Apple's ugliest designs

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
We all know the attention, beauty and design aethetics of Apple products. But that wasn't always the case. It has released some pretty hideous stuff in it's early days too.

What would you say is the ugliest desktop/laptop/peripheral from Apple?

I would submit the LC520/Performa all-in ones.



http://www.lowendmac.com/500/lc520.shtml
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    You can't look back and call something ugly really. That was good looking for it's time. That is how computers were back then. The plain fact it had SOME curves was pretty good.
  • Reply 2 of 45
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    The Performa 575 was my first Mac.



    I had an Apple ][GS before that but I'll never forget the day it showed up. It was an excellent computer that was in service for many years. I used it until we got our first iMac and then my sister used it until the iMac was passed down to her.



    Unfortunately, the 575 was in the basement when we had a flood a few weeks ago and I don't think I'll be able to boot it again since it was in a few inches of water. I might try and salvage the HD but I'm not even sure about that.
  • Reply 3 of 45
    Hehe, the LC520 was my first computer ever. Wow.
  • Reply 4 of 45
    chinneychinney Posts: 1,019member
    I find the G5 to be pretty ugly, to be honest. I would very gladly have one, but I would hide the box under the desk, or in an appropriate custom slot.
  • Reply 5 of 45
    akumulatorakumulator Posts: 1,111member




    Sorry iMac owners.... I gotta say this one. The arm is pretty cool, but I find the iMac fugly.
  • Reply 6 of 45
    dave k.dave k. Posts: 1,306member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Fran441

    I had an Apple ][GS before that but I'll never forget the day it showed up. It was an excellent computer that was in service for many years. I used it until we got our first iMac and then my sister used it until the iMac was passed down to her.



    You went from an Apple II GS to an iMac! Was there anything in between??
  • Reply 7 of 45
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    You can't look back and call something ugly really. That was good looking for it's time. That is how computers were back then. The plain fact it had SOME curves was pretty good.



    Please explain the original toilet seat iBook to me then. In my opinion, the original ones never looked good. Not then, not now, not in the future.
  • Reply 8 of 45
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    You can't look back and call something ugly really. That was good looking for it's time. That is how computers were back then. The plain fact it had SOME curves was pretty good.



    I disagree. Sure, things were different back then with respect to technology, but design is design. I think most of us can agree that the original 128K Mac is not ugly. Neither was the neXT computer. Yet that technology was no different.



    My disdain for the LC520 is simply based on it's forced design. No flow, but simply hard edges that reveal each of it's components.
  • Reply 9 of 45
    matveimatvei Posts: 193member
    I loved the tangerine ibooks!



    I wish I had one now even.



    My vote for ugliest Apple design is... The Flower Power iMac!



    Now, that is ugly...
  • Reply 10 of 45
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    FLOWER POWER iMAC



    That was just HORRENDOUS



    With regards to actual design, the LC II and such were just big plastic rectangles that were pretty damn ugly
  • Reply 11 of 45
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    I don't think the colored iBooks were that ugly at all. Horribly small screen, but not that bad. And durable like nothing else. They followed along with design at the time of the iMac and people (excluding you ) liked them.



    It's like looking back at 80's clothing or ideas of flying from before the they discovered how and laughing. Yeah it's funny, and yeah 80's clothes are ugly, but that is how it was. At the time it wasn't bad. Do you think the Apple ][ would have been excepted as well if it looked like an iMac?
  • Reply 12 of 45
    matveimatvei Posts: 193member
    I like the LCI, LCII and LCIII designs. Clean and non-garish. They are the antidote to ugly pcs with stickers, colored panels, neon lights and other riced-up designs. I like their understatedness.



    Pizza boxes rule! I'd love a G4 in a pizza box (or a cube!).
  • Reply 13 of 45
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    I personally hate the look of Sawtooth G4s. I don't know why exactly; it could be the 'ribbed' plastic, could be the bluish-grey highlights...it looked dark, trying to be futuristic.
  • Reply 14 of 45
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    blue & white g3, mostly because a.) the blue was just so damn bright and b.) the watermarked "G3" on the side, which probably mocks its owners even today.
  • Reply 15 of 45
    concordconcord Posts: 312member
    Y'know, of all the Apple designs over the years the only ones I can say I *really* liked were the Cube, the iPod, the Ti/Al-Powerbooks and the 20th anniversary Macs. Most of the Macs I'm more-or-less neutral on, but the real ugly ones IMO are:



    Flower-power iMacs - uh, no.

    The original clamshell iBooks - ugh.

    The mirror-door G4 PMs - a mishmash of elements that just didn't work.

    The G5 PMs aren't "ugly" per se, but they are so PC-like I almost want to call them Anti-Macs.





    C.
  • Reply 16 of 45
    messiahtoshmessiahtosh Posts: 1,754member
    The ugliest Mac created? Pretty much anything from 1987-1996, all of those (minus a few PB models) were downright bland.



    Best Macs

    ------

    Apple II

    Macintosh

    PowerBook (all)

    iMac 1

    Cube

    iMac 2

    PowerMac G3

    PowerMac G4

    PowerMac G5

    iBook 1

    iBook 2



    Worst Macs

    ---------

    Original Wooden Box Apple 1

    Macintosh Portable

    eMac

    All those beige ones...
  • Reply 17 of 45
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    There must be something subtle about Apple's beige case designs, because I just love some of them and I hate others. I am neutral towards many of them though.



    First of all, I love the cases for the IIci, IIsi, LC, and Quadra 630. They're all pretty simple, well proportioned, and durable. Another one I like is the PowerMac 8600/9600 case, which is really big and impressive.



    On the other hand, I really, really dislike the cruddy metal cases used on the PowerMac 7100 and 4400. The 7100 used the same case as the IIvx and Quadra 650, and the PowerMac 4400 used a unique case design that was more like a DOS box than a Mac. Also, although the PowerMac 8100/8500 case is small and compact, it is also hell to work inside of it, so I don't really like that one either.



    Personally I think the PowerMac G3 All-In-One was uglier than either the 500 series or the 5000 series Performas. None of them look very good, but the AIO takes the cake for ugliness as far as I'm concerned.
  • Reply 18 of 45
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca

    the PowerMac 4400 used a unique case design that was more like a DOS box than a Mac.



    dingdingding

    wehaveawinner
  • Reply 19 of 45
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Uglier mac ever made...probably the clones!
  • Reply 20 of 45
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    b.) the watermarked "G3" on the side, which probably mocks its owners even today.



    HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA



    At the time of their release, I thought they were pretty cool. But looking back now, they are garish. Then again, I was 14. Such sophisticated tastes I had.
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