Controversial: Jony's departure made the new MBPs possible

[eoblaed]

As much as I love Jony's designs, and I really do love them, the new MBPs really feel like a marriage between crushingly great new approaches to PC tech and a willingness to return to function over form.

Not that the new machines aren't beautiful in their own right; they are. But they didn't make concessions in functionality for the sole purpose of beautiful form. It's felt for a while that much was given up in our 'Pro' machines to allow for sleeker design. And they were sleek, and gorgeous ... but allowing the new hardware to get thicker, heavier, a little boxier, bring back some ports, etc, has allowed for these new MacBooks to come roaring off the stage to great applause; a new generation of Pro laptops that are almost universally being highly praised.

Knowing that from inception to launch, new hardware follows a cycle that is generally at least a couple years long, I wonder if the push to focus a little more heavily on function, and not allow form to be the final arbiter of design, might've been the catalyst for Jony's decision to leave.

 

[Pressure]

I believe Apple Silicon is what made these new models possible 🤷🏼‍♂️

Personally I don't care for either HDMI or SD slot and would much rather have a fourth TB4 connector.

You already have the M1 in models designed by Ive, so there is that.

 

[Dovahkiing]

I believe Apple Silicon is what made these new models possible 🤷🏼‍♂️

Personally I don't care for either HDMI or SD slot and would much rather have a fourth TB4 connector.

You already have the M1 in models designed by Ive, so there is that.

Apple could have used the transition to ARM as a way to make computers with less thermal capacity - but they didn't. So I don't think the ARM transition is why the new MBPs prioritize function over form. That's a conscious decision on Apples part to address grievances I think.

As far as ports - I tend to agree: but personally I'd take USB-A over the SD or another TypeC/TB4 port.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Personally I don't care for either HDMI or SD slot and would much rather have a fourth TB4 connector.

100% agree with this. Much more useful and powerful to have an extra TB4.

 

[jz0309]

100% agree with this. Much more useful and powerful to have an extra TB4.

Agree, bringing those other ports back feels like a step backwards… into the Ive days 😜😜

 

[vir]

That does seem plausible.

 

[eoblaed]

I believe Apple Silicon is what made these new models possible 🤷🏼‍♂️

Oh, from a performance aspect, absolutely, which is why I said these new MBPs are the result of the marriage of new approaches to PC tech (eg. the new SoC/Silicon, etc) and the willingness to not require form dictate everything.

This is conjecture on my part, but I would guess Jony would've resisted the move to make the MBPs thicker, and heavier, and to add more diversity in ports rather that depend on all USB-C all the time.

Personally I don't care for either HDMI or SD slot and would much rather have a fourth TB4 connector.

Personally? Same. But the response from the industry cannot be denied that this move to add those ports is seen as a willingness from Apple to address the long-held desires from creative professionals. Almost every review I've seen has been extremely positive on this move. Again, in an ideal world for me I would've had a fourth TB4 connector, but my point of the OP is that my guess is that Mr. Ive wouldn't have wanted to design a laptop that got bigger and clunkier, and would've advocated against the sort of design direction the new MBPs took, and this may have been contributory to his departure.

 

[bill-p]

I believe Apple Silicon is what made these new models possible 🤷🏼‍♂️

I... disagree.

It's weird and very backward for Apple to use hot and inefficient chips in thinner and lighter chassis, then use cool and efficient chips in... thicker and heavier chassis.

The new 16" MacBook is heavier than ALL MacBooks produced in the whole past decade.

There is nothing about this that is only possible with Apple Silicon. Apple could have introduced these new MacBooks with Intel chips as well and gotten better cooling and performance out of them.

Knowing that from inception to launch, new hardware follows a cycle that is generally at least a couple years long, I wonder if the push to focus a little more heavily on function, and not allow form to be the final arbiter of design, might've been the catalyst for Jony's decision to leave.

While I agree the new MacBooks are amazing, they show a clear lack of "coherence" in Apple's design. These have gone back to being thicker and heavier, and maybe re-introduced a few more ports, but in the end, they are still missing USB-A ports, for instance. Also external display support is artificially limited compared to past Intel devices. Also... the fact is that the 16" is still heavier than all MacBooks made in the last decade. It's heavier and bulkier than even the 2012 Retina MacBook Pro 15".

...and even with all of that, Apple had to introduce a notch, and they didn't even build Monterey to play well with the notch. Heck, even Safari doesn't support ProMotion like it does in iOS and iPadOS.

So sincerely, if I was Jony, I wouldn't want my name to be associated with a thick device with a notch, even if its performance is universally praised.

 

[imdog]

Unfortunately.

 

[senttoschool]

It's not controversial. It's a popular opinion here and now in the news media as well.

 

[thenewperson]

He probably had a say in these machines.

 

[TrueBlou]

We don’t know whether he was involved in these in any capacity to be fair. They started work on them years ago, and while many aspects wouldn’t have been finalised until much more recently, there’s a good chance he was still around when they were conceptualised.

As for the return of the ports, it certainly seems to be a point of controversy on these forums. But the wider media attention of them seems to be much more positive, rightly so I think - though I’m biased, I’m glad they’re back.

For me they’re much more useful when I’m travelling. Yes I’ve got a powerful TB3 dock in my office, which really means I only need 1 TB port regardless, so it’s somewhat moot there.

But when I’m working away from home, or even downstairs, I’m already enjoying the benefits. Where before I’d be using a TB port for power and one for an SD adapter and sometimes one for HDMI, now I’m using none of them, so instead of 1 free port, I have 3.

And yes, I do also have a portable dock which can combine power/HDMI/SD, but again if I was back to using that it renders the argument of how many TB ports there are moot again.

Apple clearly had good reason to re-introduce the ports, it’s not a decision they’d make on a whim. Are they going to be used by everyone? Of course not, but for those who still use them (they are after all not obsolete standards), it’s a welcome return.

And thank god MagSafe is back, no more seeing my laptop drag across the table because the dog has got tangled up in the power cable