Next generation of design for macs

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
It seems that every few years, Apple comes out with new and creative designs for their computers. How long do you think the current polished white minimalist design will last and when do you think Apple will make a change?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Sekio

    It seems that every few years, Apple comes out with new and creative designs for their computers. How long do you think the current polished white minimalist design will last and when do you think Apple will make a change?



    I think the polished and minimalist aspects are here to stay. Materials they use will likely change gradually over time.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    sekiosekio Posts: 150member
    I somehow doubt that. People probably used to say the same thing about the colours.



    Also, lets imagine not too far ahead. What do you think the next immidiate designs will be. Even under the current colour scheme, the ibook has had a couple different designs. What do you think is next?
  • Reply 3 of 28
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Powermacs will become smaller.



    They will lose a drive bay

    Apple will go back to plastic casings

    The edges will be rounded and the look of the case much softer.



    Convergence will cause a blending of features. Powermacs will be home theater pcs right out the box.
  • Reply 4 of 28
    radiospaceradiospace Posts: 180member
    I think there's some chance they would introduce black as a color in the hardware. Notice that the boxes for TIger, Final Cut Studio, Logic Pro, Remote Desktop and OSX server all come in black boxes, while more consumer-oriented stuff like iLife and iWork comes in white boxes. If there's any clue in their current lineup it's that black is the color with which they market their pro software. If they did introduce a black PowerMac, I would expect it to be granite-black, not plastic-looking. They'd go for the effect of the Monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. (In fact they would probably buy the rights to HAL to sell it for them if they could).



    Generally speaking, though, the current line up still looks very fresh, so I don't see them being in any hurry to change the look in a revolutionary fashion.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    radiospaceradiospace Posts: 180member
    By the way, I certainly hope Mr. Murchison's predictions are off the mark. While those ideas are great for a "home theatre out of the box", the primary purpose of a PowerMac (IMO) is not to be a "home theatre", it is to create the stuff that other people are going to watch and listen to in their home theatre. The loss of a drive bay would seriously handicap Apple in the professional audio market, since a second, fast, internal hard-drive is a minimum requirement for doing audio work at a high level. In fact the inability to put 3 hard drives in the current Powermac and make a RAID with two of them already puts the Powermac at a disadvantage to high-end PC audio workstations.



    And while Firewire drives are useful for sample libraries, the fact that many of the best pro audio interfaces available today are Firewire-based makes using a Firewire audio drive potentially problematic.



  • Reply 6 of 28
    dazabritdazabrit Posts: 273member
    It has been said that the 5th generation iPod is going to be silver, in line with the current PowerMac style. I don't know whether that is a sign that the new iPod is going to have increased functionality and in turn will be marketed as a higher priced product (for one line of iPod products anyway - vPod; full size?)



    It may also signal that the iSeries will gradually change to silver and the Pro lines will change to Black or something? PowerMac, same materials but in black?



    It would probably make a lot of people feel as if they were getting a higher priced computer and more power with the iSeries just because the silver has been synonomous with the pro line for so long.



    Far fetched, maybe? But it's just a thought.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    I think the PowerMacs will remain industrial-looking, drawing more design cues from the Xserve (I was surprised at the cheesegrater look, but the current PM is all about cooling).



    The consumer machines may go to a somewhat more consumer look, but I can't see much movement away from white-and-silver. Chrome, black and imitation wood are perceived as chintzy these days. If colors come back, they'll be more subdued, less gaudy.
  • Reply 8 of 28
    rhumgodrhumgod Posts: 1,289member
    Look to Apple's website for design clues.



    Consumer:

    http://www.apple.com/ilife/



    versus



    Pro/Business:

    http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/
  • Reply 9 of 28
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Apple's professional hardware will go all black gloss/matte combinations. Rounder and more organically designed. And they will be smaller that they presently are.



    The consumer hardware will continue to be white but with neon color high-lights.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    imantaimanta Posts: 29member
    I think the color is overrated. The only color product has been a real success is the iPod Mini (and the Silver sells out the quickest at our Apple store). The iMacs and iBooks of old where sold without an option so if you wanted an iMac you got Bondi, period. I think the consumer products will stay with the white.



    As for the pro line, I think the PowerMac will always be the horsepower machine for designers and maintain the aluminum look. Black would be a downer (thinking old G3 PB vs my Alum PB...hmmm Aluminum rocks).



    I think you will see the Mini evolve into that out of the box set-top we are looking for and it is close even now. Just add in consumer friendly DVR, etc and you are pretty close.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    radiospaceradiospace Posts: 180member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by imanta

    Black would be a downer (thinking old G3 PB vs my Alum PB...hmmm Aluminum rocks).





    I really like the aluminum look myself, and right now black reminds me of Dells or something, but perceptions change over time. It's like in car design: a few years ago I started noticing design details in Honda Civics and the like that resembled BMWs. So BMW completely changes its look in order to maintain its premium identity. Likewise if Dell started cranking out aluminum-look computers, after a couple of years it would lower people's perceptions of the Powermac and Powerbook.



    It's also worth mentioning that for monitors, technically they really *should* be black, if you're going to be watching movies on them. The brushed aluminum is beautiful to look at, but for the same reason movie theatres hang black curtains, not aluminum foil, around their screens, for the best *technical* viewing experience, the surface of the monitor should be black.



    (That said, I'd sort of rather have a brushed aluminum monitor that looks fantastic sitting on the desk when its not in use.)
  • Reply 12 of 28
    9secondko9secondko Posts: 929member
    I see Apple offering a choice of colors with the iMac and the iBook, with the mini staying the same and the Pro series (including monitors) being offered in a choice of silver or black metal. if any choice is going to be given, this is probably the way it will be. Otherwise, I do not see colors changing at all. Silver is the most popular tech color and white is all the rage right now and for the forseeable future.

    The next Pro revisions I hope stays all aluminum silver, but will probably end up with white highlights.



    minimalist design style prevailing throughout.
  • Reply 13 of 28
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Powermacs will become smaller.



    They will lose a drive bay

    Apple will go back to plastic casings

    The edges will be rounded and the look of the case much softer.



    Convergence will cause a blending of features. Powermacs will be home theater pcs right out the box.




  • Reply 14 of 28
    nutrixnutrix Posts: 10member
    I would like to see computer controlled fibre optic or LED lighting to change the computer's colour. Of course, this could be turned off but it would be a nice touch and the user could blend the computer with the surroundings.
  • Reply 15 of 28
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by onlooker







    Stop it Onlooker you're hurting my wittle feewings. :P



    Hey...it can happen!
  • Reply 16 of 28
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    Stealth Mac: Black anodized aluminium, with Aqua anodized aluminium highlights. Also in the Darth Vader edition (the one that doesn't suck), with red highlights.



    Realistically, I'd say Apple will go for some dark theme, probably black, because the trend seems to be towards a retro 80s silver plastic look (butt-ugly). Apple ditched colors right when they started to catch on, and so the next move will have to be away from white and silver, without returning to color. That leaves black.



    I'm not sure the Powermac will get smaller anytime soon. The large case will be needed if Apple ever expects to cool twin dual-core processor rigs, and hopefully Apple will choose to add more stuff to their gigantic tower, such as more HD bays, hot-swappable bays, front ports, etc. Most of all, the large tower design fits perfectly into American dogma that bigger is always better. If a guy works all day at a mega-corporation, drives home on a giant SUV, and sits down to a heaping dinner prepared by his fat-ass wife, then he wants a big computer to download those big pr0n files and to play those big game titles.



    Another key to Powermacs remaining huge is that Steve Jobs likes his computers to be quiet (i.e., his fanless fetish that added hundreds of bucks to the cost of botch-jobs like the Cube). That big tower can house lots of fans, and so Apple can keep working the low speed, high volume cooling system for all it's worth.



    I would go so far as to predict that the Powermacs will become even larger if Apple ever ships a twin dual-core system.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    flailflail Posts: 12member
    Every time you say you don't believe in Black PowerBooks one of them dies!







  • Reply 18 of 28
    9secondko9secondko Posts: 929member
    ^



    The above graphic is the reason why PBs should stay silver.



    The black just looks cheap.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    spyderspyder Posts: 170member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by 9secondko

    ^



    The above graphic is the reason why PBs should stay silver.



    The black just looks cheap.




    Well on a photoshopped pic, of course it will look cheap. Some black brushed aluminum would look AMAZING. I think it would be really cool if they had the 2 colors and we could choose when ordering.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    bandalaybandalay Posts: 116member




    Saw this float by on IRC - maybe just more aluminum?
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