MacBook Air Rumors: Carbon Fiber?

Seeing that I’m a big Apple fan, I’m curious to see if the latest MacBook Air rumors turn out the be true.

Apple Insider has it that the next line of MacBook Air laptops will switch from an aluminum case to a new carbon fiber setup to cut the weight of the worlds thinnest laptop down to under three pounds! The new carbon fiber would be used on the bottom of the laptop.

What’s carbon fiber, well just what it sounds like, according to Apple Insider:

Carbon fiber is an extremely lightweight material comprised of very thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 millimeters in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The atoms bond together in microscopic crystals that are aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber and can thus be used to form exceptionally strong composites without requiring more material.

Sounds great, but does the Air need to loose weight? Right now, the notebook sits right above three pounds, and the fiber case is rumored to lower that weight to 2.78 pounds? Is that small of a weight loss really needed? Will anyone notice? Will it affect the price?

And that there, my friends, is the kicker. A carbon fiber case would likely need a new production process and, perhaps, a price adjustment.

But really, is a price adjustment news for apple?