> Most of Apple’s customers have probably never given that green light a second thought
Most, I'm sure. But personally the first time I saw light shining through my metal laptop, I was amazed, a little delighted, and slightly confused about how they were doing it (because, as the article mentions, the holes are too small to see).
"Most of Apple’s customers have probably never given that green light a second thought"
I did. I used microscopic lens to see how they are made, you will see concentric holes that are microns wide.
I was amazed too, I knew it only could be made by lasers but I was delighted how someone could have that original idea. It is brilliant, and so elegant.
they're talking about the GREEN indicator, on top of the screen (which shows the iSight camera's status), not about sleep indicator (the WHITE, rectangular thing, beside the IR receiver).
The ones on my wireless keyboard are easily visible as individual holes when the light is on from 2 feet away. I don't know if the iSight is different (not having a metal macbook), but they are probably very close to the same.
I din't pull out a microscope, but I did wonder why they didn't implement this for all the lights (battery-level indicators on the side, charging indicators on the power supply connector).
The battery lights display useful information by being visibly off. When you see 7 dots light up, you need to be able to see the 8th dark hole to know it's at 7/8 charge and not 7/7 or 7/10. Similarly for the charging indicator: when it's not charging, you want that to be obvious.
Arguably, knowing that the laptop camera (or the wireless keyboard bluetooth pairing) is not active is not as useful information.
The first time I saw that I actually took my laptop apart to see how it was done. It was just one of the simple features that I really enjoyed about my laptop. It just showed an attention to detail that no other manufacturer has yet to follow.
The first time I saw it I pulled out a triplet magnifier to see what was going on. I've got a few great shots of the laser pattern if anyone is interested.
Very reminiscent of the anecdote about an early Mac version: The final design had a tiny hole on the front of the cabinet where the speaker was. Steve went ballistic and in spite of huge time pressure and added expense forced a redesign in favor of a completely concealed speaker.
Same here. Once I figured it out, I wondered why they don't ever use the same technique to expose the Apple logo on the lid of the laptop - so that the lid is perfectly flush/clean when the screen is closed but the Apple logo is shown during use.
...now I know the answer: the lasers are so expensive and in such short supply it would presumably create a bottleneck in the production - esp given the surface area of the logo and thus the amount of holes needed.
Not to mention that, while it would be cool and notable (and maybe worth it for that alone) making the logo invisible when the computer is turned off eliminates a marketing opportunity. The simple Apple logo against a plain backdrop provides a clean advertisement for Apple. Removing the logo removes the distinctiveness of the computer when it is turned off.
Also, I'm not sure how the computer would look without a logo interupting it. I guess almost every other manufacturer comes close to this, but I think an Apple computer would feel wrong with a a view of unbroken alumninum.
>The simple Apple logo against a plain backdrop provides a clean advertisement for Apple.
Exactly. Buying billboards on the most expensive streets in the world is very expensive. Having your customers sitting lined up in a row in coffee shops with their laptop lids with the lighted apple logo pointing outward to the street on these very same streets must be very valuable advertising. I'm constantly amazed when I walk by coffee shops and see the typical 75% apple market share, when just a decade ago they were really a niche player.
"The simple Apple logo against a plain backdrop provides a clean advertisement for Apple. Removing the logo removes the distinctiveness of the computer when it is turned off."
It still took them a while to put them on the right way up. The first few laptops they sold with the Apple logo on the lid, they were oriented so they were "right way up" for the user when the lid was closed. That made them all upside down in all those tech conference shots from the stage...
It could also be a reflection of how laptop usage has changed over time. Maybe a couple of years ago laptops were closed most of the time, hence the decision to put the logo up that way.
In the future, they should create the microholes and keep the logo dimly lit in the orientation that faces the user when they open the laptop. Once the laptop is open, the array of LEDs could change to make the logo oriented the current way.
There is already something similar on one of the numerous android handsets out there where the 4 hardware keys turn 90 degrees when you switch from portrait to landscape mode. Not quite as polished, but similar in concept.
The lit-up logo is Not powered by a special array of LEDs, it's just the screen backlighting shining through a hole.
You can verify that by changing the display brightness, the logo will change brightness accordingly. Or just hold the turned-off laptop in front of a bright light source, the apple-shaped hole wil, be visible through the screen
Those micro-holes are covering a very small surface roughly the size of a LED. The small area is a large reason for their invisibility.
Using them on a much larger area would make them a lot more visible as a whole, even without light. The result would probably look like a vaguely apple-looking smudge. Somehow I don't think it would pass.
Not only that, but it would probably weaken the strength of the lid considerably. Imagine holding your macbook air in a certain way and, when you put it down, finding you've made a thumb-print dent in the lid...
"Each machine typically goes for about $250,000. Apple convinced the seller to sign an exclusivity agreement and has since bought hundreds of them[...]"
That's ~$25 million for just 100 of those lasers. If they bought hundreds of them, that means they paid tens of millions or even over $100 million just for that light effect.
Apple sold 16.8 million Macs just this year, so at $100 million for 400 laser system, Apple could pay them all off entirely in 2011 by adding $5.95 to the cost per Mac.
Note the word "typically". It is likely Apple got a volume discount if they're buying in those quantities, and especially if they're paying up-front to cover the R&D for the modifications they needed.
Actually, I think that the sleep-light on the MacBook Pros came first. The small bar of light that's right next to the IR receiver on the front-right of the body.
That bar is actually a series of those small holes to let the light through. The green light for the metal casing came later IIRC.
The green iSight light predates the unibody MacBook Pros. At some point they changed it from a visible hole to small invisible ones. Those laptops still had the sleep-light on the "opening button" in front (this button and the self-hiding magnetic latches were removed on the unibodies).
Most, I'm sure. But personally the first time I saw light shining through my metal laptop, I was amazed, a little delighted, and slightly confused about how they were doing it (because, as the article mentions, the holes are too small to see).