I’m not a fan of Apple’s new design language direction

[ikir]

It looks like the M2 Air is probably going to get a similar redesign as the MBP.

I’m just not a fan of this design direction personally. I don’t like the “raised” feet, the notch, removal of the Mac logo from the screen, or single-tone keyboard (black keys with black base/underside).

I think all these changes make Mac look more like a generic laptop and have muddied the distinctiveness of the brand.

Agree? Disagree? Am I just wrong?

I love everything, the notch is great to take advantage of extra space, the rest of the screen on new MBP are still 16/10 without the notch. The new MacBook Pro are fine you get used to it, the best looking for me it is still MacBook Pro 13” 2016-2021. The last iPhones, iPad for me are perfect, love the design.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

It looks like the M2 Air is probably going to get a similar redesign as the MBP.

I’m just not a fan of this design direction personally. I don’t like the “raised” feet, the notch, removal of the Mac logo from the screen, or single-tone keyboard (black keys with black base/underside).

I think all these changes make Mac look more like a generic laptop and have muddied the distinctiveness of the brand.

Agree? Disagree? Am I just wrong?

The raised feet don't bother me. I'm very much cool with heavier, the 'light and thin' thing was sheer idiocy. If the keyboard traded ugliness for easier replaceability I'd be fine with it, but it doesn't, it's just ugly for ugly's sake. I don't care that it doesn't say MacBook Pro below the screen, but I am still annoyed about the non-lit Apple logo on the back.

But the notch. That's the dealbreaker for me. Just no.

Oh, and yes, I'm still pissed about the soldered RAM and storage, particularly the storage. That's really, really awful.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I dislike the rounded corners at the top of the screen. It looks bad, especially considering that the corners at the bottom of the screen are 90 degrees. All four corners should be 90 degrees.

Disagree. All four corners should be rounded. I hated that Apple lost the way on that years ago, it was one of the nice little touches of the Macintosh.

 

[JMacHack]

I somewhat agree, I think Apple’s current Mac design language is going more towards a semi-nostalgic tone. Not that’s entirely a bad thing, it’s not necessarily where I’d go with the design.

I don’t think it makes them look generic though, since the designs they’re aping are their own.

 

[throAU]

Agree? Disagree? Am I just wrong?

Hard disagree.

 

[boss.king]

It looks like the M2 Air is probably going to get a similar redesign as the MBP.

I’m just not a fan of this design direction personally. I don’t like the “raised” feet, the notch, removal of the Mac logo from the screen, or single-tone keyboard (black keys with black base/underside).

I think all these changes make Mac look more like a generic laptop and have muddied the distinctiveness of the brand.

Agree? Disagree? Am I just wrong?

I can understand not liking the feet (although I like them) and especially not liking the notch, but not having a logo right under your display has no downsides. I honestly don’t understand why they ever put it there in the first place, I know what laptop I bought.

 

[boss.king]

I dislike the rounded corners at the top of the screen. It looks bad, especially considering that the corners at the bottom of the screen are 90 degrees. All four corners should be 90 degrees.

I don’t even think they necessarily have to be squared off, it’s just really weird that they didn’t make all 4 corners the same.

 

[CasualFanboy]

Regarding the physical design, for me the 16" redesign is pure perfection. Obviously, this is very subjective and I could understand why some people would dislike it. But for me, it pops in every single way that matters to me. Sturdier, a sort of retro vibe for some reason I can't explain, non-flashy colors.

It's the interface and application design that has me worried. Looking at each element, it's clearly less a work-of-art (like Snow Leopard was) and more of a standard also-ran that could have been designed by some slapped together group project of some hipsters in college.

 

[jinnyman]

Well it's too bad you don't like the new design. I don't like a while bezel of iMac either.
We don't have to buy them.

 

[FNH15]

I somewhat agree with this.

On my Macbook Pro 16", I've never heard the fans spin after 3 months. I would have loved it to be a bit lighter in exchange for a worse cooling option.

But it's a minor thing.

This machine is amazing. Transcoded a 3 hr Zoom call in 4K in 10 min without any fan noise.
My old 15” 2018 MBP was screaming bloody murder 15 min in...

Personally I love the new direction. A synthesis of the PowerBook G4 Ti + the Touch Bar era MBPs.

 

[CasualFanboy]

This machine is amazing. Transcoded a 3 hr Zoom call in 4K in 10 min without any fan noise.
My old 15” 2018 MBP was screaming bloody murder 15 min in...

Personally I love the new direction. A synthesis of the PowerBook G4 Ti + the Touch Bar era MBPs.

A little off-topic but yeah, the capabilities of the new one are leaps and bounds over intel. I just hope I didn't screw up going with the 16GB memory. So far, I have no reason to think I did. But if 2 OS iterations from now are significantly hungrier for memory....

 

[CarbonCycles]

So go buy a MS Surface or Chromebook...not another one of these I'm pissed off at Apple threads.

 

[Jonathan Leclerc]

The notch gives us more real screen estate and is entirely invisible in everyday operation. It's an odd design decision, but memorable and ultimately functional.



What else? Firewire? Serial? USB-A has been deprecated by the USB consortium in 2017 — that's almost five years ago!

P.S. Of course, I ultimately expect your opinion and would never seek to invalidate it. Just commenting on some things that grabbed my attention.

Hey, thanks for replying to my post. I certainly respect your opinion as well, but please allow me some further thoughts on the matter.

The industry is certainly pushing hard in favour of the USB type C connector, but the fact is that it is far from ubiquitous, even five years after its introduction, as you point out. On that note, one should be careful with the word "deprecated"; even though USB-C superseded all previous USB ports (type A/B, micro-USB, etc.), type A remain fully supported by the USB 3.x specification (needless to say that USB 4 is even less ubiquitous than type C). Therefore, it is not so much "deprecated" in the sense of "old and unsupported", but rater "manufacturers should favour this new and improved type C port". (Of course, it bears remembering that USB is famously backward compatible, which is a big part of its historical success.)

So, as of now, USB-C is kind of a mess, with universal adoption nary to be seen on the horizon. How many times have I been on the go and in need of plugging a colleague's USB key (try finding one with a type C port!) and realizing in horror that I left my adaptor at home... (And please don't get me going on the NEED for a hub to do any meaningful desktop work on my 2020 MPB.)

Long story short, I'm all in favour of USB-C and would use it preferably whenever possible, but the reality is that the type A is still simply too ubiquitous to be left aside completely, even today. Just one USB-A port, that's all that would be needed. Apple realized their mistake with HDMI and microSD, but they stopped short of what would have been optimal (one port, so close!).

As for the notch, I am at best ambivalent. I can imagine that under duress I might give it the benefit of the doubt. Probably. Time will tell.

Cheers

 

[tygurr]

Don't care. As long as it's not too ugly, which it isn't. My computer is a tool, not a fashion statement.

I disagree with this statement somewhat. If it was just a tool, what made you get a mac over any other laptop.

 

[tygurr]

Agree? Disagree? Am I just wrong?

Agree

 

[EPO75]

I'm more unhappy about the "fat" looks, I loved the thin ones.

 

[JMacHack]

I disagree with this statement somewhat. If it was just a tool, what made you get a mac over any other laptop.

To not have to deal with Windows or Linux headaches for starters.

 

[tygurr]

To not have to deal with Windows or Linux headaches for starters.

Okay so then why a Macbook Pro and not an iMac, Macbook Air, Mac Pro etc?

 

[boss.king]

Okay so then why a Macbook Pro and not an iMac, Macbook Air, Mac Pro etc?

His point wasn’t specifically against any of those machines. Get the thing that fits your needs and budget. If you can get by with an Air then a Pro is a bad purchase regardless of what it looks like.

 

[tygurr]

His point wasn’t specifically against any of those machines. Get the thing that fits your needs and budget. If you can get by with an Air then a Pro is a bad purchase regardless of what it looks like.

My point is there is always an element of fashion to a purchase. It is very rarely just a 'tool' if it is a personal device.

 

[UBS28]

I somewhat agree, I think Apple’s current Mac design language is going more towards a semi-nostalgic tone. Not that’s entirely a bad thing, it’s not necessarily where I’d go with the design.

I don’t think it makes them look generic though, since the designs they’re aping are their own.

I disagree, the older MAC’s were an embarrassment. You got companies like Razer that could fit a AMD CPU with a RTX 3080 in the same size as the 13” MBP.

The new design is competitive with the laptop market again.

I have no idea why people like laptops that have insufficient cooling. But that is what the DongleBook Pro’s were known for.

 

[boss.king]

My point is there is always an element of fashion to a purchase. It is very rarely just a 'tool' if it is a personal device.

Sure, but the tool part should come first. If you’re picking between two identically specced machines, go for the one that looks nicer. But if one fits your needs and the other doesn’t, how it looks if far less important.

 

[tygurr]

Sure, but the tool part should come first. If you’re picking between two identically specced machines, go for the one that looks nicer. But if one fits your needs and the other doesn’t, how it looks if far less important.

Yeh I don't disagree with you.

Just don't know why you would settle for it being a 'not too ugly' for the sake of it being a tool as the he basically says.

 

[boss.king]

Yeh I don't disagree with you.

Just don't know why you would settle for it being a 'not too ugly' for the sake of it being a tool as the he basically says.

I guess they value function over form? I don’t think they’d turn down the exact same laptop in what they consider to be a better design, but the current design already looks good and works well (far better than the previous 5 years of MacBook Pros at least).

 

[Hunter5117]

I have owned any number of MBPs since the original Intels to the present and all the design changes - except the 2015-2018 models with the bad keyboards. When the retina models came out, I really loved the sculptured, thin-edged design even when it meant dropping the dvd drive. While I don't hate the return to the thicker-edged models, I still prefer the prior models. My 13" M1 MBP is an absolute gem both in design and function.