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Apple has reportedly been working on creating its own manufacturing plants for several years, claims rumour site 9to5Mac, much as CEO Steve Jobs did with his start-up NeXT Computers in the 80s. Currently the manufacture of Apple products is outsourced to several foreign companies such as Foxconn.

The new Brick manufacturing process will reportedly

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see the use of laser and water-jet cutting tools to carve laptop chassis from solid blocks of aluminium. This conjures up images of extraordinarily heavy pieces of industrial machinery, but could actually create smaller and lighter laptops.

By carving the chassis from one piece of metal it's possible to eradicate any seams, screw fixings and bends, which will contribute to making the chassis both stronger and lighter. The technique will also make the chassis smoother and more aesthetically pleasing by avoiding joins between separate pieces of metal.

It is speculated that the next generation of MacBook laptops, expected to be launched on 14 October, will use the manufacturing process. It is thought that the current white and black plastic design will be replaced with a bare metal finish as on the MacBook Air.

It's also expected that the new laptops will use Nvidia graphics chips, replacing the less capable integrated Intel graphics chips that are used in the current range of MacBooks.