If you could make one design change to the new MacBook design language…

[UMHurricanes34]

Let’s play a fun hypothetical game - What would your design tweak be? Let’s go ahead and rule out the notch for the sake of this post as I believe most would opt for an uninterrupted and consistent bezel.

For me, the thing I would change would be the display/hinge assembly at the bottom of the display.

The rounded corners at the top of the display and square edges at the bottom feel like a compromise to me. It’s very clear that they re-used the general hinge design from the 2016 era designs, where the glass reaches the area of the hinge where the MacBook text used to live.

If I could change anything, I would change this area to what we had in the 2012-2015 MacBook designs, where the glass of the display extended all the way down to the hinge, allowing for a perfectly symmetrical and consistently rounded piece of glass. I think having a display that is rounded all the way around a la the iPad Pro since 2018 would have been the cherry on top for me. As someone who could never fall in love with the Touch Bar era machines (my 2018 15” was the least pleasurable and reliable Apple notebook I have ever owned and I have owned every 15” notebook since the TiBook), this is the sole disappointment of the redesign as it’s the main thing that stands out as a carry over, and you stare at it every time you use the device.

My runner up: a glowing Apple logo.

What one single design tweak would you make to these new M-era machines?

 

[BeatCrazy]

I think the intake vents on the bottom of the new 14" and 16" are sharp/awkward when you're holding it by the sides.

Seems like they could make the openings bigger and use a solid/perforated design instead of the open slot.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

I think the intake vents on the bottom of the new 14" and 16" are sharp/awkward when you're holding it by the sides.

Seems like they could make the openings bigger and use a solid/perforated design instead of the open slot.

I like this idea, almost like swapping the full vent for a Mac Studio/old cheese grater style of perforation. I remember when these vents were initially released with the first Retina MBP and people were having the same issue with them feeling a bit sharp and awkward and they’ve really not changed much since. I do find my fingers slipping into them when carrying the notebook sometimes.

 

[playtech1]

Reintroducing tapered edges across the board.

I think a big reason the new MBPs look so chunky is that they adopt the design language seen in the post-Xs iPhone and in FaceID iPads (which design language harks back to the iPhone 4 and MacBooks of that time). The current Apple design has the edges of products being a sheer surface rather than cutting in at the base in the style of the 2012 to 2019 MacBooks.

I understand that Apple wants its new products to look different than the old ones, but the taper was a great way of reducing the visual impact of a large product and on the iPad and iPhone made them comfier to hold in the hand.

The other one that nearly made this list was a desire for a slightly smaller trackpad on the MacBook Pro, as the current one just tells me that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

 

[unrigestered]

removal of the notch

 

[MajorFubar]

Let’s play a fun hypothetical game - What would your design tweak be? Let’s go ahead and rule out the notch for the sake of this post as I believe most would opt for an uninterrupted and consistent bezel.

removal of the notch

Can't believe you didn't get even as far as OP's second sentence.

Me? The reintroduction of even just one single USB-A socket on the 14" and 16". The list of devices that still come only with a USB-A plug, let alone the 25+ years of perfectly-serviceable legacy devices, justifies the inclusion of a socket on Apple's most costly machines without needing to have a dongle hanging out of a USB-C port.

 

[Eggtastic]

Matte black and/or darker space gray color options. The space gray is a little too close to silver.

I am not sure why apple won't release these options. Based off the forums here alone, people went nuts for the midnight color option and that is a dark, dark blue. However apple's marketing division gives us starlight (old person champagne car color).

 

[Madhatter32]

removal of the notch

I second this idea. I would love to see the notch outlawed across all Apple devices as an aesthetic abomination to good taste.

 

[spiderman0616]

I'd like a different vent design as well. It's a sharp edge on what is otherwise a very curvy machine to carry around in your hands. I wouldn't want to give up airflow for the sake of looks though. Let's not go back down that road ever again with the Mac.

 

[Novius89]

Matte screen

 

[barkomatic]

Matte black and/or darker space gray color options. The space gray is a little too close to silver.

I am not sure why apple won't release these options. Based off the forums here alone, people went nuts for the midnight color option and that is a dark, dark blue. However apple's marketing division gives us starlight (old person champagne car color).

I completely agree and I've been waiting for more color options for awhile.

 

[curnalpanic]

+1 for the backlit Apple logo. It's greatly missed.

 

[MajorFubar]

I second this idea. I would love to see the notch outlawed across all Apple devices as an aesthetic abomination to good taste.

Can neither of you people even read OP's post as far as literally his second sentence? Presumably not.

 

[Madhatter32]

Can neither of you people even read OP's post as far as literally his second sentence? Presumably not.

I am just a one person ... but thanks? I can read though -- believe it or not. I do admit that I am not perfect though.

Anyway, at the risk of running afoul from the OP's rules once again, I would say the notch really needs to go. Other than that, I would say a matte screen would be great -- although that is not really a design element. So, I guess I would say either silver (maybe white) key caps against the black keyboard inlay would be cool.

 

[MajorFubar]

I am just a one person ... but thanks?

I wasn't implying you were schizophrenic, I meant you and the person you quoted.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

Add an RGB backlit keyboard to the MacBook. That’s all I ask.

 

[neo_cs193p]

All-white. This is how I met Apple.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

All-white. This is how I met Apple.

I would love for Apple to create one product in the Mac lineup that tries out a different material. I have also wondered before what a white anodized aluminum might look like. Feel like that would age better than the space grey and darker machines that tend to scratch and chip as the finish wears.