Apple Insider is reporting that the next generation Apple Air notebook may be replacing some of its aluminum parts with carbon fiber.  For those not in the know, Apple developed the Air as the thinnest notebook in the market, but is apparently not happy about the weight, which comes in at 3 pounds.

Apple Insider has strong sources stating that Apple is seriously looking into replacing various components, more importantly the entire bottom of the case, with carbon fiber.  Just this alone would bring the weight of the laptop down to 2.78lbs.

It’s very possible that this rumor is true.  Apple is known to push the limits in manufacturing, and their laptop is already priced quite high…which should hopefully give them the margins to do some higher end stuff like this.  There is said to already be a pre-production Air out there with the carbon fiber bottom.  While the top is left aluminum, the bottom is now raw black carbon fiber.  If Apple was to continue on this route, there is no word whether or not that look would stay the same.

Apple is not the first to use carbon fiber in their notebooks to reduce weight.  Other companies such as VoodooPC and Sony have recently done the same in production notebooks.  The weight savings is quite apparent, and as costs go down on the sought after material, we’ll likely see it used even more accross the board.