A Brief History of Unibody Construction

In light of the news about the updated construction process for the new MacBooks, it is high time you got a brief edumication on the history of unibody construction. It may seem revolutionary, but the method Apple is using derives from the early 20th century monocoque ("single shell") technique of using an object's external skin to support structural loads. It has its roots in the airline industry where a price drop in aluminum in the 1920's made it affordable to meet the demand for stiff, strong, smooth skins that could handle the stress of high altitudes and increasingly powerful aircraft. By the end of WWII, almost all high-performance aircraft were built using monocoque or semi-monocoque technique. More »