Apple doesn’t own the idea of using aluminium in gadget designs or creating a phone where the touchscreen is the focus of all your attentions but there’s a certain Cupertino touch that other manufacturers relentlessly attempt to mimic.
We’ve seen it this morning with the unveiling of the Dell XPS 15z which cops a lot of moves from the MacBook Pro – from its aluminium/magnesium alloy shell to the placement of its speakers, the arrows on its backlit keyboard and the positioning of its ports and slot-loading DVD drive. Is it asking to much to expect designers to do something a little different?
Spotting PC laptops that look an awful lot like a MacBook isn’t anything new – Dell’s done it before with Adamo models that more than tipped their hats to the MacBook Air as did Toshiba’s Portege line and Sony has had form since the 2006 Vaio N10 Series off like an awkward MacBook/MacBook Pro gene splicing. There have been countless other PC laptops that provoke a double take but lack the fit and finish of Apple laptops when you take a closer look.
I’ve reviewed hundreds of laptops in my time as a technology writer. It’s always a little sad when you come across a machine that really wishes it was a MacBook. Apple doesn’t get everything right. In fact, every Apple laptop ever released has its frustrations (the way the aluminium picks up dirt, Apple’s insistence on organising ports in order of size, a wilful streak when it comes to sticking to irritating connectors). PC laptop makers could be making truly innovative and different designs but they’re not.
At the bottom end of the market they’re pumping out plastic, commidity computers that are virtually disposable in their flimsiness while at the high-end, it is really difficult to find a machine that isn’t trying to mimic the stylistic choices Apple has made with the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. The battle to outdo the thinness of the MacBook Air is even more tedious – shaving off tenths of a milimetre is cause for the engineering team to go out for a pint but ultimately means precious little to most customers.
There are some phenomenally creative minds lurking in R&D departments and laptop makers should be putting them to work to create inspiring new designs not me to products. We really don’t need another PC with a chiclet keyboard, an aluminium-shell and a press-release hinting that it’s kinda like a MacBook only, you know, way better. Please design an interesting looking laptop, I’m begging you.
