I’ve been following Frore Systems (https://www.froresystems.com/) for a while and have wondered if Apple might consider acquisitions of next-gen components like theirs. Presumably Apple wants to wait for them to be proven in production first, but can you imagine an even more power efficient and silent cooling system on MacBook Pros? That would get you current M3 laptop performance in a form factor closer to the last Intel generation MacBook Pro (slimmer).
I would feel physical pain if apple locked in tech like this. So dumb and annoying that we have to cripple so many potential applications just so apple can exclusively put it in a couple high-end laptops.
I think if the tech does not get acquired by someone big you probably will never see it come to market in any meaningful way. AirJet should just let people buy these for DIY to start and build hype and start partnering with OEM’s for preconfigured options.
> So dumb and annoying that we have to cripple so many potential applications just so
My brother in christ, have you heard of the patent system in general?
Try starting a new phone or laptop company. Your step 1 will be to acquire a patent war chest, so if someone sues you for patent infringement (and they will), you can sue them right back for the same.
In this world, if that company is for sale, someone much bigger is going to buy it, and make their technology their own exclusive. Be it Apple or Samsung or whatever. Getting hands on this tech _so your competitors don’t_ would also be a valid reason for acqusition.
They’re moving air through a channel that’s about a mm high, yet claim “dustproof” on that page. Is that realistic?
Also, could a hacker build something like this (but likely much less efficient) at home by taking apart a DLP video projector and playing a carefully constructed video loop on its micromirror (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_micromirror_device)?
you've misunderstood my point -- I'm saying manufacturer claims need to be verified. 10x doesn't mean all that much to begin with and, moreover, fan static pressure claims from manufacturers get verified by virtually no one. a shady manufacturer could straight up make up these numbers and no one would be the wiser because of that lack of independent verification. it's like if a CPU GHz figure was taken at face value, without testing.
The Linus Tech Tips video says that it's a commercial product for use in factories where dust and other airborne material mean they can't use fans for cooling (apparently, similar previous products from this company used passive cooling).
However, the marketing images on the product page don't match with this; there's definitely a lot of images of use at home. I'm not sure whether it's a consumer product or not.
For small companies/startups, selling a niche product, direct to consumers is rarely worth the time. You have a small team that should be putting their effort into selling/packaging thousands with each call, not 2. The company lights only stay on if the collective sales goals are met. And, shipping to Joe Shmoe can easily cost money. This is why places like Adafruit exist: direct-to-consumer is a huge pain.
If the product was any good, Apple would have already signed an exclusivity deal and NDA. If they didn't, another manufacturer would have.
The fact that hasn't happened, either means the product has a big downside (eg. stops working after 1 hour use as it blocks with dust), or because the manufacturer is offering silly terms.
It’s brand new, it was shown at CES. I think they’ve worked with one PC OEM but their devices are designed for much lower heat output at the moment than what a MBP generates.
I suspect it’s more of a “does it work, how does it hold up, and can they scale to our volumes/heat levels” question.
The fact they could hack this is still interesting. Fun to watch.
I currently have the 2019 16” MacBook Pro and it’s thinner than the new chassis. I like the form factor better, though I’ll likely upgrade soon happily for better performance and power efficiency.
