Wouldn't it be nice of the MacBook Air had a black bezel like the MacBook Pro?

[Capt Underpants]

I like the silver bezel.

It hearkens back to the Powerbook G4 days...

 

[leecbaker]

Thinness - To have a black glossy bezel a layer of plastic is required over the top of the existing screen, making it thicker. Besides, the aluminium bezel on the MacBook Airs look just as good, if not better, than the black glossy ones in my opinion.

I would love to have a black lid on my MBA. I have been looking around a bit to see how much it would cost to anodize just the two pieces of the lid, or just the front LCD bezel, but apparently it is a real pain to disassemble and reassemble the screen module, and I have yet to find anyone that made me feel comfortable trusting them with my machine.

Anodizing wouldn't require a layer of plastic, or increase thickness. It also wouldn't be glossy, but I am not looking for a glossy bezel.

 

[Retina MacBook]

I just checked out the 11 Inch MacBook Air at the Apple store.
1. The bezel isn't that bad. I can certainly live with it.
2. OMG! It's so cute! What a thin piece of beauty.
3. The screen size isn't that small. It's perfect. And I don't think I'll be having problems when I'll be doing FCP on it.

 

[dyn]

I prefer glossy because barring all else, the actual colors emitted from the display are more accurate than antiglare/matte.

In this case that doesn't matter at all since they use TN-panels except for the MBPr which uses IPS. If you want accurate colours and such you need to get an IPS panel. Glossy - matte do not differ that much in terms of colour accuracy at all. The differences are very very small. Matte is in reality better for a numerous reasons: it doesn't glare all that much and lots of applications are matte. Therefore in reality it just comes down to taste and not to colour accuracy. Eizo investigated the matter and this was also their conclusion.

Most people don't work outside in direct sunlight and the problem of lighting conditions is partially negated by the fact that we can move laptops around.

Doesn't matter. All there needs to be is some light e.g. from a window, lamp or the display itself. It is these conditions that need to be stable and they aren't because light outside changes (day vs night).

You could argue against that with an iMac, which is a stationary computer but it can be adjusted to face away from the direct light or something.

You can also with a notebook. Not many people like moving it around nor are they able to do so (it is sitting on a desk running some rendering and therefore is quite hot and unpleasant to keep on a lap; or it is in a dock or on a stand that is not easy to move around).

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

In this case that doesn't matter at all since they use TN-panels except for the MBPr which uses IPS. If you want accurate colours and such you need to get an IPS panel. Glossy - matte do not differ that much in terms of colour accuracy at all. The differences are very very small. Matte is in reality better for a numerous reasons: it doesn't glare all that much and lots of applications are matte. Therefore in reality it just comes down to taste and not to colour accuracy. Eizo investigated the matter and this was also their conclusion.


Doesn't matter. All there needs to be is some light e.g. from a window, lamp or the display itself. It is these conditions that need to be stable and they aren't because light outside changes (day vs night).


You can also with a notebook. Not many people like moving it around nor are they able to do so (it is sitting on a desk running some rendering and therefore is quite hot and unpleasant to keep on a lap; or it is in a dock or on a stand that is not easy to move around).

You're grasping at straws. All you have done is restate my points. All I said is that with a laptop you have the physical ability to move it. Whether someone likes to do it or not is a different matter all together. Outside light makes little difference unless your display constantly rotates to match the exact angle of sunlight AND you have a window wide/tall enough to make this a problem. Seriously, restating someone's points and finding the most extreme scenarios (such as you CAN move it but you just don't want to) is a poor argument.

 

[dyn]

Nope, you're the one grasping at straws, not me. Again the fact that a laptop is movable is purely theoretical, in reality nobody does this because it is simply annoying to do so or not possible because of their setup. Be realistic and stop citing from books or your dad. That was the point I was trying to make earlier as well but you completely missed that...

 

[slipper]

I thought it would be nice until I saw a picture of a macbook air with a black bezel skin on it. It looks silly with it once you see it. IMHO

Attachment Macbook air picture from Macrumors user: robjmurphy

I'm sure glossy would look a lot better.

 

[EnigMoiD]

Silver bezel, black bezel, doesn't matter. I've had computers with both, and I like both. What the Air needs is a smaller bezel. I guess Apple uses the sides of the bezel for antennas, but from a user's perspective, the screen in either MBA could easily be an entire inch larger. A bezel more in line with the rMBP would be nice across the entire MB line. It's probably coming.

 

[stepheneleven]

Why is it so wide on the 11 inch?

I don't have an issue with the color, but I just don't understand why it is almost an inch wide all around the screen(on the 11 incher anyway). The bezel on my 17" is half the size. I dont see why they dont lessen the thickness of the bezel and give us more screen. They could get another inch of screen real estate and still maintain the same form factor.

I would like to have a glass screen on it though. I think with the new display layer technology on the new MBP combined with Gorilla Glass 2's 20% reduction in thickness, we could see this on future MB Air retina displays. I think another inch of screen real estate, doubled resolution, down under glass would be awesome, and totally possible, someday. I couldn't care less what the color of the bezel is. Although, if they ever do put it under glass, I'm sure they would go with black like the rest of them.

 

[Stetrain]

I was looking at a 13" MBA next to a 13" MBP in store the other day. Surprisingly I actually found the 'metallic' bezel of the Macbook Air to be more distracting in a bright-lights environment than the glossy black bezel of the MBP.

 

[ixodes]

I use my MBA's & MBP's as computers.

I'm so busy reading the display, the last thing I care about is the color of the bezel.

Perhaps I'm supposed to just sit there and stare at the bezel, admiring it's looks. I must live a sheltered life since I've yet to meet anyone that gets paid to sit & stare

Even if true, there's no way I could sit, being completely useless. It must require a lot of training

 

[mrs1986]

I use my MBA's & MBP's as computers.

I'm so busy reading the display, the last thing I care about is the color of the bezel.

Perhaps I'm supposed to just sit there and stare at the bezel, admiring it's looks. I must live a sheltered life since I've yet to meet anyone that gets paid to sit & stare

Even if true, there's no way I could sit, being completely useless. It must require a lot of training

I work on a CCTV so... I actually get paid for sit & stare

Ontopic, i dont like the black bezel anymore... After looking at the grey one, i think is perfect, just perfect...

 

[Wokis]

It makes a clear signature-ish difference between the Air and the Pro line. I like it simply due to it not looking exactly like a thinner MBP.

 

[asting]

It makes a clear signature-ish difference between the Air and the Pro line. I like it simply due to it not looking exactly like a thinner MBP.

It's funny you mention that, because that's a huge concern with the iphone 4s. The idea is that people won't be as interested if there's not a visible difference between the 4 and 4s. It goes along the thought process of, "No one will be able to tell I'm better than them."

 

[dcorban]

After using the aluminum 2008 MacBook and its black bezel for four years, I was initially against the aluminum bezel. After using the Air for a few days, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Also, I can't believe someone started a glossy vs matte argument here. It is meaningless on the Air and Retina Pro. Both have virtually glare free screens and are not the traditional matte.

 

[Wokis]

It's funny you mention that, because that's a huge concern with the iphone 4s. The idea is that people won't be as interested if there's not a visible difference between the 4 and 4s. It goes along the thought process of, "No one will be able to tell I'm better than them."

The air has not replaced the pro, most pro models are certainly better than the air. It's a difference in design. It falls into my taste that they do it, so I like it =o

 

[asting]

The air has not replaced the pro, most pro models are certainly better than the air. It's a difference in design. It falls into my taste that they do it, so I like it =o

You misunderstood. I never said it replaced the pro. The iPhone 4 is still sold alongside the 4s. The physical distinction serves to differentiate their products to others.

An easily marketable good is one that is consumed publicly, and if people can't tell what the good is that's a bad thing.

 

[blesscheese]

I just switched from a MBP 13" to a MBA 13" and I have to disagree with the OP. I much prefer the aluminum bezel over the black glossy one. Not only does it result in less glare, for me it's much more aesthetically pleasing and makes the laptop feel even more unified (aluminum all around the machine, whereas the MBP seems a little disjointed in the screen section). This is just my opinion though. Everyone has different preferences.

I came to this thread specifically to disagree with the OP as well. The above post is essentially my opinion as well.

I will just add that the only situations that I have found a display like the MBP Black Bezel to be helpful (potientially) would be watching movies. It would give a better frame the movie on the display...however, the one thing I *never* do with my MBA is watch movies.