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Sad Realisation:: MBP design now looks old.
- Thread starter DoFoT9
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hey all,
so about a month ago I came to a sad sad realisation.. the MBP's now look square, 'uncool' and just plain old! the design has been used by apple pretty much since the powerbooks, and its starting to show its age. i loved it when it came out, even when the MBP's came out! but these days, i just dont know... they need a pretty big upgrade...
whats everyone elses opinion on this??
I think the design looks great...and more importantly, it works great...the only upgrade I'd want, eventually, besides faster, more memory/hd space, and better screens would be lighter...but if I got all this in the same shell I wouldn't complain...
M
Agreed on all points. The MBPs look somewhat outdated next to the newer PCs. But that's the nature of the beast...
What looks more out of date?
A three year old Dell laptop? or a 3 year old PowerBook/MBP?
Yes, PCs will look sharp/different/cool (in some people's eyes) when they are released, but when they are 3 years old they tend to look like a garage sale item.
The sole exception, in my opinion, is the Lenovo (formerly IBM) Thinkpad. Good or bad, they all pretty much carry the same exterior "DNA", very much in the same way that Apple does with the PowerBook/MBP line.
A three year old Dell laptop? or a 3 year old PowerBook/MBP?
Yes, PCs will look sharp/different/cool (in some people's eyes) when they are released, but when they are 3 years old they tend to look like a garage sale item.
The sole exception, in my opinion, is the Lenovo (formerly IBM) Thinkpad. Good or bad, they all pretty much carry the same exterior "DNA", very much in the same way that Apple does with the PowerBook/MBP line.
You start taking away ports.
Uh huh. See above.
There are quite a number of laptops that look as nice, albeit different from the MBP. This won't swing with the "minimalist is beautiful, while anything more isn't", but I think that's just pretentious hooey. A machine with a few buttons on it can be beautiful too.
The only really timeless Apple laptop design is the 12" PowerBook. That will always look fresh to me. I'll probably feel the same way about the 13" MBA, although I'll never own one.
I think the MBP design looks great, but that doesn't mean I can't also think that it looks dated, particularly the speaker grills, and the edges when the lid is open. In 10 years, I'm sure I'll have fond memories of the PB/MBP and really appreciate its retro design. However, you don't say "Cool, retro!" until the device is already gone. At this moment, it's still here, so it's just an "old" design.
....and that is why Apple has redesinged the case and is going to release the new notebook next Tuesday. </dreadful optimism>
Yes, it's certainly getting on a bit as a design, but I still think it stands up and lets face it, there's not much you can do beyond the folding lid.
But just to illustrate that a design doesn't have to be new to be fantastic:
May be over 30 years old but I'd still have one if I could afford it!
I'm tempted to make ^this^ my signature and make it a point to stick around this place for another 5 years....because by then, that statement will be 10000x funnier.
The current imac is the only truly redesigned looking mac to come out since the powerpc->intel transition. I think the pro line needs a redesign, apple has been riding on the g4 laptop and g5 mac pro design for a bit too long now.
They're apple, they can come up with a new timeless design for a new generation.
They're apple, they can come up with a new timeless design for a new generation.
well it doesnt exactly work GREAT. it gets very hot. my CD runs as hot as, i could probably boil water on it if i tried too.
hmm i just reckon apple should change it, they always change their iPod line and that doesnt effect anything, so why not their laptops?
some PC laptops look massive compared to the MBP, however there are a few small things in the newer designs that catch my fancy. the MBP needs them
a 3 year old mac wont be in a garage sale!! it will still be on the workbench hacking away at whatever you can throw at it (although it will look a bit old and have some nice battle scars on it).
yes but the Thinkpad line is more aimed at business workers who dont really care aboout looks at stuff, whereas i think the MBP is aimed at people who like their products to be "in" ASWELL as getting the job done powerhouse wise.
One thing no one can ever beat MacBook Pro...
The PACKAGING!
ok yes ill give you that, apple has amazing packaging. they never have to change that.!
hahaha very good point, those things are ugly!
yes i agree, its getting too "redundant" and "used".
100% agree with you on that!
because you cant tell the difference between a 4/5 year old PB and a brand spanker MBP! thats what gets me because its so old and has been used to much. (IMO).
well saidI was recently at best buy and i stopped by the notebook section just for fun and i thought that the macbook pros looked much nicer than any of the other notebooks they had. The black macbook was the only other notebook that i thought looked nicer. I'm not a real big fan of the color silver either, a black macbook pro would be awesome.
I was kind of surprised when I bought my new MBP 2.6GHz at the Apple Store and they came out of the back with a skinny black box.
Flashing back 6 or so years ago, my 1GHz TiBook box was HUGE in comparison.
Aside from a few little details (like getting rid of the latch hooks and visible screws), I think the aluminum PBG4 and MBP design has stood the test of time. IMHO, there's nothing wrong with it.
This reminds me of the days of professional HP calculators from the 80s and 90s. They had simple, durable black casings that were completely timeless. I own a couple and they still look good today. Then, they jumped the millennium bandwagon and made all their pro calculators look trendy and consumer-like, like Bondi Blue iMac G3s. Huge mistake. Now, everyone buys TIs.
I like these, they look better than my MBP (IMO). Fanboys mileage will vary.
More pics at http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=525
I went to uni with the guy who did the design and branding for these badboys, I'll have to send him your compliment I think he'd enjoy it
you should really see the old iMac boxes compared to the new iMacs. the difference is HUGE! even with the 24" screen, and the bigger area it takes up i reckon the box would be 1/3 of the size of the original iMacs.
1. the design from apple is an extremely solid one. they put all of their efforts into creating a timeless product and i think it worked, however now it is starting to get old. it is too square and doesnt have enough rounded edges that match other apple products such as their iPod nanos etcetc. im hoping for an upgrade to it very soon.
Funnily enough, I was talking about this exact same question with my brother yesterday; I mentioned that people on the forum were getting itchy for a redesign because the MBP was started to look dated, and said how I disagreed.
I think I still do; any time I get my MBP out of my bag in uni, people very nearly drool; it still gets a lot of looks, and an awful lot of people still aspire to own one.
That said, one of the very first posts in this topic mentioned getting rid of the plastic edges, cleaning up the lid closure mechanism, and a few other things, all of which I'd never noticed before, but fully agree would bring it more up to date!
So I guess I'm 70/30 not dated / dated looking
andy.
I think I still do; any time I get my MBP out of my bag in uni, people very nearly drool; it still gets a lot of looks, and an awful lot of people still aspire to own one.
That said, one of the very first posts in this topic mentioned getting rid of the plastic edges, cleaning up the lid closure mechanism, and a few other things, all of which I'd never noticed before, but fully agree would bring it more up to date!
So I guess I'm 70/30 not dated / dated looking
andy.
hey all,
so about a month ago I came to a sad sad realisation.. the MBP's now look square, 'uncool' and just plain old! the design has been used by apple pretty much since the powerbooks, and its starting to show its age. i loved it when it came out, even when the MBP's came out! but these days, i just dont know... they need a pretty big upgrade...
whats everyone elses opinion on this??
You can send it to me then in exchange for my MacBook!
MacBook's design is only 2.5 years old!
You can send it to me then in exchange for my MacBook!
MacBook's design is only 2.5 years old!
lol if u seriously want to swap your C2D for my CD then sure
kidding!!!! noway hozay!!
lol if u seriously want to swap your C2D for my CD then sure
kidding!!!! noway hozay!!
I'd gladly switch the GMA950 to Radeon X1600, 13" crapscreen to 15" nicescreen, plastic to aluminium and no_keyboard_backlighting to keyboard_backlighting