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Anyone else not like the new designs?

TSE

TSE

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
4,092
3,740
St. Paul, Minnesota
Hey guys, I have the Penryn MacBook Pro and I haven't had a problem with it. I was bored today so I decided to go to the Mall and at the mall I decided to just see the new MacBooks and stuff since I haven't seen them in person yet.

I went out of the store rather unimpressed. My impressions of the new MacBook Pros and MacBooks were basically summed up in this one sentence:

They look better in the closed position, but look worse open.

I really didn't like the new speaker grills of the pro, the classic macbook pro speaker grills have bigger holes so they get clogged up easier, but they look a lot better.

The chiclet keyboards I think are easier to type with, but I don't like the black keys, however I do like the black glass border around the screen, it makes the screen look brighter than it actually is.

Overall, I don't know. The new notebooks Apple has released just seem to be... characterless.. anyone else share my opinion?
 
It's welcoming to see Apple redesign their entire series of mobile machines, their previous design had lasted many many years. For some it became a bore. Personally, I think the design needs a little more refinement, it has it's glitches, imperfections and perhaps hidden problems? Er.. building the system with a single chunk of metal is a lovely idea but I do have doubts, as to how robust the machine would be... and how it copes with vibrations, etc.

Guess some of us will prefer to older system, mostly cause it's 'friendly' and familiar and most importantly, proven. Does it make sense?
 
I love the new designs.

I had a 15" PowerBook, then I had a 1st gen 17" MacBook Pro and now I have the new Uni 17" MacBook Pro and I would not have upgraded if I didn't think the new design was better. I like the looks. The only thing I miss is a Dual-Link DVI connector. Using an Adapter is not ideal.

I prefer the glossy to the old Matte of my older notebooks it looks a lot better and I don't see what the big deal is about Glare. It's a none issue for me, its glossy but its not a mirror unless the screen is off or showing a completely black image.

I believe ultimately the new design will last longer it sure feels more ridged with less squishiness on the palm rests. It overall just feels better built with the Screen closing more evenly and more robust without the locking latches (Which wear and fail over time). Sure I'm probably biased having just shelled out so much for a new one but honestly I much prefer this design to the previous, I do wish they had of shipped more stuff in the box though, a front row remote, or a DVI adapter at-least... just shipping an install disc a charger and the notebook for over two thousand pounds feels stingy.
 
Quu said:
I love the new designs.

I had a 15" PowerBook, then I had a 1st gen 17" MacBook Pro and now I have the new Uni 17" MacBook Pro and I would not have upgraded if I didn't think the new design was better. I like the looks. The only thing I miss is a Dual-Link DVI connector. Using an Adapter is not ideal.

I prefer the glossy to the old Matte of my older notebooks it looks a lot better and I don't see what the big deal is about Glare. It's a none issue for me, its glossy but its not a mirror unless the screen is off or showing a completely black image.

I believe ultimately the new design will last longer it sure feels more ridged with less squishiness on the palm rests. It overall just feels better built with the Screen closing more evenly and more robust without the locking latches (Which wear and fail over time). Sure I'm probably biased having just shelled out so much for a new one but honestly I much prefer this design to the previous, I do wish they had of shipped more stuff in the box though, a front row remote, or a DVI adapter at-least... just shipping an install disc a charger and the notebook for over two thousand pounds feels stingy.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I got a front row remote and a mini display port to dvi with my 15" unibody... maybe because it was a replacement... not sure sure why, but Im not complaining.
 
The new design's rigidity must be 10 fold increase.

This is not a typical product cycle but a major change (obviously for the better)

Whether you like the way it looks or not you should consider this

On the other hand, the glass screen design change isn't so clear cut ;)
 
TSE said:
Hey guys, I have the Penryn MacBook Pro and I haven't had a problem with it. I was bored today so I decided to go to the Mall and at the mall I decided to just see the new MacBooks and stuff since I haven't seen them in person yet.

I went out of the store rather unimpressed. My impressions of the new MacBook Pros and MacBooks were basically summed up in this one sentence:

They look better in the closed position, but look worse open.

I really didn't like the new speaker grills of the pro, the classic macbook pro speaker grills have bigger holes so they get clogged up easier, but they look a lot better.

The chiclet keyboards I think are easier to type with, but I don't like the black keys, however I do like the black glass border around the screen, it makes the screen look brighter than it actually is.

Overall, I don't know. The new notebooks Apple has released just seem to be... characterless.. anyone else share my opinion?
Click to expand...

Is it odd that these type of posts usually come from people that have previous generation products? I highly doubt if your MBP broke down and they offered a new same spec Unibody you'd be disappointed.

Anyways, no... the new designs > old ones. No comparison. The black keys are one of the best physical features about the laptop.
 
If anything, I thought the previous model looked cheap somehow. The silver keys, cheesy plastic strip around the case/bezel, outdated latch... I thought the blackbooks looked a lot nicer. Obviously, I'm pretty stoked on the current mbp, taking some of the best design motifs of both.
 
YuriVoorhak said:
The silver keys, cheesy plastic strip around the case/bezel, outdated latch..
Click to expand...

Well that "cheesy" plastic strip keeps the edges smooth and is rather durable. My PB after 4 years of good use has only one dent on the plastic strip and if that were soft aluminium,it would probably has more than 10 small dents to date.

The Unibody really looks bad when opened. In fact, it looks unfinished with sharp edges on the sides of upper case. Apple should at least polished these to rounded smoothness much like the corner treatment. Oh, that middle notch with the sharp edges could potentially hurt users!. The fine speaker grill hurt sound quality so its a step backwards...:mad:
 
The new unibody has grown on me and I will probably pick up another 15" . I recently bought the prev gen cause my school had it for 1199 (2.5ghz, 250gb) last November. The old one doesn't really match my OG iPhone and my 24" iMac. I only wish the whole thing was black. Of course I'll keep the classic mbp since it is a classic. Wished I hadn't sold my old powerbook g4 alu.
 
YuriVoorhak said:
If anything, I thought the previous model looked cheap somehow. The silver keys, cheesy plastic strip around the case/bezel, outdated latch...
Click to expand...

Putting the keyboard's physical appearance aside and just feeling with your fingers, while you type. I think the older 'Pro' keyboard feels much better, kinda softer with less of a cheap calculator keypad effect but ultimately it's more down to personal preference...
 
I really don't care much about the appearance of a computer (I'd buy a 500 euro computer if I could use OS X on it). I prefer the old ones from a functional point of view.
 
TSE said:
Overall, I don't know. The new notebooks Apple has released just seem to be... characterless.. anyone else share my opinion?
Click to expand...

Actually a lot of people share your opinion. I'm not a fan of the silver and black look (it's just such a generic color scheme), I miss the speaker grille (despite the fact that yeah they get clogged easily), I miss the polished power button. The old design may have been getting a little long in the tooth, but the design is still very clean. Feel the unibody is just trying a little too hard to be trendy.

And fans of the unibody need to realize that just because some people prefer the aesthetics of the Al PowerBook/Gen 1 MacBook Pro doesn't mean we don't acknowledge that the unibody is sturdier, it's made of higher quality materials, it uses more advanced technology, etc... None of that really matters when the topic is specifically about the design.

Best analogy I can think of... the difference between a 19th Century colonial home versus modern tract housing. Sure the modern tract home may use more newer technology, better architectural layout, stronger materials, and more closely follow modern color and style trends, none of that changes the fact that, design wise, the colonial is still a stunning design and has the kind of details that the tract home doesn't. While for some people the colonial just seems dated, for others the colonial has more character whereas the tract home just seems sterile.
 
Yeah, I am not saying that I wouldn't choose a unibody over a classic macbook pro if it was offered to me, because it is newer technology.

I do acknowledge that the new macbook pro is sturdier, but it's design is just, off.
 
great

I just like the new design in almost every way, the only complaint being that it is made of aluminum instead of harder titanium. I already dented it and fixed it with some metal paste, and bought a Speck case. everything works well so far.
 
I agree, its become so "minimalistic" thats it now characterless, however its still recognisable as a Macbook, i think its easier to carve the aluminium into a bland shape rather than the old plastic designs which could be molded however Apple wanted. Added to that theres always the fashion aspect, i bet in 10 years we'll look back and say "oh the unibody's looked so good, i dont like the new design" some people just need a while to adjust to change.
 
MAGICMOXTER said:
i bet in 10 years we'll look back and say "oh the unibody's looked so good, i dont like the new design" some people just need a while to adjust to change.
Click to expand...

Maybe. But For the 5 years that the Al PowerBook/MacBook Pro was on the market, no other laptop came close to looking as elegant or as clean. When I look at the unibody, all I see is a derivative and banal design that HP, Dell, and the others all have done for years. It certainly doesn't look bad, but this morning's Gizmodo has an article involving a Dell Mini 9 and OSX and all I could think was how much it looked like the unibody. Black framed screen, black keys, silver surround. Sure materials and build quality aren't the same, but appearance wise, the resemblance is uncanny.
 
Actually, right when the plastic MacBooks came out in 2006, I thought they looked dead sexy, both the black and white (but I preferred black).

I also loved the TiBooks when they came out.

The Aluminum PowerBook G4s were awesome when they first came out also.

The iBook G4s I have never liked, something about dimensions just really bugged me.

The UniBooks I do not like for some reason, I don't know.
 
RexTraverse said:
Black framed screen, black keys, silver surround. Sure materials and build quality aren't the same, but appearance wise, the resemblance is uncanny.
Click to expand...

There's more about design then just colors. Form, Size, proportions, material, how everything fit together, etc. is what make the design of something apart from something else.

Apple's laptop hinge is one the first thing that come to my mind. They're pretty much unique. The thumbscoop, the nice speaker grills, the button-less trackpad, the minimalism in general of their laptop.

And there's 50 colors you can choice from to make your keys. There's really just white, grey, black and maybe beige/brown.
 
PeterQC said:
There's more about design then just colors. Form, Size, proportions, material, how everything fit together, etc. is what make the design of something apart from something else.

Apple's laptop hinge is one the first thing that come to my mind. They're pretty much unique. The thumbscoop, the nice speaker grills, the button-less trackpad, the minimalism in general of their laptop.
Click to expand...

You've kinda proven my point. Note that in the phrase you quoted, when I pointed out the similarity of the Mini 9 to the MacBooks, I purposely used the word "appearance" and not "design". The new MacBooks do look a LOT like similar silver laptops with black screen surrounds and black keys that have come before it.

I also pointed out that no one is disputing the quality of materials or build quality of the new unibodies or that fundamentally, the unibody is made very differently from those other similar looking PCs. I can respect the technology and engineering and design that went into the unibody but still think the overall aesthetic of the new unibody is not attractive.

To address the points you brought up... never been a fan of the Apple hinge because it doesn't open 180 degrees (an important but not deal killing feature for me), agreed that "thumb scoop" magnetic latch has been a long time coming, although it is harder to keep clean I liked the alternating pattern speaker grille over the current style, and minimalism is good but excessive minimalism like in the unibody is not my style and is why I think the unibody is just too trendy and won't have the timeless beauty of the Al PowerBook.
 
UltraNEO* said:
Putting the keyboard's physical appearance aside and just feeling with your fingers, while you type. I think the older 'Pro' keyboard feels much better, kinda softer with less of a cheap calculator keypad effect but ultimately it's more down to personal preference...
Click to expand...
In general I like the unibody's. Not sure how I like the black/aluminum look yet but I do love the glass screen. The one thing I absolutely HATE is the chicklet keyboard. Personally I think they nailed it with the PowerBook keyboard. It's just perfect to use.
 
I LOVE them to be honest. A lot stronger than the older models, I just wish we didn't have to deal with a thinner case with less hardware available for those that want it.

I don't mind the keyboard or the bezel or much else in the new design either, those aspects don't both me too much, but could we have gotten the matte/glossy option on ALL of the machines?
 
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