Well, looks-wise, the Studio is just a taller Mac mini. It’s clunkier for sure. I wasn’t talking about looks (the Cube is more attractive than the Studio), but just in that in-between space of an iMac and a full-blown tower. It’s a Cube that’s been whacked horizontally and wrapped in aluminum instead of acrylic.
It’s something about heights and proportions. The Mac mini looks nice, wide and flat. The Cube looked nice, taller. Those flatter AirPort and Time Capsule devices were nice, along with the later taller ones (smaller footprint, but they went vertical). Something about big/wide
and “kinda taller, but not by much” can look a bit squatty/clunky, which I think the Studio suffers from a bit.
It just kinda looks like an uninspired…lump. And that’s just something odd from Apple.
I said, on release day, that had it been smaller in area (4” inches square?) but taller (8-10”…even 12”?) it might look a little more elegant and Apple-y (and not like someone simply Photoshop-stretched a Mac mini, which just comes across as a bit lazy). I know serious work went into it. It just looks like there hasn’t.
“Well, shit…
I could’ve designed that…”.
We’ve been so spoiled for 20+ years that when Apple comes out with a brand-new product that’s a tad pedestrian and expected (“just make a taller Mac mini),, it’s a bit of a weird jolt.