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Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
5,632
2,347
USA
I've heard they just drilled holes there for no functional reason? Is this true?
 
The speakers don't take up the whole of the perforated area so yes it's part aesthetic. You can actually see this in the right light. That's actually a good thing, though, as they'd probably sound much worse if you made them take up that whole space.

From my understanding, the speakers on top are primarily for treble response and then the air intake vents on each side serve most of the bass response (this is for the TB models only). Good design from Apple and it's evident in how great they sound compared to the older models.
 
Yes and no. The perforation is cosmetic and functional: instead of little round perforated areas, they do it symmetrically for looks. So in effect, it's normal. (If they were fake that would be father shoddy, no? :D )

But every single thing Apple makes has this dual nature. If you want pure functionality buy a Fujitsu, or something like that.
(which thinking about it, may not be such a bad idea, for a change :D )

Note: And as others say, these speakers are fantastic, so the whole question is moot.
 
They are not purely cosmetic, but the Touch Bar models have 'more' cosmetic speaker cutouts, if you will...

On the nTB 13" there are clear cutouts for the sound to pass through, and there are no air vents, so all the sound passes through these holes. Picture:

OswuB5GD6WvLQQfB.huge




On the TB models the bulk of the sound comes through the air vents on the sides, but there are still some holes on the bottom of the grille that the highs go through. It sounds noticeably worse if you cover them. Picture:

HudEmGLtcnLQMHT4.huge


So the real story here is the presence and absence of air vents - which impacts the location of the speakers.

Both use the speaker holes: the nTB exclusively, and the Touch Bar partially.

(Images courtesy iFixit.)

:)
 
They are not purely cosmetic, but the Touch Bar models have 'more' cosmetic speaker cutouts, if you will...

On the nTB 13" there are clear cutouts for the sound to pass through, and there are no air vents, so all the sound passes through these holes. Picture:

OswuB5GD6WvLQQfB.huge




On the TB models the bulk of the sound comes through the air vents on the sides, but there are still some holes on the bottom of the grille that the highs go through. It sounds noticeably worse if you cover them. Picture:

HudEmGLtcnLQMHT4.huge


So the real story here is the presence and absence of air vents - which impacts the location of the speakers.

Both use the speaker holes: the nTB exclusively, and the Touch Bar partially.

(Images courtesy iFixit.)

:)

Are you sure about this information, the touchbar Macbook 2017 grills don’t pass through at the upper area ? cause I dropped few drops of liquid up there and I am very concerned and it was only up there at the delete button
 
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