Gruber's review/write-up on the new 14" MacBook Pro.
This is about the only thing I look for/read from him anymore, but he does do these types of write-ups really well. Always informative, and usually a few tidbits I didn't know about. Been checking DF every 2-3 days since last Monday, figuring he surely had a review unit well before tomorrow.
His first paragraph is the first thing I noticed last Monday once Apple's site got updated:
Quote:
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The first thing I noticed is that it’s thicker than the MacBook Pros of the preceding few years. It feels thicker. It looks thicker. But look at the specs. Last year’s 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro: 0.61 inches thick. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro: 0.61 inches thick.
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Seeing the new pics and all, I thought "man, it's quite a bit thicker than the 13" M1/Intel model..."
Nope, not even.
It's an
illuuuusionnnnn...!
The older ones tapered/thinned toward the edges (the body, anyway) but were .61" at the center. It's uniform across the entire area now, the full .61" to the edges, only
looking thicker, with no tapered, sloped perimeters. But not one bit more so, measurement-wise.
Slightly exaggerated for effect (let's be honest, I just wanted to draw something in Affinity Designer)
And I really liked this part of Gruber's writeup:
Quote:
If you’re going to make a laptop thin and lightweight, make it really thin and lightweight. And if you’re going to make a laptop powerful and practical, make it really powerful and practical. Focus on the outer limits of what’s possible, not the boring middle.
That, to me, explains the entirety of this new MacBook Pro. The differences between a MacBook Pro and MacBook Air should not be subtle. Let the truck be a truck, true to its purpose. Let the MacBook Pro be unabashedly pro.
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Gosh, almost sounds like somebody I know, who's been saying this exact shit for a few years now.
Yes...let the MacBook Pro earn/warrant its name by prioritizing power/performance over "thin" and vying for design awards. Let the Air be the "thin, stylish and sleek" design showcase, since its customers - and pricepoint - isn't demanding $2,000+ balls-out professional performance. It's "for the rest of us". There should be clear delineation and we've not seen it in quite some time. I hope we're moving more that way, and whatever form/name the redesigned Air takes in 2022 will probably make things even clearer.
It's a good time to be a Mac user. And a
great time to be one who prefers their Mac on-the-go!