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Is the MacBook Pro Apples greatest design achievement?

No.

My opinion only, but I believe Apple sacrificed upgradability for thickness, and put the retina screen in far too early. The cost of a 15 inch machine that you can't upgrade is a bit silly, especially with Applecare added on top of it.

Two of the reasons I am typing on a pre-Retina machine.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Apple has had at least 4 different Macbook Pro designs since 2005. There's the Aluminum MBP that looked just like the PowerBook, then there's the Unibody MBP, Unibody MBP with internal battery, and then Retina Macbook Pro.

And no, IMO they're the worst designed products that Apple makes. They're increasingly non-upgradable, short on external ports, and look ugly. I can't stand the black border and glassy screen. Oh well, that's why I haven't purchased a Macbook Pro since 2007.
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look ugly?!
 
I had a Titanium Power Book that I thought was really gorgeous !!

It was quite thin for the time and had a sort of "letterbox" screen look.
16-9 or whatever the config is ?

I loved it ... only a G4 single 993 CPU IIRC !!

M.
 
Regardless of whether you think the aluminum unibody Macs are pretty or ugly, it is the most iconic design in computers today. just one look at the back of the screen (even if the Apple logo is covered) or the screen/keyboard lets you know it's a Mac and not a Windows machine. You have to see the manufacturer logo/name on anything else to even know who makes the machine. There's something to be said for a design like that.
 
I used to be in the "it should be upgradeable" mob-mentality. I built all my PC's for the past 14 years.

But, you know what? When it's time to upgrade, you're never going to upgrade it to be on par with current tech. You're just squeezing a little bit of life out it; delaying the inevitable. There's no laptop upgrade out there that will catapult your laptop from obsolete to competent with new tech or software.

My 15" rMBP is my first non-upgradeable device and won't be my last. I couldn't care less.
 
I would actually say the PowerBook 100 was a more revolutionary and breakthrough design achievement than any of the MacBook Pros. I still prefer plastics over these aluminum unibody housings that Apple has been using recently.

PowerBook100.jpg
 
It is certainly up there. In terms of pure craftsmanship, I think the rMBP may only be bested by the new Mac Pro.

It's undoubtedly the best designed portable computer of all time.
 
deluxeshredder said:
I'd say many of Apple's designs have stood the test of time extremely well.

The greatest one is probably the 2013 Mac Pro.
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For as much as the new design is absolutely detested by many Mac Pro tower owners and as a Mac Pro 3,1 owner myself I think the little black can will end up being that. Totally useless for my needs as I need SATA sleds but the quietest computer I have ever heard doing rendering by a country mile. Astounding little thing, I would love one but it would be as a gadget and not put to proper use.
 
Gav Mack said:
For as much as the new design is absolutely detested by many Mac Pro tower owners and as a Mac Pro 3,1 owner myself I think the little black can will end up being that. Totally useless for my needs as I need SATA sleds but the quietest computer I have ever heard doing rendering by a country mile. Astounding little thing, I would love one but it would be as a gadget and not put to proper use.
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Yeah, I was also skeptical, until I realised that a new Mac Pro + a Pegasus2 array would make administering our data server much easier for me while also keeping the data more secure (hot swap!), while taking up less space overall. I do understand though that some people still need SATA and internal expandability.
 
leman said:
Yeah, I was also skeptical, until I realised that a new Mac Pro + a Pegasus2 array would make administering our data server much easier for me while also keeping the data more secure (hot swap!), while taking up less space overall. I do understand though that some people still need SATA and internal expandability.
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I'm not a fan of thunderbolt spaghetti at all and will replace my 3,1 soon with a twin socket 5,1 as it's a perfect single box dual OS workstation for data recovery etc plus CS6 and a bit of video.

I have set two up for clients so far and acoustically they have set a new reference in desktop design and will be thought as much in the future. Unfortunately the only regular use I could give one is on my kitchen side transcoding all my mkv's into mp4 almost silently instead of the normal hovercraft noise from every other rendering/transcoding rig I've ever heard.

Fantastic but just not for me - yet :D
 
WardC said:
I would actually say the PowerBook 100 was a more revolutionary and breakthrough design achievement than any of the MacBook Pros.
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Another advance was the very small and compact 1994 Powerbook Duo 280c with it's gorgeous active matrix color screen and fast 68040 processor
pbduo280cac.jpg
 
egy195 said:
yes i know that but the computer has always been upgradable like the tv has never been upgradable, maybe apple is trying to change the way we think about computers and in my case i'm not ready for that, just me :)
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Or perhaps Apple just recognizes the complete pointlessness of marginal laptop upgrades years after purchase.
 
talmy said:
50 years from now, this will be the one that is remembered:

Image
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Definitely my favorite, it's got so much personality to it. When I get some extra money, I'm going to get one just to have one.

Wishbrah said:
I used to be in the "it should be upgradeable" mob-mentality. I built all my PC's for the past 14 years.

But, you know what? When it's time to upgrade, you're never going to upgrade it to be on par with current tech. You're just squeezing a little bit of life out it; delaying the inevitable. There's no laptop upgrade out there that will catapult your laptop from obsolete to competent with new tech or software.

My 15" rMBP is my first non-upgradeable device and won't be my last. I couldn't care less.
Click to expand...

I understand your thoughts, but what really gets me is what they charge. But I guess it's all "custom" now, so the price is somewhat justified. But definitely upgrading storage is a nice thing.
 
dba415 said:
Apple has released many iPhones/iPads since then, but basically only MacBook Pro.
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The iMac and up until recently the Mac Pro have not changed. I think what it says is apple doesn't change the design of the computers very often. Once they get to a design that works for them they stick with it.

Take the Mac Pro (old one), the design of that case dates back to the PowerPC G5, it was their longest design that remained largely untouched.

The aluminum case of the MBP has its roots in the G4 Powerbook, though its gone through a number of design changes as time went on.
 
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