Why is the Apple printed circuit board black while most other manufacturers are green?

When 'dissecting' the interior of every Apple MacBook, the skilled engineers are impressed with the clean black circuit board and the components are neatly arranged inside.

Unlike the majority of other electronics firms that choose green for the circuit board, Apple chose black. Why so?

Why is the Apple printed circuit board black while most other manufacturers are green? Picture 1

First, we find out why most printed circuit boards are green.

In fact, that green is the plastic layer that covers the circuit board to prevent the formation of electrical bridges between welds with surrounding electrical paths and protection of copper electrical lines on the surface. circuit board surface from oxidation. In addition, it helps prevent solder from accidentally entering the circuit board during welding in the early days of wave soldering.

As can be seen, the color of the plastic coating around the circuit board is not related to its role. So, why are most printed circuit boards green?

Many years ago, companies used fiberglass epoxy resin, which was naturally green to produce printed circuit boards. Therefore, printed circuit boards are usually green in the beginning.

Why is the Apple printed circuit board black while most other manufacturers are green? Picture 2

In addition, another reason for manufacturers to choose green to cover most printed circuit boards is that this color makes the eyes less regulated when viewed. This is very useful for circuit board testing when this process is still done manually. Although testing is now automated, human testing is required many times before finishing. Therefore, green can still help increase performance in the circuit board manufacturing process.

When the default manufacturers choose green for the printed circuit board, this color will be provided more, become popular in the market and cheaper than most other colors. Another reason for manufacturers to continue to choose green on printed circuit boards, maintain its dominance on circuit boards.

However, the automation of circuit board testing is now more and more complete, so the role of using green on the printed circuit boards gradually disappears.

Along with that, in the early 2000s, manufacturers wanted to distinguish the level between their products (high-end product lines and lower-end product lines), so they often used two different colors.

For example, Asus often uses black for high-end motherboards and yellow for their regular motherboards.

Why is the Apple printed circuit board black while most other manufacturers are green? Picture 3

The black circuit board is considered to be superior because it is more difficult to punch holes in printed circuit boards. Therefore, they have lower productivity, resulting in higher costs than circuit boards with other colors.

However, it was not until Apple chose the blackboard used in the circuit boards for MacBook computers as well as their other devices that they gradually became the symbol for high-end products.

1. The USB connector explains why users have to plug the USB device into the computer 3 times
2. Why is Xiaomi machine with high configuration but still cheap?