Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sweet spot for the glowing logo comeback

Alexander_im

Alexander_im

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 2, 2015
105
148
I feel like I’m in minority here, but I kinda miss the old glowing Apple logo. Anyone here also feels like it might actually make a comeback next year? You know, with all this tendency of reversing course: ports, boxy design…

I can totally see it being slightly reimagined, with just the contour glowing (thanks to the Tandem OLED screen). A sweet spot between nostalgia and futuristic elegance.

Asked Chat GPT to envision how it will actually look and it came with this. Hardly a Jony Ive’s take, but for me personally it looks weirdly refreshing. After 10 years of the same glossy finish…
 

Attachments

  • 70A535E3-4EB8-4092-89A2-95709A33DB96.png
    70A535E3-4EB8-4092-89A2-95709A33DB96.png
    1.1 MB · Views: 91
  • Like
  • Haha
  • Love
Reactions: digimc, cateye, Cape Dave and 4 others
What would be the light source? On the old Macs, LCD displays were backlit with fluorescent tubes, so the light source was “free”. That’s not the case with modern LED backlit displays. The logo would need a dedicated light source. Is it worth it to pay for a light source just to have a glowing logo?
 
  • Like
Reactions: throAU, cateye, bluespark and 3 others
chabig said:
What would be the light source? On the old Macs, LCD displays were backlit with fluorescent tubes, so the light source was “free”. That’s not the case with modern LED backlit displays. The logo would need a dedicated light source. Is it worth it to pay for a light source just to have a glowing logo?
Click to expand...

To build on this, how much thicker would the display need to be in order to accommodate both a backlit logo on the lid and the necessary components to power and control it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: bluespark and chabig
I like the glowing logo and all my laptops have it. (No wonder, I buy only hardware 10-15 years behind the actual model.) But one of these days I was watching a movie in the darkened room and noticed for somewhere comes a disturbing light. Needed some minutes to figure out it was the apple logo on the back that illuminated the room, reflecting from the walls and furniture.
 
chabig said:
What would be the light source? On the old Macs, LCD displays were backlit with fluorescent tubes, so the light source was “free”. That’s not the case with modern LED backlit displays. The logo would need a dedicated light source. Is it worth it to pay for a light source just to have a glowing logo?
Click to expand...
Actually, the Macbook displays were definitely LED-backlit for a long time during the glowing logo era. Even as far back as 2007 apparently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scrooge MacDuck
Won’t return because Apple in 2025 is different from Apple in 1999. They don’t need to gain brand recognition anymore because they’re number 1 globally. Same reason why iPhone includes zero accessories. They don’t need to stand out anymore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cape Dave
JPack said:
Won’t return because Apple in 2025 is different from Apple in 1999. They don’t need to gain brand recognition anymore because they’re number 1 globally. Same reason why iPhone includes zero accessories. They don’t need to stand out anymore.
Click to expand...
Yeah, IBM say hello. And so do Nokia, RIM, and whatnot...
 
  • Love
Reactions: Macbookey
Scrooge MacDuck said:
Yeah, IBM say hello. And so do Nokia, RIM, and whatnot...
Click to expand...
Exactly. Rather than build further, Cook’s Apple has been content to extract more money from existing customers. There is this narrative that they diversified the business, but in reality all it is a series of products and services that depend mostly on iPhone sales. Once one dumps the iPhone all the extras go with it.

Extortion level RAM and SSD upgrades are classic examples of Cook’s way of working and his Mac signature.  silicon was going to happen once the A4 came in the iPhone 4 that Steve debuted. The market changing Retina display was under Steve too. The AirPods are the best product under Cook. The  Watch has become essentially as stale year over year as the iPhone. Innovation can come in software too. Everything is staggered and drawn out to maximize profits and do the least year over year. It’s boring and predictable and hardly mature. At least liquid glass, whether it’s a visual disaster in some fronts has some old  spirit in it.

 shadows Xerox and Rim and its old self in so many ways. Right now all is well, but this “mature market” and “what more can one do?” belief system is exactly where the trap door opens and the giants fall.

Android dominates the eastern hemisphere. The Mac has so much more to gain customer wise. What has been done to capture these people? Not enough.  makes vapourware, and is run by finance and product marketing. A company that over promises and under delivers now, and ships its customers fine woven products that don’t delight.

The Mac keeps me loyal as a creative. That aspect keeps me a customer, for now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scrooge MacDuck
curnalpanic said:
Actually, the Macbook displays were definitely LED-backlit for a long time during the glowing logo era. Even as far back as 2007 apparently.
Click to expand...
Yes, but modern LED backlighting is zonal instead of a single source. Mini-LED has thousands of zones and only lights up the areas it needs to. The older LED backlighting had a single light source, and so there was always light behind the logo.

I liked the glowing logo, which was a clever byproduct of the screen technology of the time, but screens have changed.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Cape Dave
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back