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NightMoose

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2012
29
0
I bought my first Mac (2012 13" MBA w/ upgraded RAM) a few months ago and I absolutely love it. Say what you will about Haswell and battery life, the only way I'd consider upgrading to a 2013 model is if they got rid of that god awful bezel around the screen. Reading through the predictions, most people are saying a redesign isn't likely for 2013. I haven't been hip with Apple products for very long and I'm wondering if they are likely to change the bezel without redesigning the entire frame.

If such a change were in order, wouldn't we have seen leaked parts surfacing like with the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and iPad 5?
 

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,961
13,939
I doubt Apple would change only the bezel. Apple on laptops seems to either put forth a whole new design, or tweak only a minor thing when it comes to external looks. Minor tweaks in the past have been the addition of a camera, adding / taking away a vent here or there, or moving the location of an antenna. Other than that, changes seem to be mostly under the hood changes (such as rearranging components, making battery integrated).

I am also in the camp that things there won't be a MBA redesign in 2013. It just feels way too premature to me.
 

Stetrain

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2009
3,550
20
I think there's a possibility that they will go with the retina MBP style bezel which has edge-to-edge low glare glass without adding a second layer like the old MBPs did. I did a mockup just to see how it would look.

Maybe alongside an upgrade to IPS displays at the same resolution? I guess a redesign depends on what the roadmap is for a retina Air.

If that's in the far distant future then I could see a refresh soon. If there's a retina version planned for say next year then I don't think they would bother changing anything now.

Parts leaks wouldn't necessarily happen. The iPhones and iPads have to be produced at a much higher volume than Macs so there's more possibility for an early leak. There have been Mac parts leaks before but usually just a couple of weeks before announcement.

Of course it's all just speculation, I haven't seen any reported rumors of a redesign.
 

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maxosx

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2012
2,385
1
Southern California
I like being able to easily and quickly open the computer without having to be careful not to get fingerprints on the glass. The highly reflective regular glass Apple put on the MacBook Pros for years was really bad.

The aluminum bezel, while it's ugly since it's so thick, is still better than glass.

Fortunately my 15" MBPr has glass that's not so shiny. Also it conceals the ugly black border when it's off. Unlike the prior models. Once booted up and being used the black border / bezel is not as noticeable as the older models. An overall improvement.
 

splitpea

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2009
1,133
395
Among the starlings
I don't mind the bezel and would much rather have a bezel and matte screen than a heavy, reflective glass panel. Tbh, I never even notice that the bezel is there. Maybe that's just an extension of my extreme banner-blindness, though. Do you really spend time looking at your computer's case rather than its actual screen?

Also, the bezel may have to exist due to the way the case tapers - I.e. getting rid of the bezel would mean they'd have to make the design stubbier because they can't fit an LCD in a space as tight as it gets around the edge.
 

Radiating

macrumors 65816
Dec 29, 2011
1,018
7
I actually like the aluminum bezel on the MBA, very nice looking and does not show finger prints.

Agreed. I think the problem most people have with the bezel is that it's too thick. The screen could be much larger, say 13.8" vs 13.3" with say 1920x1080 resolution. Apple should do this.
 

JHUFrank

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2010
652
66
My guess is the bezel will stay for a while. I think it is engineering in function mostly, not looks. Until Apple changes the technology for MBA displays.
 

Stetrain

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2009
3,550
20
I don't mind the bezel and would much rather have a bezel and matte screen than a heavy, reflective glass panel.

The way they do the glass on the rMBP screens doesn't add weight or reflection.

It's the LCD's integral glass layer, the same glass layer than the Air already has as part of its LCD panel, extended out to the edges of the display housing. No extra glass layer.

It could possibly let them make the Air's display housing even thinner.

I think that that combined with an IPS display at the same resolution and a reduction in footprint to match the 13" rMBP would be a cool upgrade.
 
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