“However titanium isn’t very resistant to oily dirty fingerprints.
Reports have been saying that Apple has been researching thin oxide surface coating to reduce its effects.”
Aluminum Expert
Apple is a master of aluminum.
Lifewire / Charlie Sorrel
If it uses metal to build a product, that metal is almost always aluminum.
Over the years, Apple has gotten really good at using it.
Apple mills its aluminum bodies from solid billets of alloy.
raneko / flickr
These “unibody” shells are stiff and light and manage to do a great jobmost of the time.
raneko / flickr
Pick up a modern MacBook Air by one corner, and youll feel no flex.
But be careful with the iPad Pro, especially if you have the 12.9-inch version.
Sorin Gheorghita / Unsplash
This is still Apples slimmest computer, and it is alsoin my somewhat scary experiencethe bendiest.
Alloy
Aluminum and titanium are seldom used neat.
They are baked into alloys that offer different properties.
Waleed Alzuhair / flickr
And it can also be used to make incredibly stiff components.
A titanium plate inserted into a broken leg needs to be flex-free to keep your bones in place.
Apple would presumably opt for a stiff alloy.
This would mitigate or even cure the problem of bendy iPads.
The hard metal also would resist deforming when dropped on a corner.
But these advantages come at a cost.
Hard Work
Titanium has several disadvantages when compared to aluminum.
One is that it’s harder to work.
Forget milling it from a single block, for example.
Apple would have to change its production techniques, although its pretty good at designing those, too.
Sorin Gheorghita / Unsplash
Another drawback is weight.
Titanium is heavier than aluminum.
Also, titanium is a fingerprint magnet.
Thiscan happenafter thetitanium has been anodized, which is what Apple does to its aluminum devices to finish them.
And titanium is also a poor conductor of heat.
And dont forget, Apple has already made a titanium laptop, which was something of a beloved disaster.
Past Experience
ApplesTitanium PowerBook G4was launched in 1992.
The alloy used was brittle, and the hinges would snap off.
To mitigate the fingerprint issue, Apple painted the titanium silver, and the paint flaked off.
This time, Apple is more likely to get things right.
It might mean a redesign of the iPad, but were unlikely to get flaking paint and snap-off corners.
The patented method promises to circumvent the difficulties of etching titanium using a new process.
Despite these drawbacks, the result may be worth it.
If titanium can fix that, Im all in.
