fade
Staff member
I just bought a new MacBook Pro since I had to give my 2007 model back to the state of Louisiana. These are my first impressions.
MacBook Pro
I've only had it a day, and I must say that I'm not a huge fan. It is certainly thinner and lighter than the 2007 model, but that form factor seems to have come at a price, especially in the display. The bezel is wider, and the black color makes it disappear into the screen itself. This seems like a step backwards. When I got my first Aluminum PowerBook back in 04, the very first thing I noticed was how the screen virtually went to the edge of the lid. In 2007 when I upgraded, the first thing I noticed was the larger bezel. Now in 2011, I see it's gotten larger still. Isn't this the wrong direction? Why? The black keys also seem like a step back. Gone are the slick adjacent keys in favor of calculator-like spaced out keys. The typing feel is more natural on the 2007, since the keys are bigger and concave on the top, catching my fingers if they stray. And why black? The whole silver/black scheme feels like a throwback to 1985 HiFi. Frankly, it's unattractive, and I'm brave enough to admit that aesthetics plays a role in my preference for a mac. The specs are all naturally higher than the 2007, so there's not too much to say there. Not a fan of the missing DVI port, since the preponderance of monitors and tvs have either dvi or vga inputs, but not thunderbolt. Computers may cycle out, but tv's stay around for years. Those are first impressions. I will update as I play with it more.
Lion
Lion is.... disappointing. One of the biggest reasons for my preference for the Mac is the OS. I was somewhat disappointed with some of the changes in Leopard (Tiger being my favorite OS so far), but they were counterbalanced by the awesomeness that is Quick Look. Mission Control is okay, but the iOS-ness of the OS is irritating. For all the complaints I had about the hardware bezel, there's not enough software bezel in the new OS, especially in the core apps. They just sort of ... end. Apple toned Cheetah and Jaguar's stripes pinstripes for Tiger, and then got rid of them in Leopard in favor of a bright gradient gray. Now the artsy OS is completely dead. Lion is back to boring, flat, putty gray, reminiscent of Windows classic on many windows. Some gradient exists on the toolbar and window frames, but it's duller. Modal dialog boxes are plain and flat. Reminds me of Motif widgets in the *nix world. If it weren't for the still-present awesome font rendering that makes my eyes nostalgic every time I have to work on Windows 7 at work, I would have a hard time identifying the mac-ness. The iOS like gestures are useful, but the natural scrolling has to go. The paradigm makes complete sense. Push up to scroll down. After all, that's what you would do to a piece of paper. Unfortunately, decades of pulling the scrollbar down to move down has trained me too well. But you can turn it off. The drop shadows cast by foreground windows are big and fuzzy like Windows 7's. Yet another thing that has gradually happened. Tiger had distinct shadows, and Leopard less so.
Overall impressions
Apple, I'm a huge fan, but I've never been a blind fanboy. Both the hardware and software seem like a step back in some ways. You're pandering to your iOS base, and I guess from an economic stance, that makes sense. The usual tight engineering is still there, but it's missing that essential mac quality. The OS is missing the characteristic little firsts in favor of borrowing from iOS. Again, these are first impressions. Hopefully I will change them with experience.
MacBook Pro
I've only had it a day, and I must say that I'm not a huge fan. It is certainly thinner and lighter than the 2007 model, but that form factor seems to have come at a price, especially in the display. The bezel is wider, and the black color makes it disappear into the screen itself. This seems like a step backwards. When I got my first Aluminum PowerBook back in 04, the very first thing I noticed was how the screen virtually went to the edge of the lid. In 2007 when I upgraded, the first thing I noticed was the larger bezel. Now in 2011, I see it's gotten larger still. Isn't this the wrong direction? Why? The black keys also seem like a step back. Gone are the slick adjacent keys in favor of calculator-like spaced out keys. The typing feel is more natural on the 2007, since the keys are bigger and concave on the top, catching my fingers if they stray. And why black? The whole silver/black scheme feels like a throwback to 1985 HiFi. Frankly, it's unattractive, and I'm brave enough to admit that aesthetics plays a role in my preference for a mac. The specs are all naturally higher than the 2007, so there's not too much to say there. Not a fan of the missing DVI port, since the preponderance of monitors and tvs have either dvi or vga inputs, but not thunderbolt. Computers may cycle out, but tv's stay around for years. Those are first impressions. I will update as I play with it more.
Lion
Lion is.... disappointing. One of the biggest reasons for my preference for the Mac is the OS. I was somewhat disappointed with some of the changes in Leopard (Tiger being my favorite OS so far), but they were counterbalanced by the awesomeness that is Quick Look. Mission Control is okay, but the iOS-ness of the OS is irritating. For all the complaints I had about the hardware bezel, there's not enough software bezel in the new OS, especially in the core apps. They just sort of ... end. Apple toned Cheetah and Jaguar's stripes pinstripes for Tiger, and then got rid of them in Leopard in favor of a bright gradient gray. Now the artsy OS is completely dead. Lion is back to boring, flat, putty gray, reminiscent of Windows classic on many windows. Some gradient exists on the toolbar and window frames, but it's duller. Modal dialog boxes are plain and flat. Reminds me of Motif widgets in the *nix world. If it weren't for the still-present awesome font rendering that makes my eyes nostalgic every time I have to work on Windows 7 at work, I would have a hard time identifying the mac-ness. The iOS like gestures are useful, but the natural scrolling has to go. The paradigm makes complete sense. Push up to scroll down. After all, that's what you would do to a piece of paper. Unfortunately, decades of pulling the scrollbar down to move down has trained me too well. But you can turn it off. The drop shadows cast by foreground windows are big and fuzzy like Windows 7's. Yet another thing that has gradually happened. Tiger had distinct shadows, and Leopard less so.
Overall impressions
Apple, I'm a huge fan, but I've never been a blind fanboy. Both the hardware and software seem like a step back in some ways. You're pandering to your iOS base, and I guess from an economic stance, that makes sense. The usual tight engineering is still there, but it's missing that essential mac quality. The OS is missing the characteristic little firsts in favor of borrowing from iOS. Again, these are first impressions. Hopefully I will change them with experience.
