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Apple Executives Discuss MacBook Air Redesign and Reflect on 12-Inch MacBook

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Apple's industrial design chief Evans Hankey and VP of hardware engineering Kate Bergeron recently spoke about the redesigned MacBook Air, the former 12-inch MacBook, and more in an interview with British GQ, spotted by 9to5Mac.

M2-MacBook-Air-Lifestyle.jpg

Hankey has fully led Apple's hardware design since Apple's former design chief Jony Ive departed the company in 2019. Ive remained a consultant to Apple through his independent design firm LoveFrom, but on Tuesday it was reported that Apple and Ive mutually agreed not to renew their contract, marking the end of a 30-year partnership.

The new MacBook Air does away with the notebook's iconic wedge-shaped design in favor of a flatter design, which Hankey described as "quite honest and simple."

"We don't really have to play any kind of games with shape or form to make it look thin," said Hankey, regarding the new design. "And I think that's one of the most lovely and remarkable things: it's quite honest and simple."

Hankey said the new MacBook Air was designed alongside the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that launched last year. "It was the first time we ever set out to do a family of products together," she remarked.

Hankey also revealed that the MacBook Air's new Midnight finish "came from the volcanic rock Basalt," adding that her dad was a geologist.

As for the 12-inch MacBook, which Apple discontinued in 2019, Bergeron admitted that the notebook had a "polarizing" design for some people.

"It was ahead of its time, on the cutting edge of the USB-C transition and it didn't have MagSafe," said Bergeron. "There were definitely some things that we weren't able to fit into the product, because of its size."

Introduced in March 2015, the 12-inch MacBook featured a thin and light design that weighed just two pounds, and it was also Apple's first notebook with a fanless design and a USB-C port. The original model was powered by Intel's underwhelming Core M processor and introduced Apple's issue-prone butterfly keyboard design.

The new MacBook Air has some similarities with the 12-inch MacBook, including a fanless design, but the MacBook Air is still larger and heavier.

The new MacBook Air launches this Friday, with embargoed reviews of the notebook expected to be published tomorrow. In the United States, pricing starts at $1,199 for a configuration with the M2 chip, 8GB of unified memory, and a 256GB SSD.

Article Link: Apple Executives Discuss MacBook Air Redesign and Reflect on 12-Inch MacBook
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/13/apple-discusses-redesigned-macbook-air/
MacRumors said:
As for the 12-inch MacBook, which Apple discontinued in 2019, Bergeron admitted that the notebook had a "polarizing" design for some people.

"It was ahead of its time, on the cutting edge of the USB-C transition and it didn't have MagSafe," said Bergeron. "There were definitely some things that we weren't able to fit into the product, because of its size."
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So now that we have come further technology wise, particularly what the M1 offers compared to substantially slower dual core Intel processors, what’s stopping you from producing a significant better 12” MacBook?
 
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Realityck said:
So now that we have come further technology wise, what’s stopping you from producing a significant better 12” MacBook?
Click to expand...

The lens of Apple marketing asking, if we make one is it another iPhone 13 mini.

3% of sales?

that's prob the answer right there.

P.S. I would love one, but I know apple is prob. done selling products that are so fringe market.
 
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The wedge shape design of the Macbook Air is iconic, and it literally set up the whole PC laptop world to utilize that design. I mean every one literally copied the Macbook Air design. The slanted design was also more ergonomic.

Not saying the current design is bad, but it's obvious what Apple is doing. Cutting cost. Designing the Macbook Air alongside the new Macbook Pro will save Apple money in tooling and manufacturing cost. The non-wedge design will also save Apple cost from not having to use layered battery. It's all about cost savings, while selling it for more money. Tim Cook is happy.
 
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Been using my 2017 12" Macbook (m3, 16GB) since 2018. I hiked around Europe with it, saved a lot of space and weight in my 18L backpack. It was perfect for what I needed it for.

Now I use it around the house to read and write. It's so lightweight! Works great with Monterey for now, but I know it's on its way to the vintage list soon.

The new MacBook Air looks nice, but if I could save 1 pound of weight and still get an M1 or M2 processor and 16GB of memory, I'd happily take that.
 
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"We don't really have to play any kind of games with shape or form to make it look thin," said Hankey, regarding the new design."

They don't have to, true. But I will still prefer wedge design anytime, any day (and I'm far from alone). Visual tricks, that made previous iMacs and macbooks appear thinner were an important part of the design as well - and it worked fantastically, both functionally and visually. But I understand: no matter how functional & aesthetic, people eventually want something new.

I'm positive, wedge shape will return sooner or later (like iPhone shape goes through cycles of rounded and sharp edges).
 
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Make a notched 12.5" M2 MacBook with TWO Thunderbolt ports, headphone jack, decent keyboard, and 2.2 lb weight, for $999, and it will sell.

And no, it doesn't need a wedge shape or MagSafe.

I can only hope their musings on the 12" is a subtle hint that such a 12.5" Apple Silicon beast actually is in the pipeline.
 
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ian87w said:
The wedge shape design of the Macbook Air is iconic, and it literally set up the whole PC laptop world to utilize that design. I mean every one literally copied the Macbook Air design. The slanted design was also more ergonomic.

Not saying the current design is bad, but it's obvious what Apple is doing. Cutting cost. Designing the Macbook Air alongside the new Macbook Pro will save Apple money in tooling and manufacturing cost. The non-wedge design will also save Apple cost from not having to use layered battery. It's all about cost savings, while selling it for more money. Tim Cook is happy.
Click to expand...

It doesn't cut cost because the chassis is unique. If they were cutting cost they would have just stuck a notch on the 2018-2021 design.
 
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mrdoodle said:
Been using my 2017 12" Macbook (m3, 16GB) since 2018. I hiked around Europe with it, saved a lot of space and weight in my 18L backpack. It was perfect for what I needed it for.

Now I use it around the house to read and write. It's so lightweight! Works great with Monterey for now, but I know it's on its way to the vintage list soon.

The new MacBook Air looks nice, but if I could save 1 pound of weight and still get an M1 or M2 processor and 16GB of memory, I'd happily take that.
Click to expand...
I had one of those god awful 12” Retina Macbooks for 3 years,it looked and felt amazing but it was the most unreliable computer I ever owned.
And it was extremely slow.

The keyboard was a true disaster.
Keys kept getting stuck and each time Apple had to replace the whole chassis.(replaced 4 times! under extended warranty).
Until I finally got rid of it.

The 11 inch non retina MB was WAY better designed and extremely reliable machine.more powerful too.in fact I still have one since 2015.no issues whatsoever.
 
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ColdShadow said:
I had one of those god awful 12” Retina Macbooks for 3 years,it looked and felt amazing but it was the most unreliable computer I ever owned.
And it was extremely slow.

The keyboard was a true disaster.
Keys kept getting stuck and each time Apple had to replace the whole chassis.(replaced 4 times! under extended warranty).
Until I finally got rid of it.

The 11 inch non retina MB was WAY better designed and extremely reliable machine.more powerful too.in fact I still have one since 2015.no issues whatsoever.
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I hated the 11". Not only was the screen non-Retina, it was a crappy screen even for non-Retina.

The keyboard was reasonable though.

I didn't like the 2015 12" MacBook, but the 2017 12" I bought was a huge improvement. Admittedly though, the keyboard on the 2017 is merely OK. Not good, just OK.
 
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Realityck said:
So now that we have come further technology wise, particularly what the M1 offers compared to substantially slower dual core Intel processors, what’s stopping you from producing a significant better 12” MacBook?
Click to expand...
Nothing. Why do you think they're talking about it now? I'd say they're planting seeds in our minds for a re-vamp in the (reasonably) near future.
 
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No body here mentions the 11” MBA. That model had both, the wedge shape and the maximum portability of the 12” MB.

I agree there’s space in the lineup for an ultraportable. I would give the 11” MBA the new models treatment. That would be a dream machine that you could hook up to a large monitor when home and still have an M2-powered workhorse.
 
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ian87w said:
The wedge shape design of the Macbook Air is iconic, and it literally set up the whole PC laptop world to utilize that design. I mean every one literally copied the Macbook Air design. The slanted design was also more ergonomic.

Not saying the current design is bad, but it's obvious what Apple is doing. Cutting cost. Designing the Macbook Air alongside the new Macbook Pro will save Apple money in tooling and manufacturing cost. The non-wedge design will also save Apple cost from not having to use layered battery. It's all about cost savings, while selling it for more money. Tim Cook is happy.
Click to expand...
100%. This is the result of Apple transitioning from being a company where once the design team was in charge to a company where the operations team is now in charge. Under SJ / Ive, Apple released products whose designs were iconic and shook up the consumer electronics world. Cook's relentless penny pinching obsession has led to nothing but the repeated rehasing of old designs.
 
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GMShadow said:
It doesn't cut cost because the chassis is unique. If they were cutting cost they would have just stuck a notch on the 2018-2021 design
Click to expand...
Apple had to redesign to differentiate the new and the old. But the fact that it shares the design with the MacBook Pros, meaning tooling and manufacturing are shared in cost, that's probably a huge cost saving for Apple.
 
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