What happened to Apples Design

[semaja2]

I may of not been around Macs for long, but what is happening with Apple and their designs.

First it was that fugly Leopard menubar and useless GUI features from vista,

Now its the iMac, the new keyboard is just plain butt ugly and pointless, and of course the imac its self looks like some sort of mutant that went into a freak acident.

PS. whats with Apple forcing something, they know half their people dont want. they should let the iMac have a matte screen just like they do on the MacBookPro

 

[monke]

All Apple's doing is trying to shake things up. It's just another stage of it's life.

Maybe they're just tired of having white products, and want change. It's just a way of providing variety to the people.

I for one, like most of Apple's designs, and all ways have. They seem to set the standard.

 

[DJMastaWes]

I can kind of agree with this statement. I used to get a huge "wow" factor when I saw new apple products, now it seems that their upgrade are a lot smaller.

They haven't had a huge update for awhile. Mac Pros, MacBook Pro, Mac Minis, MacBooks and iMacs (until now), haven't really changed from their replacements. G5, Powerbook, iBooks.

But, I still love Apple to death!

 

[mduser63]

I can kind of agree with this statement. I used to get a huge "wow" factor when I saw new apple products, now it seems that their upgrade are a lot smaller.

They haven't had a huge update for awhile. Mac Pros, MacBook Pro, Mac Minis, MacBooks and iMacs (until now), haven't really changed from their replacements. G5, Powerbook, iBooks.

But, I still love Apple to death!

I'd say the MacBook is as different from the iBook as the new iMac is from the old one. Of course, I love the way the MacBooks look, and I never liked the iBooks. I thought the G4 iBooks looked sort of cheap, and the white G3 iBooks looked absolutely horrible. The new iMacs get a "meh" from me. I like the new keyboard a lot, but I think I like the iPod inspired design of the iMac G5 style iMac better.

It's true though that Apple's changes have been more subtle. I wish they'd do big changes like they used to do between generations (ie. G3->G4->G5) in the PPC days.

 

[MacNut]

I don't like the iMac design, it looks to clunky. I was never a big fan of all in one computers to begin with.

 

[0098386]

I'm loving the new style, mixing chrome/light aluminium with black. I love it. I was expecting something "more" going off Steves earlier comments, but I can't help look at my iMac now and think "yea, too white".

 

[sikkinixx]

I think adding the black looks tacky. Especially on the iPhone. The black they use just looks so plastic-y, the glossy white used on the old iMacs looked a lot better imho. The new iMacs are hideous... the aluminum looks cool but that black border? ugh. the plastic-y black back? ugh. the black apple? ugh. Striking new industrial design indeed

Oh well... *hugs my sleek and sexy mbp*

 

[-kritter-]

different strokes for different folks, not every design to come out of apple is going to hit ones fancy, i personally like the new look of the imac alot, as well as the new keyboard, being a macbook user i can say from experience that i love its keyboard very much, feels nice under me fingers... i like the direction apple is headed as far as designs, the imac was already the perfect design for an all in one computer, i dont get what people were expecting, why discard something so perfect and start from scratch when you can improve upon something already so amazing it and make it better... those are just my thoughts though...

 

[dopey220]

I'm not so sure about the design of the new iMac, but I do really like the keyboard. I recently upgraded to an MBP from a MacBook. While I love the MBP's power, I miss the feel of the MacBook keyboard.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

Macbook keyboard rocks. I love it, and am sooo glad that the macbook style keyboard is available for desktops now.

 

[mduser63]

Now that I've seen the new iMac in person (at the Apple store) I will say that it looks better in person than the pictures conveyed. I still like the old design better, but the new one isn't terrible. The keyboard is very nice, and I'll be buying one when they're in stock (they didn't have them yet).

 

[Sbrocket]

I may of not been around Macs for long, but what is happening with Apple and their designs.

First it was that fugly Leopard menubar and useless GUI features from vista,

Now its the iMac, the new keyboard is just plain butt ugly and pointless, and of course the imac its self looks like some sort of mutant that went into a freak acident.

PS. whats with Apple forcing something, they know half their people dont want. they should let the iMac have a matte screen just like they do on the MacBookPro

The "fugly Leopard menubar" is a purely subjective observation, and is slated to be changed anyway. Not sure what you're referring to when you say "useless GUI features from Vista," which seems to be tacked on for no particular reason at all rather than make a real observations about Leopard's design.

Having used Macs and been an Apple fan for many years now, I don't think your assessment that the new iMac and keyboard design departs from Apple's previous direction in hardware design is all that insightful or correct. It is different, yes, but what kind of hardware revision would it be if it wasn't different? You make the iMac's design out to be an utter disaster, but unless its predecessor was also a disaster this doesn't make much sense...the new iMac maintains the same basic form factor with some superficial changes in the materials used.

You don't give any reasons for your assertions. While its good to respect other's opinions as much as possible, you've presented this in a way that isn't simply your opinion and asking for others.

 

[luminosity]

People hate changes to things they're comfortable with.

 

[shecky]

i recall virtually identical sounding comments when the last imac first came out... and now everyone seems to love it.

circle of life, people.

 

[Lixivial]

Now its the iMac, the new keyboard is just plain butt ugly and pointless,

I know. Who needs a keyboard now days?

and of course the imac its self looks like some sort of mutant that went into a freak acident.

Then mock up a better design. Personally I think it's stunning and much better than the G5. My favorite is still the G4, but this is a better evolution of the G5 design, in my opinion. The aluminum and glass really give it an elegant look.

 

[Gymnut]

Maybe a better judgement can be made of the new iMacs if you were to see them in person rather than from pictures.

 

[imac/cheese]

I don't like the iMac design, it looks to clunky. I was never a big fan of all in one computers to begin with.

Clunky compared to what? It does look clunky compared to a lot of the mock ups that have been posted on this site over the past year, but of course mock ups do have the advantage of not actually having to work. I think the design is very sleek and that there is not a desktop computer out there that even rivals its non-clunky appearance.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

For me, the design went down hill with the release of the 5gen iPod, and it hasn't come back.. I miss the old Apple!

 

[roland.g]

I would rather have a mid-tower, 2 HDD bays, more user accessible, changable PCI slot for graphics, etc and a cinema display. However, the cinema displays have not been updated with iSights and actually have white sides which the new iMacs don't. The pictures on Apple's website don't do the new iMac justice, I saw it in a store yesterday and ordered one last night as I had planned to, and I always had G4 towers in the past. It is nice and elegant and I really prefer the metal to the white. The keyboard is nice too. I wish it had feet you could flip up in the back for more angle/tilt but I was typing on it standing up and sitting at my desk that might not be the case. I also wish the BT version was full. But I ordered the regular since the BT is 3-6 weeks out. And maybe I'll get one later. I still have a white BT KB. Don't judge the new iMac unless you have seen one.

 

[Gav]

They started paying Jonathan Ive £1,000,000 a year.

 

[MacNut]

No offense but when Apple said they were updating the iMac I was assuming a new design not just a color change. I still think it looks clunky and unappealing.

 

[-::ubermann::-]

I've been one of the few people who likes the macbook keyboard, I like the new desktop keyboard
But I was expecting more of the new iMac design, this is escentially the same, they even kept the "chin", and is still thick, if iMacs have laptop processors they could get rid of those
Also I'm not big fan of brushed aluminum look, in any case, i prefer glossy, as apple's consumer products were, I don't associate aluminum with "professional look", I call it boring and conventional look instead