Design in the Age of Intel
Macworld San Francisco in January 2006 was an intriguing time. The
Intel transition was the talk of the Mac Web - and much of the media
beyond. Expectations had risen that we would see the first models of
the new platform that very show, despite Apple's earlier promise they
would arrive by summer.
Expectations were right. Steve Jobs unveiled with typical panache
the first Intel powered desktop and notebook Apple had ever made and
dared to call a Mac! He showed off their performance before an eager
audience. There was just one strange surprise: the Intel Macs looked
eerily similar to their PowerPC predecessors.
Two models moved to Intel that day. The Core Duo powered iMac was
essentially identical to its G5 ancestor in outer appearance. The Core
Duo successor to the PowerBook G4 was a little easier to tell apart -
it had a built in iSight camera for the first time at the top edge of
its display - and it had a name change to MacBook Pro.
However, this was still less ado than Apple had made with previous
generation changes between G3, G4, and G5. Despite the move to Intel
being a far greater technical challenge and accomplishment, it was as
though their industrial design was playing it down.
As the year progressed, the entire Macintosh line made the leap to
Intel. The Mac mini was next
and looked identical save for an artfully placed remote control
receiver and a more liberal selection of ports on the back. Then came
the iBook, which like its aluminium brother, had a name change to now
be called the MacBook. Unlike the
MacBook Pro, the MacBook was a new design and easy to tell from its
predecessor - more on that later.
But it was back to business as usual when the Power Mac came to
Intel the last of all, picking up a second optical drive slot (and a
wealth of useful changes hidden inside) and its new title of Mac Pro. The server oriented relative
to the Mac - the Xserve -
received a similar treatment although without a name change, completing
the Intel transition in surprisingly speedy time.
So, to recap, there was only one new design in 2006: the MacBook.
Every other Mac had been transformed on the inside, but on the outside
there was as little change as possible.
2007 brought the iPhone - an entirely new product and an area where
Apple have great ambitions - and then a whole new generation of iPods.
The iMac received its
first major industrial design change since the G4 "sunflower" model was
replaced with the minimalist "where's the computer?" G5 some three
years earlier. That G5 iMac, incidentally, was considered to bear a lot
in common with the iPod in terms of style. The new aluminium and glass
iMac in turn shared its design in similar ways to the iPhone.
Once the iMac joined the MacBook in the short list of new designs,
there were no more changes. None of the other Macs were altered on the
outside. Hardware evolved on the inside as 64 bit became universal
across the entire platform with the Core 2 Duo, but once again the outer
design was kept untouched.
There's Something in the Air
Then, on the second anniversary of the first Intel Macs at Macworld
2008, Steve Jobs unveiled the MacBook Air, causing a storm of
interest and debate which clearly carries on today. The Air was clearly
a new class of portable for Apple with no direct ancestors at all. Its
industrial design made this very clear: It looks quite unlike any other
computer.
So much has been written about the MacBook Air - controversies rage
about its many tradeoffs and where precisely it fits among its MacBook
siblings - so much that I needn't add any more to it. Instead, I'd like
to compare the external design of the Air to Apple's other recent
changes as I've listed above.
Perhaps we can get a sneak peak of the future?
A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
Have a look at the high quality photos AppleInsider took of the
MacBook Air compared to the MacBook Pro. Everyone knows that the Air is
thin; but seen side by side with Apple's well respected flagship
professional portable, we can see the immense design shift for what it
is. As usual, I'm writing from my 12"
PowerBook, which had a reputation for being tubby compared to its
aluminium peers. The Air is probably about as thick at its front as the
curved lip of my own laptop's battery, creeping round the edge! (The
cell itself is far chunkier than that.)
Also note the MacBook Air's keyboard. Look familiar? It should. This
style was brought in with the first MacBook in 2006. Rounded, separate
"chiclet" keys, which despite some initial concerns have proven to be
well regarded for typing and general use. Last year's aluminium iMac
brought the same thinking over to Apple's long untouched desktop
keyboards, its new wireless keyboard having particularly strong ties to
the MacBook. The Air's black keys come with backlighting
. . . I expect this will spread to other models in time as
well.
There is no guessing required when it comes to the MacBook Air's
display. Apple have stated that they will remove mercury from all of
their products: This means a transition from traditional CCFL to LED
backlights. Steve Jobs also pointed out that a key design goal with the
Air was to maintain a full size keyboard and display in as thin a
package as possible. This sounds like an implicit warning that we'll
see no sub-13" Macs, and therefore no direct successor to the 12"
PowerBook. I think Apple are likely to concentrate on tablets like the
iPod touch for smaller sizes.
Lessons for the Leery
Back in 2006, I had not expected Apple to reuse their designs. As
much lesser generational leaps like those between G3, G4, and G5 had
brought new cases, materials, and geometries in turn; I really
anticipated brand new shapes and forms. If the glass and aluminium iMac
of 2007 had come out at Macworld 2006 instead, I would have actually
been less surprised than I was with the G5 iMac's
doppelgänger!
Since the move to Intel, the MacBook, iMac, and MacBook Air are new
designs. This leaves the Mac Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro waiting for
their overhaul.
What are they likely to look like?
MacBook Pro
The aluminium PowerBook design, which the MacBook Pro still bears,
dates back to the start of 2003 and my own rather quaint laptop. It has
worn well - often considered a true classic among notebook designs -
but the MacBook Air's sudden arrival has given it something of a dent.
I know it is controversial to suggest that the professional oriented
MacBook Pro take a diet as radical as produced the Air, but I think
looking forward a few years it is inevitable. The Air shows that the
compromises needed right now are still too steep for its bigger
brothers. I am certain, however, that this is precisely the direction
they too will go in good time. Flash storage replacing hard disks, as
it has done in all but one iPod now, optical drives becoming external
peripherals, replaceable batteries exchanged for iPod-like integration,
and ports being selectively culled or delegated to USB. Such changes
aren't necessarily as harsh as the Air itself has taken: there will be
more room by definition on a 17" notebook, and professional machines
may well hold on to select ports the Air has boldly dispatched. Thin,
though, is certainly in. MacBook Pros today will look as oversized to
their descendants as the Air does against them now.
Mac mini
Reports of the Mac mini's demise are - fortunately - greatly
exaggerated. This most minuscule of Mac desktops appears to be with us
for the long haul. It's difficult to imagine just what Apple might have
in mind for it next, as the Mac mini, uniquely, has never been
redesigned since its inception in 2005. There are G4 minis and Core
Solo, Duo, and Core 2 Duo models; but their appearance is unchanging.
Having been inside of one myself - upgrading its 1.6 GHz Core Duo for a
2.0 GHz 64-bit Core 2 Duo - the only obvious space to be reduced would
be the omission of the optical drive; though it's hardly as appealing a
proposition for a desktop! Apple could really do anything with the
mini. It has long been speculated that it could be merged with the
thinner but wider Apple TV. Unlikely, I think: the set top box has a
very different purpose in mind.
Mac Pro
And then, lastly, the Mac Pro. Like the MacBook Pro, it still wears
the outer design of the well established PowerPC model it replaced: the
Power Mac G5, also introduced back in 2003. Popular opinion has it the
Mac Pro is too large, a sentiment often shared quite naturally about
the G5 Power Mac. History suggests the Mac Pro may well borrow from the
iMac in appearance, as did its distant ancestor the Blue & White G3. The Power
Mac line did not, however, take on the snow white style of G4 and G5
iMacs, so it's not necessarily so! Again, Apple have quite the
opportunity for a new design in the headless desktop Macs. Aluminium is
a favourite to still have some part in it.
Twists and Trends
In summing up: Apple are a great example of evolving industrial
design. In many ways they are conservative and reuse a great idea
wherever they can once it has succeeded. The great brushed aluminium
tide of 2003 is a prime case in point: Even today the Mac Pro and
MacBook Pro utilise what was made then, some five years back.
Balancing this is a drive for new design, which emerges as a great
surprise whenever it is ready and soon enough takes over from the last
major change. The iPhone was just such an innovation in form as well as
function.
The iMac's subsequent shift from a white iPod to glass and aluminium
iPhone-inspired design is the natural consequence. This is why I expect
the MacBook Air to be a seminal work, influencing future models just as
the first aluminium PowerBooks did, and indeed the original iMac. Apple
design in waves. Once again, on such a crest, we are in most
interesting times.
This was originally published as Where the MacBook Air Fits in
Apple's Design on John Muir's blog. It has been edited for use on Low
End Mac with his permission. dk
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