Why have Apple ruined the MacBook Air design?

[James Godfrey]

Everyone has their own opinions about design, and in my opinion, the new flat design of the M2 Air is more sleek and a bit industrial looking. To my eyes, the M2 Air makes the M1 Air look dated with those thick and uneven display bezels, small function keys and a rounded, pillowy chassis.

Also, the M2 Air is actually thinner than the M1 Air. The tapered design of the M1 Air creates an illusion and a perception that is not real, therefore the M1 Air is not actually thinner, lighter or more portable.

The only thing I don't like about Apple's recent design language is the lack of (subtle) branding. The new iMac with it's naked chin looks bland and generic, like a furniture store prop. The lack of Apple logo on that chin ironically brings more attention to it. It would have been a great opportunity for Apple to continue the contrasting color design by placing a contrasting, tasteful Apple logo on the chin, versus the gigantic one on the back that most people will never see.

I would have also liked 'MacBook Air' placed under the display where there is plenty of room. Maybe in the metallic tone of the chassis. To my eyes, it just completes the design, kind of like a small little insignia on a polo type shirt. Or, they could have embossed it on the bottom like on the MacBook Pros.

I think this was mainly due to apple struggling to decide whether to call this MacBook just ‘MacBook’ or ‘MacBook Air’… in that respect I have a feeling the white keyboard/white bezelled MacBook we seen rumoured with all the colours I expect to be an ultra thin and entry level MacBook at some point probably replacing the MacBook Air M1 in the line up.

Similar to how the iPad line up is iPad (entry tier), iPad Air (middle tier), iPad Pro (higher tier).

 

[jdb8167]

Actually Apple warned that Mac sales this Christmas won't keep up with last years quarter. The M1 transition with old design was the big cash cow and demand for the redesign M2 is lackluster in comparison.

Nope. Last year they had the new M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pros to increase sales in their 2022 1st quarter (Oct-Dec). This year they don't have anything that new. This year's hottest seller is the M2 MacBooks which were introduced in June 2022. Much of the demand for the M2 MacBooks has already been fulfilled. That is why Apple had a record 4th (Jul-Sep) quarter for Mac sales. Nothing lackluster about their 4th quarter Mac sales.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

But the same treatment made the MacBook Air look as if the thickest part of the old Air design is now applied to the entire body. It looks much thicker and heavier than before and even makes a mock of the name "Air". It's genuinely bad design and in urgent need of an early redesign. It's also a shame that they didn't go for colors.

View attachment 2112204

But it's not the case, the current M2 MBA is thinner than the thickest part of the M1.

Wait, you put forth the consistent thickness of the M2 MBA as "bad design" and then post a mockup of whatever colour that is?!?! really? 🤮

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Because the speculative renderings of a colorful MB Air with white keys were just too good.

View attachment 2114040

Can you please stop posting these horrid colour mockups and then claiming to be the arbiter of good design? 🤢🤮

 

[SlCKB0Y]

The CRT iMacs [excluding the education models] were only on sale for three years :O They were sold from May, 1998 with the "boring" indigo color, to the early 2001 model with the "flower power" and "blue Dalmatian", to the Summer 2001 model with the more boring "Graphite" and "Snow". For the iBooks, the colorful clamshells were only sold from July 1999 to May 2001, where they became the more traditional white (and sometimes black) colors.

The summer 2001 iMac was sold until March 2003, so it's closer to 5 years. Also, I can tell you first hand that there was absolute nothing "boring" about graphite or white coloured computers in that period of time, when pretty much all other computers were beige... compared to beige the graphite and snow iMacs and Quicksilver G4 Power Macs were a design revelation.

In January 2002, they released the iMac with the flat panel ("desk lamp"), in the white color and only white color. White (and sometimes black) was continued being used by Apple until Steve's death in 2011 - excluding the iPod Nanos/ Shuffles.

Color started returning in 2013 with the iPhone 5c, and then with muted colors starting with the iPhone 6. Only with the iMac (2021) and the iPad (2022) did bright colors return.

Given that it's difficult to overstate how important the iPod was to Apple's recovery, it does seem pretty dishonest of you to just exclude all of the colour iPods (iPod SE, Mini, Nano, Shuffle, Touch) released throughout the 2000s and beyond because it doesn't support your argument.

From their release in 2001, iPods WERE Apple for most people, until the iPhone really took off.

Colour has been a pretty important part of Apple design from 1998 until today, excluding a 10 month period between the last consumer CRT iMac in March 2003 until the iPod Mini in January 2004.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

The iPod mini was also basically still on back order everywhere and was one of Apple’s biggest sellers. Then they replaced it with the iPod nano, one year after the mini’s release.

The quickness of the obsoletion of iPod models spawned the following SNL skit:

 

[Technerd108]

I would love Apple to return to more vibrant colors on their Macs. The iMacs are nice but the MacBooks have been so boring with Space Grey and silver as the only color options for so long.

I am so happy with my midnight M2 MBA but I would love even more an electric blue, or a purple color of the iPad Air or a bright Orange, Bright green, etc.

The older CRT Macs with clear plastic and cool colors was a part of what made using a Mac so unique and fun.

Personally I think the new MacBooks MBP 14/16" and M2 MBA have really nice designs and a splash of color would just make them even more great!

 

[canadianpj]

The color of the computer means very little to me, but I do want the glowing Apple symbol back again.

 

[Tagbert]

I’d like to know what Amazon has been spending $10B per year on!!

 

[Technerd108]

I’d like to know what Amazon has been spending $10B per year on!!

Not the thread for this convo. but it certainly wasn't giving customers better prices or workers higher wages. I guess writing code for A.I. is really expensive and selling hardware at cost???

 

[Tagbert]

Not the thread for this convo. but it certainly wasn't giving customers better prices or workers higher wages. I guess writing code for A.I. is really expensive and selling hardware at cost???

Sorry, this was meant for a thread about Amazon losing $10B per year on Alexa.

 

[MBAir2010]

the 2021 MacBook silver is very elegant!
the design is easier to transport than the newer models without the finger prints!
and the MBA runs great, over 20 hours and does everything FAST!
I'm happy I punched this version instead of the M2

 

[MBAir2010]

I owe you much gratitude over your excellent devotion towards the MacBook Air M1
while purchasing one this late summer, I remembered how happy you are when these were released
so Thanks!

 

[russell_314]

This thread is proof that, regardless of what Apple does, someone will think it’s terrible.

I love my M2 MacBook Air. I was a bit worried about the typing experience because of the square edge versus the thin front of the wedge shape but no issues even on a desk. I think it looks better than the old design, but even that one still looks good.

I think the only thing holding the MacBook Air back is price. People are used to seeing cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks with dim screens and plastic housings and trackpads for less than $300 so when they see the price of a MacBook Air it seems ridiculous. Maybe Apple could make a cheap plastic laptop with a lesser quality screen and trackpad but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.

 

[Laisha]

The old MacBook Air was 0.63 inches at its thickest point.

The new MacBook Air is 0.44 inches at its thickest point.

This is a fairly big consideration for some of us.

In my experience, the utility of the smaller thickness impacts me based on the sizes of my purses in which the laptop generally resides.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

This thread is proof that, regardless of what Apple does, someone will think it’s terrible.

I love my M2 MacBook Air. I was a bit worried about the typing experience because of the square edge versus the thin front of the wedge shape but no issues even on a desk. I think it looks better than the old design, but even that one still looks good.

I think the only thing holding the MacBook Air back is price. People are used to seeing cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks with dim screens and plastic housings and trackpads for less than $300 so when they see the price of a MacBook Air it seems ridiculous. Maybe Apple could make a cheap plastic laptop with a lesser quality screen and trackpad but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.

Steve Jobs said Apple came up with the iPad because they couldn’t build a $500 laptop that “wasn’t a piece of junk”.

 

[Mainsail]

Steve Jobs said Apple came up with the iPad because they couldn’t build a $500 laptop that “wasn’t a piece of junk”.

I agree.

In 2007, I bought my first MacBook for my daughter to use in her middle-school laptop program. It was the white plastic model (80GB HD, 1GB. RAM) that sold for about $1,100. My point is that I paid about the same for that computer 15 years ago as the base model 2022 M2 MBA ($1,100 with education discount). That's 15 years and essentially no price increase. BTW - I bought my base 2022 MBA for $1,050 on sale at BB, without education discount. Moreover, if I were buying a laptop today for a middle/high school student, I would probably get the M1 2020 MBA, which you can buy on sale for less than $800. That should get them through middle and high school.....7 years.....about $115 per year....not bad. My son used his MBA all of the way through middle school and high school. He carried that thing around in a backpack full of baseball gear that he threw in the dugout during practice and schlepped around campus....no problems.

In our school district, we still have a laptop program, but the units are provided by the schools. All students 6th grade and above get district provided Chromebooks to use. They are falling apart. Many kids just use family computers or use hand-me-down MacBooks because the Chromebooks are crap.

 

[Pearple]

I just placed my order on a M1 MacBook Air Jony Ive style to replace my old intel MacBook Air that looks the same.

The design of the new MacBook Air is simply unacceptable. A notchy notch that is totally uncalled for, an ugly wart on the Touch ID button, 4 outsticking feet at the bottom, that remind me of an elephant. An ugly brick design, that lost all the sleek elegance of the older design and finally a cheap surface quality, that reminds me of Asus or Huawei notebooks.


Just my opinion.


Hopefully Apple improves back over time by firing the current bozo design team...

 

[EnderTW]

Personally, I love the new design. The shrunk bezels are huge. If they could modernize the wedge shape maybe that would work. At the end of the day, I choose this MBA because it can handle the things I need.

1) Machine Learning
2) Programming (non-gui)
3) Godot

Granted you're going to need the 16 or 24 GB RAM to avoid swap, but it does it in a form factor that is just unbelievable.

I was around when the first macbook air came out, I actually bought it. I can tell you, Design led that release and it turned out to be a bunch of beachballs. I'm glad engineering is having a bigger say.

 

[Sowelu]

To each their own, but when I got my M2 Air, my M1 Air felt immediately outdated to me. From the big, uneven display bezels to the curved and pillowy lid and bottom, and that tiny TouchID key. Not to mention the inferior display.

I much prefer the sleek, flat, straight-lined, industrial design of the M2 Air - including the feet (though, it would be nice if the feet were made of wear-free and grippy silicon). I also wish there was 'MacBook Air' branding somewhere on the machine.

I also think Apple could have made the bezels even thinner and reduced the overall size of the chassis a bit. I love that edge to edge keyboard look (even if it would mean a slightly shorter TouchPad). I guess I am still waiting for the Apple Silicon 12" MacBook - not sure if it's ever going to happen!

 

[mlody]

I don't love or like MBA M2 version, but I got it anyway cause I had to get a new computer. I had M1 from work which I had to return, so I fell for all the hype with M2 and decided to get MBA M2 16GB/1TB version instead of getting M1 over again. My wife has M1 base 8GB/256GB, so I get a daily reminder that I wish I had the previous gen MacBook Air for the design itself. My biggest issue with M2 MBA is that it is harder to lift and open the display with single hand/finger compared to M1. Also speakers don't sounds as good. Performance wise, the difference is negligible in basic office, consumption work.

 

[trusso]

I just placed my order on a M1 MacBook Air Jony Ive style to replace my old intel MacBook Air that looks the same.

The design of the new MacBook Air is simply unacceptable. A notchy notch that is totally uncalled for, an ugly wart on the Touch ID button, 4 outsticking feet at the bottom, that remind me of an elephant. An ugly brick design, that lost all the sleek elegance of the older design and finally a cheap surface quality, that reminds me of Asus or Huawei notebooks.


Just my opinion.


Hopefully Apple improves back over time by firing the current bozo design team...

Same. Honestly, I could live with the flat design and even the notch, but those feet stick out like a sore thumb.

I love my M1 Air and I’m not planning on buying a new Mac until the next refresh of Apple’s design language.

I acknowledge this could be another 4-5 years.

 

[MauiPa]

hmmm, let me digest this. apple managed to put in a larger brighter screen (uses more energy and generates more heat) and requires a larger case, increased the performance by a reasonable amount, increased the quality of the speakers (that requires space) all while cutting the weight about .1 pounds and keeping the battery life the same. I would imagine the "feet" that someone whined about are added to allow more airflow, it is a passively cooled device after all, and the case acts as a radiator.

so I'd score it as a big win, as do a lot of the reviewers. I can see the complaints now if they kept the old design platform. ( "it throtles so much more and the battery life went down"). so, if you like the old design, get that, it is not that much slower, the M2 to M1 performance increase is good but not a doubling in performance. The screen and speakers are what appeal to me

 

[MauiPa]

I don't love or like MBA M2 version, but I got it anyway cause I had to get a new computer. I had M1 from work which I had to return, so I fell for all the hype with M2 and decided to get MBA M2 16GB/1TB version instead of getting M1 over again. My wife has M1 base 8GB/256GB, so I get a daily reminder that I wish I had the previous gen MacBook Air for the design itself. My biggest issue with M2 MBA is that it is harder to lift and open the display with single hand/finger compared to M1. Also speakers don't sounds as good. Performance wise, the difference is negligible in basic office, consumption work.

so your complaint is that it is bigger? It is lighter, remarkably

 

[TSE]

Don't you dare insult my ultimate MacBook Air. This is one of the greatest designs of all time. Go use your Dell D520 and be happy in your own little world.