Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
In my opinion they do it for branding every bit as much as they do it for technical reasons. It’s why they were able to remove the screen-printed branding from the bottom bezel to help streamline the design.
If you showed that picture to a random member of the public they would likely have no idea who made it. Show them a MAcBook with a notch and there’s a good chance they’d know it was made by Apple going by the notch alone. Branding is everything to Apple. And the design is the brand.

Absolutely fantastic looking laptop btw (those LED function keys aside).*


*As is the Air M2, notch and all.

Good point about the notch..

If you removed all branding (and the notch) from an M2 MBA and that modern Dell and showed it to randoms... I think a lot of folks would prefer the modern Dell

"Utilitarian" is about my feeling on the modern Mac laptop design aesthetics.
I was more tolerant of it on the MBPs (for practicality and thermals and a different demographic buying it)...and I'm honestly bummed to see the MBA's directly following suit.
 
Honestly, after the first few hours I really don't care as much what my laptop looks like vs. what it does. Not thinking Midnight is the greatest color but my spouse did so....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jumpthesnark
In my opinion they do it for branding every bit as much as they do it for technical reasons. It’s why they were able to remove the screen-printed branding from the bottom bezel to help streamline the design.
If you showed that picture to a random member of the public they would likely have no idea who made it. Show them a MAcBook with a notch and there’s a good chance they’d know it was made by Apple going by the notch alone. Branding is everything to Apple. And the design is the brand.

Absolutely fantastic looking laptop btw (those LED function keys aside).*


*As is the Air M2, notch and all.
you're kidding right? you think the notch has an aesthetic value, and is not there just for 'technical reasons? you must be new to apple products, which have a long history of balancing form and function (certainly leaning more towards form in the jony ive era).

for example: the notch
 
The mini led 14" pro is a different world. I didn't use it, so I replaced it with an m2 Air machine. Except for the display and the sound, I'm satisfied. The design is very light and good.
1.jpg

Do you also have lighting in the lower corners of the display in the dark, with a dark image, high brightness? It's stronger on my left side.
PLEASE HELP ME! Check yours in the lower left corner. The machine is perfect in everything else. I don't know if I should exchange it. Thanks.
Example test: (dark room, high brightness, full screen). Thanks
 
you're kidding right? you think the notch has an aesthetic value, and is not there just for 'technical reasons? you must be new to apple products, which have a long history of balancing form and function (certainly leaning more towards form in the jony ive era).

for example: the notch
I think @daavee80 is doing a good analytical take here actually. Yes it's there for technical reasons, but branding wise Apple is embracing the notch as a way of standing out. That's not to say most customers won't mind the day when it's gone.
 
Seeing lots of not great backlight bleed getting posted here.

That's definitely out of character for Apple hardware and not great to see..
:confused:
 
the midnight color or any color, to your eyes?

--

I like the squared off look when its closed from the top lid (where apple logo is).

if they weren't going with wedged, I wish they at least beveled the edge like unibody polycarbonate MB's but even less edge, something like this on the wrist roll off:
aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ibG9nY2RuLmNvbS93d3cuZW5nYWRnZXQuY29tL21lZGlhLzIwMDkvMTAvMjAwOS0xMC0yMW1hY2Jvb2tyZXZpZXctNC5qcGc=
I got one of those Mac's, my first mac, I got it from school last year.
 
It's really not. Edge lit LCD displays often have backlight bleed including the ones Apple sells.

It is from my experience -- yes it's always a thing, but Apple screens have always had less of it than my normal monitors and other devices

It's subjective -- that's my experience
 
The mini led 14" pro is a different world. I didn't use it, so I replaced it with an m2 Air machine. Except for the display and the sound, I'm satisfied. The design is very light and good.

What do you mean by you didn't use it? If you switched from the 14" Pro to the MBA you should expect to be a little disappointed with the screen and sound.
 
I think @daavee80 is doing a good analytical take here actually. Yes it's there for technical reasons, but branding wise Apple is embracing the notch as a way of standing out. That's not to say most customers won't mind the day when it's gone.
is there some evidence of this? seems ridiculous... especially since there is evidence (ie a quote from an apple exec) about the notch, and how it's functional. apple puts it's logo on the lid, that is it's branding moment.

in time, apple will figure it out, and the notch will be gone. but for now, it's necessary.
 
you're kidding right? you think the notch has an aesthetic value, and is not there just for 'technical reasons? you must be new to apple products, which have a long history of balancing form and function (certainly leaning more towards form in the jony ive era).

for example: the notch
I’m absolutely serious. And your link does absolutely nothing to change my opinion. You think the notch is that prominent just because of the (rather low quality) 1080p webcam? I do not.

Apple will not explicitly reveal their full reasoning behind aspects of product design and giving too much insight in to their design and branding philosophy would be suicidal from a business pov. They will simply state the ‘company line’ about the reasons why a certain decision was made as per that interview.
But I truly believe that branding was part of the descision to introduce the notch to the Macbook line in addition to the technical reasons. They would never say so and nor should they. We will never get a true glimpse behind the wizards curtain. It simply doesn’t work like that.

Again I should emphasise that I don’t think it’s there solely for aesthetic reasons. The timing was pretty good with the Macbook line due redesigns, the explosion in working from home and video conferencing due to Covid and the reputation of high-end and expensive MacBooks having low-end webcams. So it was, as you rightfully pointed out, their usual convergence of form and function. ‘Killing two birds with one stone’ as the saying goes.

At some point in the future they will remove the notch but before they do so they will find other ways to make their laptop’s as readily identifiable as possible. The same goes for the iPhone (a pill and a dot). The notch will become obsolete for marketing reasons just as much as for technical ones.*
The iPad, which I have not yet touched on (mostly because obviously it doesn’t have a notch!), is evidently competing in a rather different market and both technically and for branding reasons it doesn’t require a notch. Much more so than the iPhone it’s the ‘go to’ product in it’s market. The de facto standard really. Far less need to have a distinctive ‘at a glance’ aesthetic. And much more so than phones tablets are used in both portrait and landscape orientations. Where would the notch go?

*Although it will be interesting to witness as at some point sooner rather than later phones and laptops are going to become near enough bezeless with no camera cutouts. How visually distinct can you make your laptop or especially a phone look from your competitors without the luxury of a hugely distinctive and copyrighted ‘silhouette’. Slightly different curvature of the rounded corners between your phone and your competitors that requires more than a quick glance to determine which is which? Surely that won’t cut it.
 
is there some evidence of this? seems ridiculous... especially since there is evidence (ie a quote from an apple exec) about the notch, and how it's functional. apple puts it's logo on the lid, that is it's branding moment.

in time, apple will figure it out, and the notch will be gone. but for now, it's necessary.
No, no evidence. As I stated it’s just my opinion. It’s cool if you don’t agree. I just like airing my thoughts (see what I did there? Sorry)

Anyway I’ll leave it there as this is all massively off-tiopic.
 
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
I'll throw out some impressions:

  • Coming from a Gold M1 Air, so M2 isn't life changing but appreciated
  • I miss the warm Gold color of the M1 but Starlight is too Silver for me so went Midnight
  • I owned the original black MacBook in 2006 - Midnight gives a similar vibe, but the deep blue tone is cooler
  • The fingerprint thing is way overblown - wash your hands to get oils off and its a non issue (judging the color based on Apple Store models is nuts given the thousands of grubby hands that touch it all day)
  • Buy a microfiber cleaning cloth and enjoy the color
  • The design is nicer, but it's harder to pick up off a flat surface now that the edges aren't elevated by the bottom bulge
  • Strange using such a dark color on a Mac after so many years of silver, gold, and space gray but that adds to the appeal of Midnight

View attachment 2030573View attachment 2030572View attachment 2030571
amazing setup ! thanks for the real world update - can't wait to get one myself (had the original black macbook back in the day as well)
 
  • Like
Reactions: PatriotInvasion
I'll throw out some impressions:

  • Coming from a Gold M1 Air, so M2 isn't life changing but appreciated
  • I miss the warm Gold color of the M1 but Starlight is too Silver for me so went Midnight
  • I owned the original black MacBook in 2006 - Midnight gives a similar vibe, but the deep blue tone is cooler
  • The fingerprint thing is way overblown - wash your hands to get oils off and its a non issue (judging the color based on Apple Store models is nuts given the thousands of grubby hands that touch it all day)
  • Buy a microfiber cleaning cloth and enjoy the color
  • The design is nicer, but it's harder to pick up off a flat surface now that the edges aren't elevated by the bottom bulge
  • Strange using such a dark color on a Mac after so many years of silver, gold, and space gray but that adds to the appeal of Midnight

View attachment 2030573View attachment 2030572View attachment 2030571
What made you upgrade from the M1 to the M2?
 
No, no evidence. As I stated it’s just my opinion. It’s cool if you don’t agree. I just like airing my thoughts (see what I did there? Sorry)

Anyway I’ll leave it there as this is all massively off-tiopic.
you stated an opinion, i cleared things up with a fact. but yes... let's get back on topic 👍
 
Not about the Notch you didn't

You have an opinion there, nothing more
you can google something like "why does the macbook have a notch", then you can choose to accept the information you find... or you can invent a conspiracy theory (because there aren't enough of those in the world).

sometimes, a fact is just what it is.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.