

Apple hardware design coincidence? - Oestrogen
http://unvisualdesign.tumblr.com/post/4042954624/i-dont-know-if-this-is-a-sign-of-apples-minute

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marknutter
Reminds me of a story I heard from one of the package guys from Apple when I
worked there:

The iPod classic package at one point, if you recall, had a recess that the
iPod sat in so you'd see the iPod sitting there waiting to be popped out when
you opened the package. That recess was white, but the package engineers
didn't like the lack of contrast where the recess walls met the recess base,
so they tooled out a small sub-millimeter section of material so it would cast
a subtle drop shadow on the base.

That kind of attention to detail, on packaging no less, is one of the big
reasons I'm a big Apple fan.

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rphlx
DAE think the Apple form-over-function worshipping here is a bit excessive?
Scary, even?

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Slackwise
Yes.

When I first saw the change from the PowerBook keyboard to the MBP, I couldn't
fathom why they would make such a decision. The new keyboard, while not as bad
as it looks, is still nowhere near as comfortable.

Then came the iPod shuffle: switching from a tiny device with few buttons, to
one with no buttons at all. "Tap 3 times to...." I don't know anyone who would
jog with earbuds, let alone reach for a thin cable while running. What was the
target audience for the shuffle?

The Mighty Mouse? No buttons at all? Inability to rest your fingers on the
mouse. Inability to click both "buttons".

Glossy screens? Which people defended to the death. Only until Apple finally
released an "Anti-Glare" screen on the higher end models.

I don't know. Apple, when the aluminum PowerBooks just came out, was melding
form _with_ function. Removing the latch that snapped off on laptops, hiding
it in the bezel with a magnet. MagSafe plugs. Not having all the worthless
little switches and buttons on the laptop like that oh-so-useful "Wireless"
switch.

Now I don't get it.

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storborg
While I'm not generally in the habit of defending Apple's decisions, I'd argue
that all of those examples have tradeoffs that improve function. I don't
necessarily agree with the tradeoff, but improvements to function do exist.

* The new style keyboard (with bezel between keys) is _vastly_ more reliable for me. On the older keyboards, keys would come flying off all the time. I'd have to replace the keyboard every 8 months. My unibody macbook has lasted almost 2 years with no signs of wear.

* I can't comment on the reliability of the new ones, but I had an old iPod shuffle that was flaky as hell, especially when covered in sweat. Button clicks would get ignored or falsely triggered frequently.

* The Mighty Mouse is optimized for multitouch gestures, and having no seams on the top surface of the mouse makes that experience fantastic. Personally, not my style, but I see why they did it that way.

* The glossy screens have much better color and contrast than matte, and stay cleaner. Yes, glare is a problem in the sun, but I'm using an apple glossy LCD in an office right now and I can't find any angle or spot of the screen where there is even the slightest hint of glare.

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tesseract
It could of course just be a coincidence... however I am reminded of the story
about how the (new) Mini Cooper exhaust tip was modeled on the bottom of an
aluminum beverage can, because the designer happened to find one lying around
when building a mockup, and afterwards no one saw any reason to change it.
Maybe a designer traced their iPhone while working on an early sketch of the
laptop, and then the detail just stuck?

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mitjak
But, the unibody MacBook design came well before iPhone 4?

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tesseract
The MacBook in question is the October 2010 redesign of the Air. It's
conceivable that there were iPhone 4s (or prototypes of such) in the Apple
design office at the time it was being designed.

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modernerd
Something to do with multiple Apple products being cut from the same sheet of
aluminium to reduce waste, perhaps? From Ive's comments in the Objectified
documentary:

'This is the bezel for the iMac. When we remove the aluminium from the display
in the centre here, we actually take that material, and then we can make two
keyboard frames from it.'

[2min30 into this clip: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVG4LcoY4Y> ]

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blackguardx
Machining doesn't work that way. The groove in the laptop is done with a round
nosed end-mill. It makes the rounded profile and creates lots of chips. Those
chips are then melted down and made into something else by some other company.

~~~
tesseract
Machining still doesn't work that way, but on the Air the cutout goes all the
way through so there is no need for a round nose mill specifically.

~~~
blackguardx
Sorry I haven't seen one. I only have an aluminum macbook

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betageek
If this was deliberate it would fit perfectly, which it doesn't - the radii on
the corners are very different. Apple aren't that sloppy.

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sudont
I would have to agree with this. More likely, the same design team was on both
projects and they used a set of proportions to create a visual harmony across
the entire product line.

Phi doesn't change, why should your proportion change if it's nailed?

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olalonde
Is there really a submission with 47 up votes because 2 Apple products seem to
fit together?

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marknutter
File under "misses the point."

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olalonde
What's the point? Please enlighten me.

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tomkarlo
I'm wondering it it's connected to some kind of conclusion apple has about
what constitutes the typical "width" of an adult's hand, since that groove is
designed to fit your four fingers for opening and the iphone is probably also
sized relative to some data how what is easy to hold.

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mdcarter
I noticed it too recently and reddit it :
[http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/g6gho/iphone_4_and_mac...](http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/g6gho/iphone_4_and_macbook_air_a_perfect_match_is_there/)
Really weird, but soo apple like ;)

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nhoss2
maybe they just like using a specific radius for the corners of their products

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tesseract
On a more historical note:
<http://www.landsnail.com/apple/local/design/design2.html> describes a design
system for early Apple products that specified corner radii for various
situations.

~~~
StudyAnimal
That is a great site, thanks for the link!

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astrange
Strangely random, as opposed to ordinarily random?

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notyourwork
Does not apply for macbook pro 13 and iphone 3g. So I am guessing it depends
on which macbook air you get be it 11 or 13 inch.

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djtumolo
anybody else hearing Also Sprach Zarathustra?

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Oestrogen
That's what I heard when I discovered this at my kitchen table and the
"docking" succeeded. :)

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djtumolo
it looked like you photographed it that way. well done sir.

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cicloid
Ohh, the future! Hmm... Has somebody checked if the size has some sort of
golden ratio in it?

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dunk010
I noticed this too. It's not a perfect fit, but it's close.

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ubermoe
That's true. Apple is one of a few companies who care about design too. The
Mac OS X, iMac, MacBook/Pro and all devices are designed to fit us the best
way.

