Why have Apple ruined the MacBook Air design?

[Warped9]

The wedge shape also served a purpose, by angling the keyboard toward the user.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Sorry to rub you a little bit on this one. Notch on MacBook is one of the stupidest design compromise ever, more so when the camera array doesn’t house Face ID. They could’ve made the notch thinner but didn’t for various reasons. That extra screen space got cut in half and make menubar looks incomplete, and way thicker than before. Yes, you get more “Content”, but at the expense of menubar usable space.

I'm going to become the Joker

 

[Eggtastic]

The wedge design looked stupid to me so I welcome the new design.

 

[Xiaojohn]

I looked at the new M2 MacBook Air in an Apple Store recently and came away thinking how thankful I was for going ahead with my purchase of the previous wedge-shaped MacBook Air. I was hoping the new MBA would look better in reality than the photos and videos I'd seen online, but it actually looked worse. The flat design is boring and already looks outdated, it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, and the notch and Touch ID button on the keyboard both stick out like a sore thumb. It just lacks that sleek perfection that the previous MBA design had, which actually looks more futuristic now than the new M2 MBA. I just don't understand why Apple is doing this, taking big backward steps with the look and feel of their products. They've already done this with the new iMac, and MacBook Pro, and now the new MacBook Air. Moreover, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the ugliest device they've created in years. Why are they doing this? The reason I loved Apple products in the first place was the sleek minimalism and beautiful aesthetics of their products but they are slowly eroding that approach to design. Is it because Jony Ive has left?

Because the design is practical, they can fill up all the empty space now with battery.

 

[Xiaojohn]

I looked at the new M2 MacBook Air in an Apple Store recently and came away thinking how thankful I was for going ahead with my purchase of the previous wedge-shaped MacBook Air. I was hoping the new MBA would look better in reality than the photos and videos I'd seen online, but it actually looked worse. The flat design is boring and already looks outdated, it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, and the notch and Touch ID button on the keyboard both stick out like a sore thumb. It just lacks that sleek perfection that the previous MBA design had, which actually looks more futuristic now than the new M2 MBA. I just don't understand why Apple is doing this, taking big backward steps with the look and feel of their products. They've already done this with the new iMac, and MacBook Pro, and now the new MacBook Air. Moreover, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the ugliest device they've created in years. Why are they doing this? The reason I loved Apple products in the first place was the sleek minimalism and beautiful aesthetics of their products but they are slowly eroding that approach to design. Is it because Jony Ive has left?

Another reason…

Americans like to fix things by themselves and they keep complaining….

So Apple need to come out a practical deaign to allow the screw opening for repairs.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Wrong. There is a reason the new M2 Air is the worst selling Apple product in 25 years. As the OP already suggested, outdated design in comparison to the wedge, cheaper build quality and the M1 Air is as powerful if not more powerful than the M2 in most common circumstances, and over half the price cheaper. There is also a reason why the midnight colour has only sold 26,000 units globally since the M2 air was released in comparison to the M1 Air which has sold in its millions form day one

Considering Apple doesn’t share sales figures anymore you have a link / some evidence for your 26000 figure?

 

[cateye]

My real disappointment is that the colours they introduced are so muted and conservative looking, they serve to make the new design less interesting.

Now we're talking. Color is one of the ways to push design all over the place without affecting function, and Apple historically (at least since Jobs' return) has never shied away from embracing some wild shades (The Flower Power iMac! God that was ugly, and yet... oddly appealing at the same time). So what happened? The 24" iMac colors are nice, as are most iPhones, but why this hasn't percolated down to something like the MacBook Air is a bit of a mystery to me. There's always got to be a basic silver and a basic gray/black, of course, but beyond that? Go nuts.

 

[tcmasterson]

You not liking the new design does not translate into Apple ruining the M2 Air for everyone else. You are in the minority.

Nah. I agree with him, and a lot of other people do too. The new Air, while an okay design, feels more like a continuation of the '2016 MacBook Pro' design lineage. It's not slim like people want from a 'MacBook Air'.

In general all these new MacBooks have gotten too bulky and cumbersome. They feel like a step backwards in design.

 

[Zest28]

The M2 MBA looks like a 13" MBP basically now.

 

[brandoman]

Nah, that MBA M2 is dope. Love it. A much better feel, is less rounded, and flatter. Actually feels thinner and the keyboard is even better.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Got the M2 Air in Midnight on Friday. I am blown away by it and think it’s the best looking MBA ever, by a landslide.

 

[brandoman]

Okay stop. "Flat design is boring and already looks outdated."

I guess the iPhone is boring and already looks outdated then because that uses a flat design too. So do the 14- and 16-inch Macbook Pros.

Sure, wedge is iconic, but flat is justice and more practical. Not to mention it's somehow thinner and lighter than the previous Macbook Air, going from 1.61 to 1.13 cm. Plus flat is necessary to bring magsafe back to it while remaining impossibly thin.



So would any other Macbook, or iPad, or iPhone



OH FOR GODS SAKE SHUT UP ABOUT THE NOTCH ALREADY! I'm so tired of hearing it everywhere I go Reddit, Twitter, Discord, and this dumpster fire of a forum about "notch bad" on Macbooks. I thought we were done with this since the iPhone X proved that no the notch does not stick out on the phone, and it doesn't stick out on the Macbook. All your content is under the notch so you never notice it at all. Not only that but the notch is not cutting into any content and is adding screen space to move the menu bar up giving you MORE screen real estate.



Dunno about you but the flat ultrathin laptop already looks pretty futuristic especially in Midnight Black.



You mean reversing Jony Ive's form over function designs that made the Mac an overpriced overheating underperforming joke from 2015 to 2020? GOOD. There's a reason the Mac is now outselling every PC notebook in their categories since they reversed course, admitted mistakes, and make computers people actually want to buy instead of just trying to make it look futuristic.



Bro you're crazy if you think the M1 iMac is a "step backwards" with how thin it is. That new iMac has been eyecatching and a technical marvel for all in one desktops, and it brought fun colors back.



I'm sorry where the hell were you during the Macbook Pro's dark age from 2016 to late 2019? The age of super thin that got rid of legacy ports and magsafe and forced everyone on USB-C dongle life for their professional workflows. Computers that got rid of the function key row and escape key and forced a touchbar that only caused more problems. A computer that thermal throttled from just one second of a Intel benchmark because of how thin they made it. It's a pro computer, it does not need to be thin or have a crazy design. Professionals just want a computer that is super powerful and gets the job done, which that old design did not do at all.

Oh...okay so you're one of those. Function over fashion sweetheart. I dunno about you but when I look at a rugged watch or dive computer I ain't thinking "damn, this watch is ugly what happened to the futuristic design?"



if all you think about in a computer is looks and not price, performance, build quality, and features, then you really need to reevaluate yourself.

And yes it's because Ive left, and thank god he did. The moment he left they could reverse course on his bad form over function designs that crippled so many Apple Products.

Friendly reminder of Ive's two best creations that helped make the Mac the laughing stock it was during the 2010s:

The notch hides my menubar items. It's terrible.

 

[brandoman]

Why do people moan about the mouse with its charging point underneath? , it was designed to placed on a shelf with a cutout so it could charge flat in a higher position until they scrapped the apple shelf , you’re not meant to charge it on the floor.

Nice satire.

 

[appleofyoureye]

I looked at the new M2 MacBook Air in an Apple Store recently and came away thinking how thankful I was for going ahead with my purchase of the previous wedge-shaped MacBook Air. I was hoping the new MBA would look better in reality than the photos and videos I'd seen online, but it actually looked worse. The flat design is boring and already looks outdated, it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, and the notch and Touch ID button on the keyboard both stick out like a sore thumb. It just lacks that sleek perfection that the previous MBA design had, which actually looks more futuristic now than the new M2 MBA. I just don't understand why Apple is doing this, taking big backward steps with the look and feel of their products. They've already done this with the new iMac, and MacBook Pro, and now the new MacBook Air. Moreover, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the ugliest device they've created in years. Why are they doing this? The reason I loved Apple products in the first place was the sleek minimalism and beautiful aesthetics of their products but they are slowly eroding that approach to design. Is it because Jony Ive has left?

This reeks of main character syndrome.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

The notch hides my menubar items. It's terrible.

Gee if only there was an option to fix that

Oh wait there is: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/28/scale-to-fit-below-built-in-camera-setting-notch/

 

[bradl]

I looked at the new M2 MacBook Air in an Apple Store recently and came away thinking how thankful I was for going ahead with my purchase of the previous wedge-shaped MacBook Air. I was hoping the new MBA would look better in reality than the photos and videos I'd seen online, but it actually looked worse. The flat design is boring and already looks outdated, it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, and the notch and Touch ID button on the keyboard both stick out like a sore thumb. It just lacks that sleek perfection that the previous MBA design had, which actually looks more futuristic now than the new M2 MBA. I just don't understand why Apple is doing this, taking big backward steps with the look and feel of their products. They've already done this with the new iMac, and MacBook Pro, and now the new MacBook Air. Moreover, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the ugliest device they've created in years. Why are they doing this? The reason I loved Apple products in the first place was the sleek minimalism and beautiful aesthetics of their products but they are slowly eroding that approach to design. Is it because Jony Ive has left?

I'm with you! I mean, why did they update the design of the Mac Plus, or the Powerbook Duo! I mean, those were perfect! Better yet, why did they update the design TO the Mac!? The entire II/II Plus/IIe series was absolutely perfect!!

Is it because Steve left, then came back?

/s

BL.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Your description of “ruined” is about the aesthetic and not the function; so it’s difficult to take the original comment seriously. By your logic, you would rather take a device that looks good (to you) rather than one with greater specifications.

Choosing the MacBook Air as your example is somewhat ironic. The previous generation had a tapered designed that added nothing useful, but was aesthetically pleasing and clearly became iconic. The trade-off was that the battery was required to be terraced, which not only required the silly engineering of layering individual battery together but also wasted space at the point of the taper. The new MacBook on the other hand has a standard battery and larger capacity due to the absence of a taper.

These kinds of choices can be found across a lot of Apple’s current products, and in the end it serves the user better than satisfying a minority who only care about having something that looks different every few years.

 

[zachz]

They look outdated and anachronistic with that bulky, boxy design. The new MBP looks similar to my ancient Macbook Pro from 2006 and the colour options on the boring new iMacs are just silly. Go into any Apple Store or reseller and they just look out of place.

If anything, the new iMac (which is objectionably less bulky than any pervious iMac, or Mac for that matter, in Apple's history) looks retro-futuristic. Some of the colours (like yellow) remind me of the space age -- luckily they make a silver to make people happy who don't want color.

As well, the wedged MacBook Air you love so much reminds me of my ancient 2008 MacBook Air, so why does your reasoning not align with the MacBook Pros? If they look like your ancient 2006 MacBook Pro, you should love it just like you love the ancient design of the 2008 MacBook Air -- or does it only apply to things you're angry about?

 

[Asbow]

I have to say, while I personally like the new Air, I think the old super-slim design was better. More portable, which would be the point of the Air.

And to me the current Macbook Pros look a little too thick and blocky, compared to the sleeker previous versions.

The MacBook Pro is supposed to be a portable professional laptop. I had a 2016 MacBook Pro, it was too thin, more of a glorified Air. The fans always spun up as soon as you did anything taxing in PS. Pretty sure you could fry an egg on the bottom of them. I bought a 2021 16” Max last Christmas and its exactly what the Pro should be. No issue with the notch. No issues with heat.

 

[DD88]

Nice satire.

No satire at all,apple specially designed it to be charged on a shelving unit

 

[DPH]

This type of thread is so stupid.

My socks always gets holes i recommand everyone to go without socks because its a poor design.

 

[nkgmd]

The old wedge shaped design was intended to trick your eye and hide the fact that it was quite thick and round on the back end underneath, which they needed to do for the cooling, larger chips, larger I/O ports. Now they are able to make the device uniformly thin, drop the cooling, loose the extra ram and storage and replace all that with faster smaller chips and larger battery for a much improved user experience as well as a lighter, thinner and more portable form factor, using the same design language as their new Pro laptops which Apple hasn’t done before. Personally I love my Midnight M2 MacBook Air, it’s my workhorse and by far the best laptop I’ve had. And I had an M1 Air before this one and a 13” pro before that.

 

[Isamilis]

I looked at the new M2 MacBook Air in an Apple Store recently and came away thinking how thankful I was for going ahead with my purchase of the previous wedge-shaped MacBook Air. I was hoping the new MBA would look better in reality than the photos and videos I'd seen online, but it actually looked worse. The flat design is boring and already looks outdated, it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, and the notch and Touch ID button on the keyboard both stick out like a sore thumb. It just lacks that sleek perfection that the previous MBA design had, which actually looks more futuristic now than the new M2 MBA. I just don't understand why Apple is doing this, taking big backward steps with the look and feel of their products. They've already done this with the new iMac, and MacBook Pro, and now the new MacBook Air. Moreover, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the ugliest device they've created in years. Why are they doing this? The reason I loved Apple products in the first place was the sleek minimalism and beautiful aesthetics of their products but they are slowly eroding that approach to design. Is it because Jony Ive has left?

Jony Ive has left Apple, bring all the design beauty away from Apple. It’s also shown in new iPad keyboard design.

 

[waquzy]

I looked at the new M2 MacBook Air in an Apple Store recently and came away thinking how thankful I was for going ahead with my purchase of the previous wedge-shaped MacBook Air. I was hoping the new MBA would look better in reality than the photos and videos I'd seen online, but it actually looked worse. The flat design is boring and already looks outdated, it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, and the notch and Touch ID button on the keyboard both stick out like a sore thumb. It just lacks that sleek perfection that the previous MBA design had, which actually looks more futuristic now than the new M2 MBA. I just don't understand why Apple is doing this, taking big backward steps with the look and feel of their products. They've already done this with the new iMac, and MacBook Pro, and now the new MacBook Air. Moreover, the new Apple Watch Ultra is the ugliest device they've created in years. Why are they doing this? The reason I loved Apple products in the first place was the sleek minimalism and beautiful aesthetics of their products but they are slowly eroding that approach to design. Is it because Jony Ive has left?

I’ve owned multiple MacBooks over the years and imo my M2(midnight) is by far the best one yet. Absolutely love it.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

And there you go! Typical new member post with a provocative subject line to stir and troll.