Is there any rumor as to when Apple will actually start making the
Unibody MacBooks with the rumored Silver-Zinc batteries? I want one
- as I've read that AgZn batteries don't start to degrade until about
5 years, as opposed to beginning immediately with lithium batteries -
and they have a higher energy density - albeit also a higher cost.
Too bad the company that makes them is private and I can't buy stock
in it :)
Sort of unrelated to this - why doesn't Apple entertain the idea of
making a iMac with a power brick (of course it would be a very nice-
looking brick)? Yes, Apple does really like the idea of a computer
with only 1 or 2 cords coming from it - but having a brick I'd think
would allow the computer itself to have almost NO power management
circuitry. I'd think this would make it cooler, possibly (very
sightly) safer - and smaller, and maybe more energy-efficient too.
Now the backlight is LED and not fluorescent (which is good IMO - no
mercury anymore, and it looks "faster" and/or brighter too). AFAIK,
with an LED backlight you don't need a high voltage/frequency AC to
drive it (I think) anymore, so a +6 or +12 DC line would suffice.
The speakers might need +24 though (Apple likes to make loud speakers
it seems for their desktops).
So the (small and thin) line to the computer I'd think might only
need carry four lines with something like +0, either +3 or +4, +6,
and either +12 or +24 volts DC.. So the chips would use either the
+3/+4 or +6 lines, as most chips IIRC are either 3.3V or 5V. The
display might take +12 or +24, and the speakers would use the +12 or
+24 line. The line itself would be thinner, and the actual *plug*
for this line to the computer would be smaller too (things I think
Apple would like design-wise too..)
This 4-pin (0,+3/4,5,12/24V) cable could possibly be a new industry-
standard "DC power cable" that Apple could make and then license for
about 1 cent per plug (pair - male and female on the brick and
computer).. Like Firewire.. Which never really seemed to take off -
at least not the 6-pin version AFAIK (too high a licensing fee?) The
4-pin version had more success it seemed - was that because it was a
free or much-lower cost license? Of course, USB 2.0 (or 3) is taking
over that, and FW 800 is taking over from 400.
It's kind of annoying that they couldn't make the FW 800 female-
socket *physically* compatible with the FW 400 male plug (could that
even be done? Then the "FW 800-only signals" would have to go in
between the contacts of the 400 plug.. Which might get messy
electrically and production-wise.
I suppose perhaps the FW 800 plug could be *bigger* than the 400
plus, with the "800-only" lines would then go on the *outside* of the
socket physically (the FW 400 plug wouldn't even touch them then).
But then, such physical backward-compatibility isn't really needed
in the first place - as one doesn't switch external drives from FW
400 to 800 and back again on a regular basis. And if you're a tech
guy, you're going to both a 400-400 and 400-800 cable in your bag
anyway..
Someone (Apple?) also *really* needs to come up with a standard
micro-USB connector for cameras. It seems like no two cameras have
exactly the same shape connector, but they are all *about* the same
size (about 6 by 4 mm from memory and VERY old metric estimation
skills?). But that means - just as with power plugs for cell phones
- a different USB-camera cable is needed for every camera almost.
(For those who don't just take the card out and put it directly into
the computer/adapter - my mother doesn't..)
Jim
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