Apple
Last week Apple released the latest evolutions of their entire Macbook line and I have to say… I’m not too sure about certain elements of the design. I’m not a huge fan of the keys on Apple’s latest line of keyboards, which have now made it onto the entire Macbook line. I don’t like the look of the black keys on the aluminium casing, nor the black frame around the screen, or the screen itself for that matter. The glossy displays always look incredible on first sight, but the reflections can be a little distracting. That whole look reminds me of some of the cheap old PC imitations of the Macbook line. The specs also aren’t a huge improvement over my nearly-two-year-old Macbook Pro 17†which is a little disappointing. The optical drive is the same 8x Superdrive I have now and there’s no blue-ray drive to be seen, which has been a standard feature in most high-end PC laptops for the last year.
But let’s stretch our imaginations for just one crazy minute and assume that Jonathan Ive knows more about product design than I do and does actually know what he’s doing. I know! I know! It’s a stretch, but I think we can do it if we close our eyes, click our heels together and dream about that yellow brick road.
A couple of friends rushed to the Apple store the morning after Steve’s keynote to buy the Macbook Pros. As did my brother, who has finally made the switch to Mac and invested in the Macbook Pro, maxing-out all of the options for the 2.8GHz version with 4GB ram and he is thus far extremely happy, calling me regularly this weekend to gloat. As my flatmate pointed out to me, and I relayed to my brother, it’s quite shocking that as a gay man with a good sense of style, who enjoys extremely expensive designer suits, gadgets and technology, he has only just switched from PCs to Mac. He then told me he is going to install Windows Vista via Boot Camp for some of his work-based applications. I have understandably subsequently disowned him. It’s a tough decision, but one that had to be made. I know you understand.
There are some cool features in the new Macbooks though, most notably the ability to easily replace the hard drive, which is the fastest-degrading element of any computer, especially in terms of speed. This means that in a year or two you can shell out £50 to replace/upgrade your hard drive easily yourself. Or you could shell out £350 to £500 for the 128GB Solid State hard drive Apple are offering and avoid the speed reduction altogether. It has only one third of the capacity of the 320GB hard drive they’re offering as standard with the high-end configuration though.
Shame there’s no 17†yet, but I’ll be looking forward to seeing how they update it in January.
One of the other things Apple design beautifully are their retail stores. They recently opened stores in Beijing and Sydney, and they both are on par with the standards in architecture and design set by their stores in the US and EU.
Apple Store Regent Street, London
Apple Store Fifth Avenue, New York
Apple Store San Francisco
Apple Store Miami
Apple Store Massachusetts
Apple Store Beijing
Apple Store Sydney
Bloody tasty if you ask me!
October 21st, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I dunno. The screen you talk about is the sort I have on my Macbook 15″ and although it does catch a reflection, I really must admit that it hasn’t bothered me as much as you’d think.
I haven’t seen the new lineup but had hoped to upgrade this year however, since you mentioned there isn’t that much of an improvement in the technology itself and that it’s largely a make-over, I think I will hold back on the spending until you recommend something better.
I know… feel honored!
By the way… Apple architects don’t understand the meaning of accessibility, do they? All those stairs…!!
October 21st, 2008 at 1:53 pm
PS Can I adopt your brother?
October 21st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I think the screen you’ve got it slightly different to the ones on the current line of iMacs and the new Macbooks. The main problem I have with reflections on a screen is that when I’m working on a project and have to make sure the colours are absolutely perfect, seamlessly blended together, reflections really get in the way then. It’s pretty clear how reflective they are from the videos. But for every day use, I wouldn’t be bothered. The new(ish) LED back-lit displays do make a huge and very noticeable difference over the old cathode back-lit displays when it comes to colour clarity though, so that’s a great improvement. Sure, the colours won’t be quite as clear as the new 24-inch LED technology displays, but they’ll be incredible for a laptop!
The main difference this time around is graphics – so if you want to play games, and I know you do, you should absolutely take a look at upgrading!
PS. My brother is not a furry pet you can adopt and carry around like Paris Hilton’s chihuahua. He requires constant attention, being wined and dined in the finest restaurants, at least two homes in the center of the city (one of them must have a garden so he can run around, play and get some excercise), at least two-hours with a no-limit credit card in Selfridges a month… I think you better just leave him to his obscenely rich boyfriend.