MacPro (Late 2013) mini-ITX case mod

[CC Ricers]

Sorry, but I hear everyone saying that and I've yet to see one that actually looks exactly like a Mac Book, short of the branding, of course. Sure, they all look alike, but so do Smartphones, at least from one angle. If you want to do minimalist design, you're already limiting yourself to a small subset of possible design elements. If everyone tries to do minimalist design of a similar product, it's inevitable that some design elements will be seen in several of these devices.

Samsung Ativ laptops have the MacBook look with similar profile, color combinations and chicklet keyboard with the VAG Rounded font that Mac Books use. Those are the ones I have seen that share the look the most. Apple hasn't said a word on those laptops yet. They seem to be much more defensive on their line of iPhone and iPad products, which makes sense when talking about Samsung. Apple feels a greater market pressure from Samsung on smartphones than on laptops.

 

[jeshikat]

There are laptops out there that resemble the various MacBooks but the similarities here are uncanny.

 

[confusis]

There are laptops out there that resemble the various MacBooks but the similarities here are uncanny.

 

[dunecase]

Hi Winebaths .. The thermals are pretty good and i have stress tested it using Prime95 and a few other tools. With the fan on top it dropped 10 degrees Celsius. If the Kickstarter is funded I will make sure an optional display port is avaliable. Also it comes with a 140mm case fan that sits on top and the psu is designed to split the airflow

 

[NFSxperts]

Very nice internal design. What are its dimensions? Is it smaller than 10L?

 

[dunecase]

Hi NFSxperts there dimensions are:

 

[dunecase]

hi windbaths... I this was tested in a very humid environment with 90-99% humidity and it was rolling around 57-59 degrees Celsius using prime95 stress test on i7 4770k and 970 gtx mini itx... the numbers are not official but through my testing thats what I was getting during the summer. and yes displayport will be an option...

 

[dunecase]

Sorry, but I hear everyone saying that and I've yet to see one that actually looks exactly like a Mac Book, short of the branding, of course. Sure, they all look alike, but so do Smartphones, at least from one angle. If you want to do minimalist design, you're already limiting yourself to a small subset of possible design elements. If everyone tries to do minimalist design of a similar product, it's inevitable that some design elements will be seen in several of these devices.

we refined a cylindcal design for pc cases which we have seen before 2013 in prior art.. this a PC case not desktop computer.

 

[jØrd]

call it what you want, do you actually have a plan to compensate kickstarter backers if it all goes to shit and Apple put a lawyer on it and you cant afford the legal expenses (or a similar scenario involving Apple, their lawyers, etc)?

Im not saying it will go to sh!t, im saying as someone who is really interested in this case i havnt seen much that would make me feel confidant dropping significant cash money that it wouldnt get shut down and backers be left out of pocket. i'd love to know, do you have a contingency plan / plan B?

EDIT: have you had any legal advice about releasability / potential issues?

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

call it what you want, do you actually have a plan to compensate kickstarter backers if it all goes to shit and Apple put a lawyer on it and you cant afford the legal expenses (or a similar scenario involving Apple, their lawyers, etc)?

I really wouldn't be worried about this possibility, but even if Apple does approach them, they can just issue a refund - funds won't even be released by Kickstarter until weeks after the campaign ends, and Apple would likely intervene well before then.

 

[Phuncz]

Sorry, but I hear everyone saying that and I've yet to see one that actually looks exactly like a Mac Book, short of the branding, of course. Sure, they all look alike, but so do Smartphones, at least from one angle. If you want to do minimalist design, you're already limiting yourself to a small subset of possible design elements. If everyone tries to do minimalist design of a similar product, it's inevitable that some design elements will be seen in several of these devices.

Spoiler: Offtopic

I agree with you, it's not easy if you want to it minimalistically. But let's not forget how different the world of phones, desktops and laptops looked before Apple went berserk. Devices didn't look like Apple's and Apple's devices didn't look like others. But it's clear when a company innovates and others just follow.

I'm also not referring to blatant 1:1 copies but products that start with the existing design of a product and redesign it somewhat to not trigger the patent lawyers:

Most brands had a distinctive design language, where you could immediately recognize the brand. Now they all mush into the same drab that just resemble that one brand. It's sad to see such lack of design and I don't doubt this is the lack of the designer's capabilities but the company's leadership switching from "people recognize our brand design, nothing needs to change" to "just make it look the most like Apple's products without legal consequences".

 

[Winebaths]

hi windbaths... I this was tested in a very humid environment with 90-99% humidity and it was rolling around 57-59 degrees Celsius using prime95 stress test on i7 4770k and 970 gtx mini itx... the numbers are not official but through my testing thats what I was getting during the summer. and yes displayport will be an option...

Could you list out the clearance for CPU cooling? You said on twitter you were using the stock intel cooler but that's not the only cooler available right now. What's the maximum height cooler?

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

I hear everyone saying that and I've yet to see one that actually looks exactly like a Mac Book, short of the branding, of course. Sure, they all look alike, but so do Smartphones, at least from one angle. If you want to do minimalist design, you're already limiting yourself to a small subset of possible design elements...

I agree with you, it's not easy if you want to it minimalistically. But let's not forget how different the world of phones, desktops and laptops looked before Apple went berserk. Devices didn't look like Apple's and Apple's devices didn't look like others. But it's clear when a company innovates and others just follow...

It's interesting how companies and consumers alike navigate the spectrum of imitation, from "similarity" to "inspiration" to "cloning". It's also interesting (to me, at least) where along that spectrum people draw the line, and say that 'any greater form of imitation beyond this point is a bad thing'.

Spoiler: Somewhat off-topic

I personally feel that imitation does a lot more good than bad in consumer industries and products, since I don't think good ideas should only live with the companies that came up with them. Cross-pollination of innovative designs and features enable the best possible products to be made, and also provide an incentive for companies to keep innovating, rather than rest their laurels on a monopolization of a few ideas they came up with some time ago.

That said, I do feel that there is a line to be crossed, where imitation becomes harmful. A company like Apple would argue that such a line exists when the imitator devalues the work of the originator, and thus imposes a disincentive on any future innovations (since copycats can just swoop in and make money on the backs of other designers, without investing anything themselves). Alternatively - and as they explained in their litigation against Samsung - Apple might argue further that design imitation can be so pervasive and deliberate as to confuse consumers, and 'fool' them into transferring their positive associations and goodwill from Apple to Samsung.

Even as a creator set to launch a product, though, those are minor considerations in comparison to my greater consternation as a consumer, and that has to do with how companies philosophically approach designing products. When you look at a bunch of the community projects here and elsewhere, you find pretty quickly that they were designed very deliberately (if not methodically), with the needs of the consumer at the forefront of what determines the design, aesthetics, and features. In such a modal, the aesthetic is a consequence of this philosophy, and thus becomes both self-evident and genuine to what the product is meant to be. Nothing faces artificial constraints.

Comparatively, with a lot of the products on the market that look like Apple products at a distance, it's clear that the design goal wasn't "the best incarnation of this idea we can come up with", it was "the best we can come up with, so long as it looks like something made by Apple". And the end result of that pursuit is almost invariably a product that's similar, but always worse; interesting, but never compelling in the way the product they're imitating is. It probably makes money and increase revenues and bottom lines for these firms, but it does so at a disservice to end users, because it's an end result that was designed to sell, not to optimize for the use case it's intended to serve.

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Mind you, even designing towards 'minimalism' broadly in this way is harmful, because minimalism isn't a design to work towards. It is a philosophy of intense focus. That's what people should be copying - the process, not the end result.

 

[jeshikat]

How does the HDMI route from the video card to the rear IO? I don't think I've ever seen an angled HDMI connector that is low-profile enough to fit.

 

[iFreilicht]

How does the HDMI route from the video card to the rear IO? I don't think I've ever seen an angled HDMI connector that is low-profile enough to fit.

I did.

About the whole design debate thing: I think I'm seeing your point, PP and Phuncz. Especially this:

Mind you, even designing towards 'minimalism' broadly in this way is harmful, because minimalism isn't a design to work towards. It is aphilosophy of intense focus. That's what people should be copying - the process, not the end result.

 

[jeshikat]

Oh wow, that's really cool.

 

[dunecase]

Oh wow, that's really cool.

Thanks aibohphobia .. here are some more shots ...

 

[jeshikat]

Do you have any pics of a working system?

 

[dunecase]

Yes of course .. I will do some pics of testing later on .. just organizing the campaign at the moment.

 

[NFSxperts]

Hi NFSxperts there dimensions are:

Around 9.4L, nice.
Is the funding page up yet?