Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
1–10 of 94 posts
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#2I wish they would put in at least some basic effort into smoothing that sharp edge where wrists often rest when using the MacBook, rather than just the curvature of the corner. Any cheap laptop is nicer to my wrists than a MacBook.
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#3I wish they would put in at least some basic effort into smoothing that sharp edge where wrists often rest when using the MacBook, rather than just the curvature of the corner. Any cheap laptop is nicer to my wrists than a MacBook.
Also: if they could create a gap between the screen and the keys, so the screen is not always smudged after closing the MacBook. Aka, if you use your MacBook as a laptop, the screen will be dirty even if you are careful to never mistakenly touch it.
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#4I wish they would put in at least some basic effort into smoothing that sharp edge where wrists often rest when using the MacBook, rather than just the curvature of the corner. Any cheap laptop is nicer to my wrists than a MacBook.
Apple has beautiful squircle curves the rest of us can't have unless we want expensive CAD tools and extra JS files, but they also have plenty of sharp transitions. Look at their cables, that have no strain relief, being a bad influence on every other cable for a decade.
It's basically just Bauhaus design but with a few nice soft features, it's gonna be a bit uncomfortable, it's gonna be expensive, it might compromise functionality, all to create a sense of precision, authenticity, and high-endness.
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#5I wish they would put in at least some basic effort into smoothing that sharp edge where wrists often rest when using the MacBook, rather than just the curvature of the corner. Any cheap laptop is nicer to my wrists than a MacBook.
Also: if they could create a gap between the screen and the keys, so the screen is not always smudged after closing the MacBook. Aka, if you use your MacBook as a laptop, the screen will be dirty even if you are careful to never mistakenly touch it.
For at least one gen of MacBooks (maybe the ill-fated 2016 MacBook Pros?), this was actually a design fault. In the battle for thinness there was not enough separation between screen and keys when closed, leading to damage to screen coating over time.
Newer versions had a slightly larger rubber lip on the screen to increase the separation - as I noticed after getting a replacement for a damaged model
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#6I wish they would put in at least some basic effort into smoothing that sharp edge where wrists often rest when using the MacBook, rather than just the curvature of the corner. Any cheap laptop is nicer to my wrists than a MacBook.
But then you would have a rounded surface matched up with a sharp one (the top of the display) when you close the lid and that wouldn't look sexy at all. Two rounded edges would be even worse.
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#7Last year I wanted to have a table custom built using those shapes. It's easy with CNC:
https://shapescience.xyz/blog/creating-a-super-ellipsis-tabl...
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#8The curvature is not unique to apple though. This is widely used in car manufacturing for example. Turns out not having a hard transition between no curvature (straight surface) and some kind of radius (so a curvature of 1/r) looks like shit on very reflective surfaces, because a perfect flat mirror suddenly transitions into a stretched or squashed one.
So you can go and make those transitions flawless by making sure the curvature combs transition into each other as well (basically a set of spaced out lines which you draw perpendicular to the line in question where the magnitude equals the curvature). If the curvature combs meet at the transition, the transition looks okay. If the curvature combs are tangential to each other it looks better. You can also add a second order curvature comb to the first one and make sure these connect as well etc.
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also: if they could create a gap between the screen and the keys, so the screen is not always smudged after closing the MacBook. Aka, if you use your MacBook as a laptop, the screen will be dirty even if you are careful to never mistakenly touch it.
For at least one gen of MacBooks (maybe the ill-fated 2016 MacBook Pros?), this was actually a design fault. In the battle for thinness there was not enough separation between screen and keys when closed, leading to damage to screen coating over time. Newer versions had a slightly larger rubber lip on the screen to increase the separation - as I noticed after getting a replacement for a damaged model
This can happen on other laptops, especially to cat owners.
Re: Curvature consistency in Apple hardware and software products (2017)
#10The squircle was actually Nokia's design language they used for Meego[1]. Back then Apple just used basic squares with rounded edges, the "unique" curverture mentioned here happened later.