Unibody iPods?

Seth Weintraub
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April 09, 2009
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iPodNN is reporting that Apple has patented the application of the Unibody process to iPods. The one in the picture, the Classic, seems to be heading towards EOL in a generation or two so that's not terribly exciting.  What would be VERY interesting is if they applied that to the iPod touch and iPhone.  Mockup artists, that's your cue.  Meet us in the comments?

Comments (19)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 6:38pm

here's a good one!

Blobfish (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 8:01pm

That would look pretty decent if it didn't look so horrible.

hewsthat (not verified) | April 10, 2009 - 9:46am

no!...that's a bad one...it's a really, really bad one. Why does everyone think this looks good, or for that matter, why does everyone think this resembles apple design. See, this is why apple has an award winning design team and you're not on it. nor is the guy who came up with this beastly mock-up.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 7:21pm

I like this one

Benjamin Dobson | April 10, 2009 - 1:47am

And as the commenters said, that would be impossible to hold landscape.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 7:31pm

I thought the 1st generation iPhone was already done using the unibody method, and that they adapted that for the iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro.

9to5Mac Knob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 10:04pm

Pressed aluminum sheet is not unibody. Unibody refers to hollowing out a block of aluminum to a desired shape.

Ryan Gray (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 10:09pm

I can tell you the 1st gen iPhone uses just an aluminum stamped back and not a unibody as the dents in mine prove. The recessed headphone only makes it look solid.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 8:07pm

While it may not appear in the next generation of products, it should be eventual -- afterall, Apple has a schedule to release new ipods and iphones every year - gotta make it interesting enough for people to ditch their current ones and buy the hot-and-new. I don't imagine this happening until they can get their cost down on the unibodys. Considering that's why the low-end macbook unibody is still $1300, they're not there yet.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 8:08pm

The 2nd generation iPod Touch is already a "unibody" construction.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 8:36pm

A unibody iPhone is the supidest idea i've heard for a while
yet it would chang much, 3G can not (Efficiently) go through an aluminum housing, there for, the new sexy plastic is the way to go.

9to5Mac Knob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 10:02pm

Machining aluminum to be a thin face plate would be just plain silly. This has to be a patent which will be extended to something else for sure.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 09, 2009 - 11:36pm

Some of the Nano and Shuffle lines are almost unibodies. They use a blank of extruded aluminum, mill out some parts (for the display and clickwheel, in the case of the Nano,) and then do a surface finishing tratment.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 10, 2009 - 1:23am

Wasn't the iPod mini unibody'ish?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 10, 2009 - 1:24am

I think this may be a generic cover for where they are going.

Benjamin Dobson | April 10, 2009 - 1:50am

You think the classic is EOL'ing? But what about all the people who like to carry thirty thousand songs around with them?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 10, 2009 - 2:06am

Aluminum is not fitted for phones. It's bad for the reception. That's the main reason why they abandonned it after the 1st gen.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | April 10, 2009 - 2:27am

Unibody doesn't have to be aluminum. You can mill plastic. Plus this would allow them to mill the antenna area very thin so it would not have interferance.

I just don't know how they'd make them quick enough. Unless this is just for premium (iPhone/iPod pros) at the start.

henke (not verified) | April 11, 2009 - 3:22pm

A unibody iPhone would be so damn awesome. I really hope that they figure out how to keep as good wifi- and 3G reception as possible and still make the iPhone out of aluminum. The 2G iPhone is a real looker!