> I think it's a combination of optimising for space and cost - every connector that needs to be aligned and connected, and every screw that needs to be installed, requires time and labour.
And yet the keyboard alone uses both glue and about 90 screws (https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/YYpaGaNumhQuR5M6)
Re:Retina Macbook 2015 Teardown
by TazeTSchnitzel on Friday April 17, 2015 @12:55PM
(#9395579)
Presumably glue is unworkable for some of it. Or it needs to be reparable.
Re:Retina Macbook 2015 Teardown
by maxerickson on Friday April 17, 2015 @07:52AM
(#9393677)
I took a DFM class in school.
I don't think there was a similar class about product life cycle available.
(Which doesn't mean that it will be ignored, but I think we are sort of in a place right now where cost control sees too much emphasis while value is overlooked. And I think there are lots of decisions that could be made to favor value without impacting costs, which would be a good reason to include value maximization in design practice.)
I think it's a combination of optimising for space and cost - every connector that needs to be aligned and connected, and every screw that needs to be installed, requires time and labour. It's far cheaper and faster to glue and solder everything together. This is known as DFM in the industry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_for_manufacturability
One of the more obvious examples of this in laptops is the move from keyboards with shaped keys to flat "island-style" ones; the latter are cheaper to produce.