entitled to rob that kid blind. And honestly I'm not going to trust a country that screws love dolls as a hobby. pun unintentional.
That's why they call it a work order.
Say, are they phillips or torx screws? Maybe those engineers were just upset because they had the wrong type of scredriver.
@officeboy: I'd rather 12 screws... especially if it's an American made car.
@shorty63136:
You actually don't know the difference between China and Japan, do you?
what-ev you 20-20 hindsight, monday mroning quarterback engineers.
"Jimmy Page didn't write 'Stairway to Heaven' until he was 23. I could play it when i was 12." - Vim
Isn't the MBA assembled in Taiwan? Sounds like sour grapes on the part of the Japanese engineering firm.
And hey, Giz commenters, there's no need to get all uppity about the number of screws in a laptop.
That said, I'm in the more is more camp on this particular issue.
@ANoel: You might wanna clean them off first, and if you need some ideas, PM me. They've worked out great for me.
@rdldr1: Maybe they don't work for Sony.
@AlphaUltima: "the mba is a supercar. It's not for everyone. It's for pompous richies or desperate trendsetters in debt."
My girlfriend got one because she wanted a laptop that would interface nicely with our iMac, she doesn't know much about computers and wanted one that was easy to use, and is disabled so she can't carry around anything heavy. She makes under $40,000 per year in New York City.
Which category does she fall into, asshat?
Well, Japanese are known for being very efficient in cutting cost of production especially in their plants (factories). I know that Japanese engineers came to an automobile plants here in the US and reduce the output time from 2 weeks down to way less than 1 day...
I guess 12 useful screws is better than having functionless screws just for the sake of aesthetics. *cough*Macbook*cough* Maybe the put the screws that they left out of the macbook in to the macbook air.
But i really love the high and mighty "fuck those goes in japan" attitude some of you guys have. As though you know better. Or as though they don't know anything about tech because their Japanese... yeah, because that makes a lot of sense.
Since converting to Apple computers, one of the things I have noticed is the SUPERIOR quality of the construction.
Maybe Japanese computer companies should take lessons from Apple AND their Japanese cousins in the auto industry - I know that Toyota doesn't let the assembly plant re-engineer the design of their cars with less screws.
I said it before(You can read it in my second comment in the linked article) Talk to a engineer not a journalist(blogger) for technical information on a product. As a engineer the air seems like a joke when compared to all the hype.
It's very heavy for the lack of options. It is was 2 lbs or had everything the R200 or M1330 had and was 3 lbs, then I'd be impressed.
@Beerad: Is your the girlfriend the chick from the joke where the dad says, "I'm just thankful you didn't leave her hanging in the tree!"?
The Japanese have no call to discuss "waste" given their penchant for triple-layered packaging that weighs more than the product it's supposed to contain.
After reading the article in Japanese, I think the English translation make the engineers sound more harsh and criticizing than they actually were. They are truly perplexed by the overbuild of the Air, they feel that the same results (rigidity, structural integrity) can be had with less than half of the screws and components not as robust on parts where there won't be too much strain.
Well if it's as sturdy as my Macbook or at least close then I'd rather have more screws instead of it costing less. I learned that a tough laptop is worth it when it's dropped no thanks to my friend. And from years of experience with Macs, they are of superior build quality and I've never had a problem shelling out the extra cash for one.