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New 'Ultra-Thin' MacBooks Launching in Second Half of 2016 May Sport Metal Injection Mold-Made Hinges

Last November it was reported (http://www.macrumors.com/2015/11/30/thinner-macbook-air-13-15-wwdc-2016/) that Apple was working with suppliers to "fully redesign" many of the MacBook's internal components to achieve a slimmer design. Today, DigiTimes reports (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20160415PD203.html) one of those redesigns is a move to metal injection mold-made hinges.





<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-475526" src="http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2015/11/macbook_airs_2015.jpg" alt="macbook_airs_2015" width="800" height="263" />


Metal injection molding is a metalworking process that's used to create very small metal pieces that are typically used by Apple for the internals of products like iPhone and Apple Watch (http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-watch/). Apple is looking to use the technology for its MacBook hinges to save space and achieve an "ultra-thin" design, according to DigiTimes.





The new hinges will be supplied by Amphenol, who claims to produce some of the thinnest sliding hinges in the world on its website (https://www.amphenol.com). The company partners with Microsoft to produce the parts for the hinges on the Microsoft Surface 4.





While DigiTimes has a mixed track record reporting Apple's future plans, the report does corroborate an earlier report (http://www.macrumors.com/2015/11/30/thinner-macbook-air-13-15-wwdc-2016/) that Apple was working toward a slimmer MacBook, likely scheduled for release after WWDC 2016 (http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/wwdc/). However, it's unclear which MacBook lineup these reports are referring to. Apple's refreshed MacBook is expected to include faster Skylake (http://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/24/intel-skylake-processors-leaked-slides/) processors and Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C (http://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/02/intel-thunderbolt-3-usb-c-displayport-1-2/).

<div class="linkback">Related Roundup: MacBook Pro (http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/)
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Source: New 'Ultra-Thin' MacBooks Launching in Second Half of 2016 May Sport Metal Injection Mold-Made Hinges (http://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/15/macbook-ultra-thin-hinges/)