Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
I’d like to see more of that kind of design again. It sort of goes back to the pre-Retina unibody days — fat slabs of aluminum that make the device look like its built like a tank.
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Yes indeed! The current iPad Pro with Pro Keyboard Folio is one of the most elegant designs in Apple's history (although I am not quite convinced the keyboard attachment is secure enough). The overall look and feel of the product is extraordinary, and rugged-looking (it's
not rugged, but it
looks rugged!
). The current MacBook Pros share that same squared-off look and I like it.
And, back to phones.
I think the current iPhone design is excellent. I do keep my X in a case (I've dropped it once, literally the day after I bought it and before I had it in a case), but I would prefer not to. However, the fool thing feels so amazing to hold when it is naked. Say what you want about glass-backed phones, but boy it sure has a nice feel. Smooth and rounded and comfortable … and slippery as hell!
Seriously, I wonder what happens in Apple's labs when it comes to material choices? They pick the best feeling materials, and those seem to turn out to be the hardest to hold onto. Maybe that is what makes them feel so luxurious? Hell, I don't know.
Going forward, I suspect that Apple will dance back and forth with different build materials. Recyclability will of course be a factor, as will elegance. Yet, I wonder if there is a way to etch the glass a bit to make it more grip-able? I don't want a rubber phone, and I just took my X out of its case to feel it and then put it right back in because I just know my old paws are gonna send it flying—probably not, but certainly for sure—and I cannot come up with a way to make the thing any more elegant than it currently is. I mean, these things are the standard bare-ers (did I spell that right?
) for the entire industry. Yet, I'm thinking forward to the iPhone [11] and wondering about that big, blocky camera cluster and thinking it looks ugly as hell! Seriously, the drive to plop in ever more cameras has a negative affect on the overall design appeal and I really don't like it. Although I do understand the drive to continue replacing point-and-shoot cameras with smart phone cameras, I wonder if we are overreaching just a tad? Are there going to be 4 cameras next year? 5? 10? Seems to me someone made a phone that had like 6 cameras on it, and it looked hideous.
Apple has always been good at saying, "Okay, that's enough. Let's keep it simple." Now, it appears that they are responding more to their competitor's drive to "up the ante" needlessly, and perhaps the media's insistence that all phones need to have the same set of whiz-bang features, so iPhones going forward are going to have elumptityleven cameras until you can't even hold the thing without covering one of them up.
My dual-camera X is just right! Just the right size, just the right cameras, just the right weight and feel and … It's just right. I guess I could understand them rebranding to the Pro monicker, but more people buy the X style phone than all others, which suggests that "Pro" is not the right name, feature set or not.
I guess that in order to sort that out, the "Pro" phones will have to have 15" MacBook Pro prices. But who would buy that? So, the Pro name will land and people will say, "Oh, I want the Pro 'cause I take pictures!"