Apple MacBook Coming in Colors?

[jonharris200]

OMG. I would totally buy a retro looking beige notebook. obvoiusly it would have to sport the rainbow mac logo

Not just 'retro' - beige would also be hugely ironic. A beige box that works, is fun to use, and therefore increases productivity?!

 

[mpw]

I like the clear iBook a couple of pages back but can't see them doing anything other than white, black or alloy. Posibly a half chrome finish like an iPod but I doubt that too.

What would I like to see?

Leather black, brown or ox blood

 

[57004]

Some sample pictures

If you want to know what they're going to look like in colour, check out these guys: http://www.colorwarepc.com/content.aspx?id=20

They've been painting powerbooks for years. I have to say some of them look nice but they charge a lot more just for the paint job. I'd never buy one myself, brushed-aluminium is cool enough for me. But it makes for pretty pictures They still sell only the G4's though.

Of course, these are powerbooks, and not macbooks, but I'd say they would look roughly the same in the new widescreen form factor.

Edit: The price difference wasn't as great as I said first, sorry.

 

[ukmaestro]

I never really digged the black ipod when it was released. To me Apple is just white and silver, although I have fond memories of the many coloured imacs we had. I think the only qualm I have about the idea is that it might make them more a sort of fashion commodity. All those ladies (or men to be PC!) that would love a pink model, because its pink! I'd have a fear they'd simply stick stickers and alsorts on the laptop to make it 'cooler' or something. I've seen it done on white models and their lack of respect always breaks my heart!

 

[timmillwood]

i like the idea of a really small laptop, but why only for women, i want one.

 

[jabooth]

Every day, without fail, my girlfriend complains about the battery life on her beloved pink ipod mini. Her dad's loaded, so I tell her to sort herself out a nice new nano. She's like "no I like my mini."

So, she wont get a product with:

better battery life
smaller
same capacity
colour screen
album art/photos
no harddrive
etc...

purely because it's not pink.

Nice one apple - you're on a winner. Go crazy - just make sure there's a white or black one for plain folk like me

 

[57004]

Every day, without fail, my girlfriend complains about the battery life on her beloved pink ipod mini. Her dad's loaded, so I tell her to sort herself out a nice new nano. She's like "no I like my mini."

So, she wont get a product with:

[...]

purely because it's not pink.

Well, maybe she's afraid that you'll borrow it all the time if she buys a nano. I'm sure you wouldn't want to carry her pink mini to work with you That's what my girlfriend said anyway when she bought a pink MP3 player

 

[jabooth]

Well, maybe she's afraid that you'll borrow it all the time if she buys a nano. I'm sure you wouldn't want to carry her pink mini to work with you

Haha! You're probably right mate

 

[gregorsamsa]

Keep it white, have limited silver ones for fashion freaks.

No, can't see past the gimmicky, cheapening effect of different coloured Macbooks. (Why even change the name from iBook, an established logo?)
Black just makes it look like any PC laptop, attracts more static, etc. Surely different colours appeal mostly to teenagers & very immature ones at that. Different colours so very 1990s & passe also.

I'm happy with white. It's distinctive, modern (white has a timeless quality about it), aesthetically pleasing & SO very Apple. Keep it mostly white. Anything else just panders to the ugly gaudiness bedevilling our times.

 

[itcheroni]

Every day, without fail, my girlfriend complains about the battery life on her beloved pink ipod mini. Her dad's loaded, so I tell her to sort herself out a nice new nano. She's like "no I like my mini."

So, she wont get a product with:

better battery life
smaller
same capacity
colour screen
album art/photos
no harddrive
etc...

purely because it's not pink.

Nice one apple - you're on a winner. Go crazy - just make sure there's a white or black one for plain folk like me

Why doesn't she just put in a new battery? It's only about $25.

 

[Roba]

Colour is great and i was looking for a coloured MBP when i was buying my MBP. Green is my favourite colour but i will say though that although this colour of choice maybe something that i like though when it comes to selling my MBP in the future this may make it not so desirable because my chosen colour may not be to everybody's taste.

 

[itcheroni]

No, can't see past the gimmicky, cheapening effect of different coloured Macbooks. (Why even change the name from iBook, an established logo?)
Black just makes it look like any PC laptop, attracts more static, etc. Surely different colours appeal mostly to teenagers & very immature ones at that. Different colours so very 1990s & passe also.

I'm happy with white. It's distinctive, modern (white has a timeless quality about it), aesthetically pleasing & SO very Apple. Keep it mostly white. Anything else just panders to the ugly gaudiness bedevilling our times.

Pander or simply giving their customers an option? I don't get why you and so many other people are upset about this. So what if you have a white Macbook and I have a canary yellow one? It's what's on the inside that counts.

 

[cdpilkington]

I think they're going to want to try and establish greater brand identity between the mac & ipod lines, the most sensible way of which would be keeping their styles consistent with those in the current ipods. Helps them out with their advertising of "easy as ipod" too, as people can match their nano/4g/5g to the laptop.
Itcheroni made a very good point in favour of colours though, so maybe we'll see them as BTO with a couple of 'demo' models displayed in apple stores/adverts? That way the mac line largely remains "clean" in pesenting a black & white image to the public. In any case, I'm sure these new macbooks will be a desirable product.

{Edit}
Swappable cases would possibly be the best solution, Nokia using these really boosted demand for mobile phones amongst teenagers, I knew a few people who bought one just because they could customise them.

Long time lurker, finally decided to jump into the forum.

 

[janstett]

If they were to revive the colours, it would have to be similar to how you can snap on a new cover on a mobile phone. (Maybe small screws, or better yet, magnets!)

This way you can have any cover you want and 3rd party companies would produce covers and custom covers.

Like XBox 360? There's a small cottage industry making faceplates for that thing.

 

[janstett]

But I'd like to see some "automated" varieties - such as -

Something similar to the gradually changing desktop background that was available since the early versions of Panther (or Jaguar...I forget when this came to be) - only this time, the entire computer would gradually change colors...

Philips plasma TV's have a feature called "ambilight", where they emit a colored light *behind* the TV that matches the overall average hue of the picture on screen, it is meant to soften the transition from the TV image to the rest of the room.

 

[janstett]

I'll be happy if I could change color of the Apple logo. Imagine a glowing HOT PINK Apple icon.

Very possible -- Dell (yes, Dell) XPS cases do this with a setting in the BIOS you can choose between 5 or 6 different colored glows behind the faceplate. It would be cool to be able to set that for the Apple logo. However, I believe the Apple logo glows because of bleeding light from the LCD not its own light source.

 

[MrCrowbar]

I've seen something very funny about a year ago when waitung for the metro: There was this woman (obviously coming from work) tucking her green iPod mini into a matching green purse, then she pulled out a tiny pink purse out of her jacket and a matching pink iPod.

Just saying some women do care about the colors... I'd like to see a black Macbook (I guess there will be black and white just like the current iPods). I care for colors too but I'm a black and white guy anyway ^^. Can't say which color I will like best though. I think the nano looks great in black (never seen a white one on the street) and the 5G is cool in white. It's like cars, Ferrari is nice in Red, but a business Mercedes is nicer in silver.

Offering multiple colors would definetely increase Apple's market share, especially in education. Young people are more sensible to fashion. I'm more the type to have the case airbrushed to turn heads wherever I pull out my laptop.

 

[dernhelm]

Actually it's gonna be the iPod Mini REBORN..!! MacBooks in anodized aluminum, offered in white, pink, gray, black and blue...AWESOME!

p.s.: my iPod Mini silver hasn't got a scratch in 2 years of usage...

Yeah, I've had great luck with my mini as well. But I still hope this isn't true. I wouldn't mind black, white, or silver. But anything else looks cheap.

 

[MrCrowbar]

I believe the Apple logo glows because of bleeding light from the LCD not its own light source.

True. the logo shines because of the backlighting. Ever used an Apple book out in bright sun? it shines through and you always have this bright apple "backlighting" your display, very annoying
You'd have to put a metal plate between the logo and the display to avoid interefring lighting if you want a colored Apple logo...

 

[(L)]

Apple is white.

Kinda not really. It's interesting how much of an impact color has. On professional models, I don't really think you NEED funky colors, and on consumer models, you'd better keep a few neutral and calm colors, because you can't just sell, say, bright pink.

White is great because it creates an illusion of space. I guess black does that a little too, but it is also a classic "cool" color. I like my aluminum powerbook over the white iBook because it looks less plasticky, which just isn't so big with me. Looking back though, a 12" iBook with a bigger hard drive may have been a better, cheaper choice in some ways, but what the hey.

In the end, people like a choice of color. I could never see myself buying a brightly colored Mac, out of personal preference to have something more soothing to the eyes, but Apple needs to keep appealing to the kind of people that go out and buy colorful Sonys and what not. They'll probably keep white and add to it, is what I feel.

 

[gregorsamsa]

Keep it white, have limited silver ones for fashion freaks.

No, can't see past the gimmicky, cheapening effect of different coloured Macbooks. (Why even change the name from iBook, an established logo?)
Black just makes it look like any PC laptop, attracts more static, etc. Surely different colours appeal mostly to teenagers & very immature ones at that. Different colours so very 1990s & passe also.

I'm happy with white. It's distinctive, modern (white has a timeless quality about it), aesthetically pleasing & SO very Apple. Keep it mostly white. Anything else just panders to the ugly gaudiness bedevilling our times.

 

[(L)]

What a horrible idea...solid colors as opposed to the great semi-translucent colors of current age? Ick...and colors?! How else can Apple make itself look infantile, not to mention drive corperate purchasers away. Double ick. Targeting female customers? Do females flock to candy colored laptops? *sigh* I'll be sticking with the iMac and MBP.

That is my one criticism here. Targeting females seems to have necessarily translated into funky colors. I don't really get that at all. Sure, not many businessmen are just dying to have a computer that stands out like a sore thumb at the office. But, for that matter, neither do businesswomen! I don't mean to stereotype, but this reminds me of the girl in "Legally Blond," you know, with the pink laptop and all. It's importatnt to capture that market too, but you don't want to make it your label, your flag and all. The Macs are industry strength and graceful about it - seems like calm and sleek should also be an image touted by these MB's. As an option there should be colors...not like advertising just the colors sort of thing, like with that old "Yum" poster.

Ferrari's are red, and apples are white. It'd be interesting to see what happens as Apples have more freedom but less uniform of a heads-up style.

 

[Boggle]

If you want to know what they're going to look like in colour, check out these guys: http://www.colorwarepc.com/content.aspx?id=20

They've been painting powerbooks for years. I have to say some of them look nice but they charge a lot more just for the paint job. I'd never buy one myself, brushed-aluminium is cool enough for me. But it makes for pretty pictures They still sell only the G4's though.

Of course, these are powerbooks, and not macbooks, but I'd say they would look roughly the same in the new widescreen form factor.

Edit: The price difference wasn't as great as I said first, sorry.

OOOOh, a Granny Smith Green 12" iBook. That is something I'd like to own.

 

[PPC970FX]

Light

Have you all forgotten the patent that the computer can "change" the colors by using LEDs under the plastic. Like the on light is green and the sleep is yellow. This is just the hole computer.

Think new, think better.

 

[twoodcc]

very interesting. i hope they do have different colors, but please not a whole line of laptops for females?