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

Which MacBook Air Design Do You Prefer? (Purely based on aesthetics)

  • New MBP Inspired Design

  • Wedge Design


Results are only viewable after voting.

Love-hate 🍏 relationship

macrumors 68040
Sep 19, 2021
3,057
3,235
I have a new MBP that essentially has the same cross profile as the new Air but thicker, from what I can tell by the pictures.

I agree, it doesn't look good from the side in a picture. But that changes quickly when seen in person. Especially since we mostly view it from an angle downward. Even when looking at it directly from the side, there is a shading that is lost in the pictures, plus the feet are not as pronounced. I was skeptical until I saw the MBP in person. It looks very good.
yeah i sorta agree with you tbh :) personally the keyboard sold me ,pure blakc keyboard is gorgeous on the new mbp 14 and 16.

i still went back to a mba m1 ,after i realized that the pros were pure folly for me :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: planteater

JMacHack

Suspended
Mar 16, 2017
1,965
2,424
I’m only slightly on the side of the new design.

The old one looked far more “sleek” and “professional”

But the new seems far more “friendly” and “approachable” to my mind.

The rounded corners (like on my mbp) put to my mind a similar feeling to pre-aluminum Macs. In which they have more “personality”. Which Is also analogous to the Big Sur redesign of MacOS. It has a softer, more colorful feel than Mavericks-Catalina. Which I like.

The feet is what I don’t like, they basically disappeared on the tapered MacBooks but are eyesores to the silhouettes on the new designs.

And about the notch: I actually think it’s a good design having had my mbp for awhile now. It brings the bar up and allows more space for content.

And before anyone asks, I have indeed been taking my medicine.
 

imdog

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2017
353
793
Disneyland
I don’t disagree with you, but I think it’s fair to ask just about how you think something looks with no other considerations.

Despite the limitations of the wedge shape we’ve had some really damned good machines, including the M1 MBA.

Not all designs need to optimize for the absolute best in thermals or other considerations.
Sometimes aesthetics can be number one..

I know several CEOs who have always chosen the MBA because it’s thin and beautiful and attractive.

As long as battery life has been good enough for them, which is basically all of the MBA models to date, aesthetics were all they cared about.
I think it's sort of a "cope" to justify uglier design, the question should be taken as assume we are in the future where any engineering feat is possible, if both machines offered the exact same performance, which package would you rather it be in.

Like you said, aesthetics certainly matter. I'd argue they matter more than performance to a substantial number of people. Many people simply buy the latest tech as a status symbol or because it looks cool, in many years when the iPhone refresh doesn't have a radical design change people say "Oh this is an 'S' year" and don't upgrade even if the spec upgrade is actually more substantial than other years. People want the newest/coolest looking phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane

AbhiAchShan

macrumors member
Nov 7, 2021
87
60
Wedge commands respect as it shows engineering. That thing that was released just means just laziness in design.
That's the difference in Jony Ive and the current Apple Team, I wish they released the MBA with the Wedge, and let this design be taken over by MacBook (which Apple actually killed, the title of Mac Laptops....)
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira

exoticSpice

Suspended
Jan 9, 2022
1,242
1,952
I like the new one and also the old one. The new one looks more modern to me and it makes sense with the rest of the new MBP lineup.

The new M2 MBA is also thinner than the M1 Air.
 

jav6454

macrumors Core
Nov 14, 2007
22,303
6,264
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
That's the difference in Jony Ive and the current Apple Team, I wish they released the MBA with the Wedge, and let this design be taken over by MacBook (which Apple actually killed, the title of Mac Laptops....)
Although to be fair, Ive was going all HAM on Apple in terms of form. There has to be a balance, and Ive was not yielding to a balance. For instance, MagSafe is something that should have never been removed from Macs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira

AbhiAchShan

macrumors member
Nov 7, 2021
87
60
Although to be fair, Ive was going all HAM on Apple in terms of form. There has to be a balance, and Ive was not yielding to a balance. For instance, MagSafe is something that should have never been removed from Macs.
We all are blaming him for no reason. It was the HW Engineering Team's actions. The weaker battery, thinner Macs, lacking ports etc. Jony just designed a product that would enclose their requirements. Also Form over Function brought us the 1984 Mac, the 2007 iPhone, the iPod, and many revolutionary products. So let's not prioritise one over another. We all must understand we are blaming a person, who is not at all responsible. Just because he came in those Advertisements and Product Videos, and said the products are XY mm Thin etc. we are assuming he was the guy behind this
Most of the people here blame Jony for something he was not responsible (Actually such decisions are taken by the HW Engineering Team like USB C only, Thinner, No Fans etc.)
It is upto the HW Engineering team to decide what ports to Add, What not, and Jony designs for them. Most guys here are behaving as if Jony designs, Jony decides what chip to add, what ports to add, Jony decides what keyboard to put etc.
What I want to say is please let us not blame him for every problem at Apple.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Falhófnir

jav6454

macrumors Core
Nov 14, 2007
22,303
6,264
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
We all are blaming him for no reason. It was the HW Engineering Team's actions. The weaker battery, thinner Macs, lacking ports etc. Jony just designed a product that would enclose their requirements. Also Form over Function brought us the 1984 Mac, the 2007 iPhone, the iPod, and many revolutionary products. So let's not prioritise one over another. We all must understand we are blaming a person, who is not at all responsible. Just because he came in those Advertisements and Product Videos, and said the products are XY mm Thin etc. we are assuming he was the guy behind this
Most of the people here blame Jony for something he was not responsible (Actually such decisions are taken by the HW Engineering Team like USB C only, Thinner, No Fans etc.)
It is upto the HW Engineering team to decide what ports to Add, What not, and Jony designs for them. Most guys here are behaving as if Jony designs, Jony decides what chip to add, what ports to add, Jony decides what keyboard to put etc.
What I want to say is please let us not blame him for every problem at Apple.
Ive is responsible for certain decisions. Let's breakdown your examples:
  • The original iPhone. It was originally stated to be all aluminum by Ive. When the HW Team (specifically the Radios team) said that won't work due to attenuation by the aluminum. Do you know what was Ive's team response? Let's add a small "slit" or opening to let them go through. This issue went all the way up to Jobs who settled it by allowing the black bar we see on the bottom. Again, a compromise was reached, if Ive would have had his way, the original iPhone's signal would have been abysmal.
  • 1984 Mac, Ive was not there. That was Jobs and his team which is not the same HW Team today.
  • I'll add one you might not know off, iPhone OS 7. That OS version was completely redesigned by Apple and the man who spearheaded the change from skeuomorphism to what we have today was Ive. Ive's vision here was paramount.
Several products in Apple's lineup have been influenced by both function over form and form over function. However, there were several reports of Ive trying to force and Jobs did the balancing. Hence Ive ended up leaving Apple. The wedge shape MBAs, even the design of the 13" MBP all came from Ive's tenure. Some mistakes were made and some great innovations came from those. But it all boils down to balance.
 

stinkhorn9

macrumors 6502
Mar 29, 2020
285
198
From the side/front/back profiles, the rounded bottom and flat top corners of the new Air work much more pleasingly aesthetically than with the new(ish) MBPs, as the overall non-sleekness that these characteristics threaten is mitigated by the fact that the thing is so thin. It works. With the MPB, the extra height just serves to draw focus to these corners (in a similar way, the Studio's height/additional blank space makes the thing less aesthetically pleasing than the Mini).

In my humble opinion :)

The new starlight MBA would be my choice, had I not just bought an M1 Air in December...
 

AbhiAchShan

macrumors member
Nov 7, 2021
87
60
Ive is responsible for certain decisions. Let's breakdown your examples:
  • The original iPhone. It was originally stated to be all aluminum by Ive. When the HW Team (specifically the Radios team) said that won't work due to attenuation by the aluminum. Do you know what was Ive's team response? Let's add a small "slit" or opening to let them go through. This issue went all the way up to Jobs who settled it by allowing the black bar we see on the bottom. Again, a compromise was reached, if Ive would have had his way, the original iPhone's signal would have been abysmal.
  • 1984 Mac, Ive was not there. That was Jobs and his team which is not the same HW Team today.
  • I'll add one you might not know off, iPhone OS 7. That OS version was completely redesigned by Apple and the man who spearheaded the change from skeuomorphism to what we have today was Ive. Ive's vision here was paramount.
Several products in Apple's lineup have been influenced by both function over form and form over function. However, there were several reports of Ive trying to force and Jobs did the balancing. Hence Ive ended up leaving Apple. The wedge shape MBAs, even the design of the 13" MBP all came from Ive's tenure. Some mistakes were made and some great innovations came from those. But it all boils down to balance.
Can you provide the source for iPhone Radio Thing Please?
Also, I didn't say 1984 Mac, Ive was there, what I meant to say was stop forcing Apple to be function over form, if someone needs it, there are lot of chunky odd looking Windows Laptops out there, to try on
Also Can you show me the Reports where Jobs did the balancing? Well it's just there here in MacRumors by some random guys so I highly doubt if it's an original report..
Jony Ive having worked with Steve would know the Idea or the "Essence" of Apple than anyone out there in design team, I guess none of the original Steve's Design Team exists anymore at Apple Design Team
As you have mentioned:"However, there were several reports of Ive trying to force and Jobs did the balancing. Hence Ive ended up leaving Apple"
Actually he left almost after 8 Years of Steve's Death, so there is quite a faulty claim to say Because of Jobs, Jony had left Apple
 

tmoerel

Suspended
Jan 24, 2008
1,005
1,570
The new style looks boring, heavy, and dated. The old style looks thin and light.
The old style looks dated, the new style looks modern and efficient.

See what I did there. It is all a matter of opinion.
 

Danfango

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2022
1,294
5,779
London, UK
We will only know the answer to this when we establish if the new one makes you look like you've been self harming on your wrists or not like the old one did.
 

jav6454

macrumors Core
Nov 14, 2007
22,303
6,264
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
Can you provide the source for iPhone Radio Thing Please?
Also, I didn't say 1984 Mac, Ive was there, what I meant to say was stop forcing Apple to be function over form, if someone needs it, there are lot of chunky odd looking Windows Laptops out there, to try on
Also Can you show me the Reports where Jobs did the balancing? Well it's just there here in MacRumors by some random guys so I highly doubt if it's an original report..
Jony Ive having worked with Steve would know the Idea or the "Essence" of Apple than anyone out there in design team, I guess none of the original Steve's Design Team exists anymore at Apple Design Team
As you have mentioned:"However, there were several reports of Ive trying to force and Jobs did the balancing. Hence Ive ended up leaving Apple"
Actually he left almost after 8 Years of Steve's Death, so there is quite a faulty claim to say Because of Jobs, Jony had left Apple
It was an interview and an article. I believe the piece was released in Gizmodo/Engadget, I have looked for it for the past 10-15 min and can't find it.

There is an article here in MR corroborating this narrative of Jobs being the balance. Look it up. MR did cover the entire ordeal.
 

AltecX

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2016
550
1,391
Philly
Actually he left almost after 8 Years of Steve's Death, so there is quite a faulty claim to say Because of Jobs, Jony had left Apple
Not really. Because there was no one there to balance him, he made horrible decisions, resulting in faulty, functionally and thermally limited products, and so left.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jav6454

AbhiAchShan

macrumors member
Nov 7, 2021
87
60
Not really. Because there was no one there to balance him, he made horrible decisions, resulting in faulty, functionally and thermally limited products, and so left.
Just read something that I said before, we are claiming something quite unusual, blaming a designer instead of Engineer for Bad Keyboards, Thermals etc.
 

MayaUser

macrumors 68040
Nov 22, 2021
3,177
7,196
Form always must follow function in electronics and make an beautiful design around the functionality
I prefer this design, they have all the proper things for this to be as beautiful as it can be without many compromises
 

MayaUser

macrumors 68040
Nov 22, 2021
3,177
7,196
The wedge is what defined the ultra-portable market. Several manufacturers copied the entire design in their ultraportables.
Sony already had that wedge design, is just Steve went full in thinnest and we all know the second gen MBA was the real deal
Even without the wedge design going for an 12-13mm in thickness the other would followed, is not about the shape of it, its all about the overall package what Steve came up with
The thickest point of the MBA is still thinner than the thinnest point of the Sony ...memories memories :)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.