Filing the corners off my MacBooks
kentwalters.com469 points by normanvalentine 5 hours ago
469 points by normanvalentine 5 hours ago
Thanks for this interesting post - I've been showing it to co-workers to get their reactions, which was incredibly entertaining for me!
Co-worker 1: Interesting. I wonder if that voids the warranty. It's Apple you know.
Co-worker 2: May Jobs have mercy on their soul...
Co-worker 3: Not a bad idea. But not sure if that would cause problems with structural integrity of the laptop, like if you drop it or something.
Co-worker 4: The only downside I see is that you can no longer say "Hey, that's a sharp-looking laptop!"
The takeaway from this article should be to consider modifying your tools to your needs even in unconventional and controversial ways. I love it.
The flame war on whether the original chassis design sucks or rocks is not that interesting.
25 years ago one of early engineering courses included a case study about Ingersol Rand (IIRC). They went out to work floors and saw how all the workers had modified their air wrenches in the same way, adding padding with tape in various areas. They realized they could probably make a better wrench if it had some of those ergonomics built in.
Maybe the next phase of Apple could return to flowing shapes and save our wrists.
I really like the design and the sharp edges don’t hurt my wrists.
I also really like this article and am 100% supportive of people messing around and modifying their stuff.
This is why I like cheaper tools. Yes, that means cheaper quality but it's far easier to approach taking a dremel to it. And the DIY look usually matches the stock materials better anyway.
Nah, taking the risk is even more fun when the thing you're modifying holds more value.
Chopping the fenders on a Porsche 911 to install a widebody kit does not have the same weight as rolling the seams on an Jeep Cherokee.
All things being equal, sure, but I personally am way more likely to mod the Cherokee than the Porsche
I just did this to my MacBook not because of the sharp edge but because the pitting turns a sharp edge into a sawblade. Something about the grounding on on the frame when plugged in mixed with my sweaty hands leads to damage along this sharp edge on every MacBook I've ever owned.
See https://www.reddit.com/r/macbook/s/hbyVh5SJhw for another poor soul with the same caustic skin
Oh is that why it happens? Was wondering why the spot directly under my wrist was pitted into a sawblade. I also filed it, though just enough to remove the pitting, nothing like the OP did.
It's easy for me to feel the mains frequency while gently rubbing the top surface of the MacBook while it's plugged in. Really feels unsafe, but neither me nor the computer have suffered any serious injuries yet.
> It's easy for me to feel the mains frequency while gently rubbing the top surface of the MacBook
I haven't been a regular Mac user, but I've had maybe 3 work MacBooks since 2010 and I recall having this issue with all of them.
Why haven't they fixed it?
They can’t, it’s caused by the capacitors required to suppress electromagnetic interference caused by the switch-mode power supply. These allow a very very tiny amount of current to leak through from the mains side, which is then capacitively coupled to the metal case (IIRC Apple do not connect the case to power negative) reducing it further, but it’s enough for humans to sense it.
It can be avoided by using a grounded power supply, but because there are large countries that have ungrounded outlets in common use the most designs are ungrounded.
It's also an issue on the new Neo. It was the first thing I noticed when I tried one in the Apple Store. I unplugged the power cable and it went away, replugged and it came back. I'm in the UK so I expected grounded electricity supply.
Using a 3 prong extension cable on the charger will prevent this.
How? The (US) charger's only got 2 pins so ground stays unconnected.
Apple sells a 3-pin extension cable
US Version: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mw2n3ll/a/power-adapter-e...
I don't know if this link will work - https://www.chargerlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/202206... but that metal round pin thing is a ground; and the three-prong cable connects to it.
There are grounded duckheads for this purpose, e.g. https://amzn.to/4cnzuef (note out of stock. I guess your best bet is to use a UK duckhead, but half of those have a dummy ground...)
if you take the plug part from the brick you'll note that there's only two pins but the button-like thing is a ground
as noted in a sibling, the power adapter extension cable does plumb the ground through (https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mw2n3ll/a/power-adapter-e...)
The extension cable they used to include in box with the computers, it has the third pin for the charger brick connector which is wired to ground
There's zero chance that the DC ground in the laptop is tied to earth ground in the charger: they use LLC resonant converters and flyback converters (depending on vintage) - an earth ground tie would defeat the purpose of these isolated topologies.
That cuts it by about 90%. But as others have said, the default US plug doesn't ship with a ground pin (though the extended cord does IIRC).
Maybe you're holding it wrong? j/k
Seriously though, that does not sound safe at all.
This comment is concerning.
> acidic sweat. once you got through the anodization the raw aluminum wears faster....
If one files off the sharp edges, won’t the sweat eat through everything faster, as that protective layer was filed off.
Probably. But, the time when the laptop is taped off would be uniquely a good time to hit it with some polyurethane or something clear to protect it from that sort of damage? Just make sure you hit it with compressed air first so you aren't gluing the aluminum dust to the chassis?
Aluminum should oxidize essentially instantly.
True; however, this is an aluminium alloy. These typically have lower corrosion resistance and are most commonly anodized because of it. The applied layer is typically 3 to 5x thicker than that formed by pure aluminium oxidization.
I’ve been traveling around the world. It is 50 / 50 of the socket is properly grounded —-anywhere in the world. I get a tingling zap on the wrist when not properly grounded. The charger also gets hot and sparks.
but it's never going to be grounded, there isn't even a ground pin on the charger
Apple sells a 3-pin extension cable
US Version: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mw2n3ll/a/power-adapter-e...
If you swap in the extension cable head, that does indeed have a ground pin, at least in Australia anyway. The grounding comes from that metal ring that the connector uses as a guide. https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/mw2n3x/a/power-adapter...
only two prongs of which make it through. Usually the regulation as I understand is that it's fine if you can prove the case can never get in contact with anything electric, for most laptops that's just being made of plastic.
As has been established in other threads here, the metal button thing the prongs slide onto is an earth connection.
>The charger also gets hot and sparks.
Some heat is normal, but the sparking seems concerning.
That should not happen with a well designed power supply. It sounds like Apple cut some corners "for design reasons", or some shortcut to make it cheaper to manufacture.
Oh wow I think I have a mild version of this.
Can it cause the plastic on the mouse to break down?
Yes, it is fairly common with some plastics. better plastics won't but there are a lot of different plastics with differt formulas (and many can be mixed)
Not all heroes wear capes. This is excellent and can't wait to get aluminium mac next to try it – don't think Space Black is a good way to go.
Author's another post on "The Seasons are Wrong" [0] is excellent too and I fully support both approaches.
The seasons idea is interesting -- to me, both proposals feel wrong. I think it's because the weather changes that I perceive seem to lag behind the changes to daylight length by a few weeks.
I would propose boundaries that align partly with how I perceive the weather, and partly with how we plan our year (by months): Summer starts June 1st, Fall starts September 1st, Winter starts December 1st, and Spring starts March 1st.
That's how it works in Australia, though rotated six months: Summer starts December 1, Autumn starts March 1, Winter starts June 1, and Spring starts September 1. I think it even has legal status. In the North of the country though they typically just use wet and dry season.
I've also always thought that the equinoxes and solstices should be the middle of the seasons, so using the 'cross-quarter' days as the beginning of seasons makes more sense.
In my country the dates you stated are what are considered the start of the seasons. This year there was a very clear change between winter and spring on March 1st. February was cloudy and minus, March was sunny and plus.
Ocean currents, elevation and distance from the equator also have a big impact on what the season is going to feel like.
There's no need to change the dates. They're already arbitrary based on the position of the sun and the earth and people have the experience to take them with the grain of salt necessary to the region they live in. People who live near the equator probably don't have much care for the notion of the winter at all. Folks who live far up north know that spring actually comes in much later than march 21st. People who climb glaciated mountains in the canadian rockies know they won't get summer conditions until late june.
> People who live near the equator probably don't have much care for the notion of the winter at all.
My understanding is that tropical regions tend to divide the year into "wet season" and "dry season".
funny how this is actually the default for me having grown up in Ukraine.
probably same for other post-soviet countries too?
I second this proposal. Three weeks shift can feel about right.
But we lost a lot of nice symmetries that way, which is unfortunate
> I would propose boundaries that align partly with how I perceive the weather, and partly with how we plan our year (by months): Summer starts June 1st, Fall starts September 1st, Winter starts December 1st, and Spring starts March 1st.
You do realize there's also a southern hemisphere on planet Earth?
Oh, I have never heard of seasons starting mid-month. My mind is blown!
In Australia it's just split up by months, with each season being 3 months long:
March 1 - Autumn starts June 1 - Winter starts Sept 1 - Spring starts Dec 1 - Summer starts
Of cause, those in far northern Australia, only really have Dry and Wet seasons. I have no idea when those are.
We were taught the same (Australian) - though it always felt slightly off as March often has major heatwaves, and December can be quite spring-like, often cool and wet.
Adelaide’s climate anecdotally feels to be more humid in recent years (historically bone dry Mediterranean climate) and the seasons feel like they’ve shifted a few weeks forward.
The Kaurna (Australian Aboriginal people of Adelaide, pronounced Gar-nuh) apparently mapped seasons a little differently, with a longer summer that resonates with my experience:
https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledg...
The Noongar people of Western Australia have a 6 season model that also maps pretty well to my experience in South Australia.
https://australiassouthwest.com/six-seasons-of-the-south-wes...
Part of the reason for this is that climate lags behind sunlight a bit, so the end of the authors "summer" would be warmer than the beginning.
But most countries other than the USA use meteorological definitions of the seasons starting on the 1st of December, March, June, and September.
Does Europe and America really call the summer solstice the “start” of summer. Wow.
In India our summer holidays start at the end of March and finish in the start of June. That’s usually our hottest months too. And a lot of our regional “New Year” calendar’s and related festivals are on April 14th and can probably be considered the start of summer.
Hottest day of the year in the US varies by 3 months from California to Texas, which is only about half the width of the country. I would imagine the region you're in has a different hottest day of the year from say Kashmir or your neighbor Sri Lanka.
Europe does not. Summer is June, July and August with a bit of give here and there.
You can get some black "machinist's layout bluing" which will stain it better than a sharpie would. It's not going to be a perfect color match but better than 50%
There's a significant lag between the longer days and the resulting higher temperatures though, which does make the seasons make more sense temperature-wise.
On the seasons front, traditionally in Ireland winter starts on Halloween (at sunset if you want to be really specific), and so you get winter is November till January, spring is February to April, summer is May to July and autumn is August to October.
That said being an English speaking country and absorbing a lot of media from other English speaking countries, there’s been a slow drift towards the American system making its way in, so younger generations are more likely to use American seasons and older people more likely to use traditional seasons, though you’ll find people of all age groups using either. Certainly they taught the traditional seasons in school when I was a kid, I wonder which they teach now.
(Of course, you could make yet another system based on the weather where summer is approximately two weeks in July, winter is a thing that happens every few years and the rest is a sequence of mild weather with occasional wind and scattered showers)
I find the "solstices/equinoxes mark starts of seasons" a bit foreign too, but… weather-wise, annual top and bottom temperatures are of course offset from the solstices due to thermal inertia.
In Finland the traditional division is that winter is Dec-Feb, spring is Mar-May, summer is Jun-Aug, and autumn is Sep-Nov. Historically it has made perfect sense, weather and climate wise – particularly from the point of view of agriculture, which is of course the reason people used to think about seasons in the first place!
February in particular is 100% winter in Finland with no signs of spring besides the days starting to get very noticeably longer by then. It's often the coldest month of the year and when schools usually have a week-long winter break. Similarly, August is very definitely a summer month except in the far north where spring comes late and autumn early. The academic year in schools and universities typically starts at the end of August, so that's a clear and important dividing line in many people's lifes. In Southern Finland, December is these days rather autumny more often than not, and there's often no lasting snow until January (if even then). June is a crapshoot, it can be nice and warm or surprisingly cold.
I guess Jan-Feb are definitely winter, Apr-May definitely spring, Jul-Aug definitely summer, and Oct-Nov definitely autumn. The rest are kind of transitional and their weather unpredictable. Of course, the climate change isn't helping things, either.
The author seems to not realize the season are about temperature not about sunlight. If you align the season to northern hemisphere temperatures, where the first week of August is usually the hottest, they make sense.
> A season is a division of the year[1] based on changes in weather…
I have no dog in this fight but a friendly reminder that temperature and weather are not synonymous.
You can anodize aluminium black relatively easily, similar to this
https://youtu.be/y8HEZ-x4-_w?t=402
Getting the shade right could be tricky though.
Maybe I'm autistic, but I loooove the sharp edges near the opening. They've become almost a nervous tick of playing with them with my fingers.
I've got no idea why, but the sharp feeling is amazing.
Sounds kinda like pain stimming. I'm not personally a fan, but that's a thing some autistic people do. They make purpose-built toys for that, though you might already be set with your laptop.
I am autistic and I also enjoy the sharp edges, I rub my wrists up and down them sometimes and generally play with them, I find it very satisfying. I also suspect the laptop might not be as easy to carry around when open if edges were rounded?
this can't be how i find out...
I looked at your posting history and if you're not diagnosed autistic you should be.
I'm conflicted -- the author's rounded Mac looks more comfortable to use, but aesthetically it looks worse. He turned the track pad notch into an amorphous shape that looks like a mistake.
There's certainly a % of mac users who prioritize aesthetics over function. I feel like there's got to be a way to do this in a way that's more attractive though. Maybe something more gradual or even.
I wonder what Apple estimates this percentage to be given some of their design decisions.
For many power users, Macs are an invisible laptop that just works.
When apple releases a 12" retina Macbook M-series, I'll be the first in line, I don't think there's a better laptop for size and aesthetic.
I actually agree with this too — playing with the sharp edge is kind of satisfying. Like having something in your teeth that you're working on.
same, i really love it and i hove my hands typing so they've never caused pain anyway
I don't think there's anything inherently autistic about that. We just finally have these technologies sufficiently mature that materials and design are no longer strictly dictated by their function.
These objects are becoming more like clothing and less like unyielding industrial machines. It's to the point that I'd be genuinely disgusted to handle any used laptop regardless of how "clean" it is.
Spoken like a true autist… perhaps with a side of obsession and compulsion syndrome
> materials and design are no longer strictly dictated by their function.
Ok… but I don't like to injure my wrists…
Love this! I did this in 2020 and until today I hadn't seen anyone else who had done it. If anyone is tempted, I recommend finishing the job with Micro-Mesh. IIRC, I went up to 12,000 grit and it results in a nicely polished look that catches the light beautifully.[1] I bet it would look even more striking on the actual black MacBooks we have today.
[1] https://x.com/andrewculver/status/1297575768520716288/photo/...
Black macbooks are anodized aluminum which are thin coatings that would be removed when filing. It might look cool but it’d be the silvery color of raw aluminum
Lovely writing! And I think the understanding that one can and should modify their tools to their needs is rather rare and should be appreciated.
When I had a MacBook, I was quickly compelled to do something about the fact that its sharp edges scraped things, most notably scraping off the surface of my fingernails.
But the obvious way to handle that problem is to put it in a case. For example: https://www.itslaut.com/products/crystal-x-case-for-macbook-...
I wasn't thrilled with a product design that required a case to protect the rest of the world from the product, but it obviously makes more sense than trying to file the MacBook yourself.
Nitpicky, but he’s rounding the edges, not the corners.
And yes, why are they so sharp?
I seem to recall my wife having the plastic MacBook that came out circa 2006 and the edges on that thing were legitimately painful.
I always marvel at how sharp the points are on the notch of the lid on my current MacBook. Very very pointy.
I bet the author deliberately called them “corners” instead of “edges” to put more people on edge.
> why are they so sharp?
they intentionally ship them sharp so you can file them down to your desired fillet
the design is very human
The past few generations I found I was not pleased with their performance, so now I take them weekly to the macbook sharpener at the saturday market.
There are definitely corners by the trackpad, at the gap for opening the lid.
They are quite stabby and I hate them.
https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/aca51a7051edc493b19cfd93da...
The most material is removed at the corners of the lid-lifting notch. Those are IMO the most offensive pointy part on the body.
Yeah, I had thin insulation strips running around these edges because my wrists were legit getting sore from these edges. And then Apple replaced the bottom case so they're back, as sharp as ever.
Thank you! I zoomed in on the photo looking for sanded corners on the MacBook and saw none. Took me a sec to finally see the amorphous edge nr the trackpad...
They actually reduced sharpness in M MacBooks Pros.
Unibody Intels before that were really really sharp.
> Very very pointy.
I have intrusive thoughts of trying to cut my finger over it, but so far the attempts were unsuccesful.
why? Because Apple hates you and wants you to suffer.
Alternatively, because they care about aesthetics more than utility and comfort.
I don't think apple computers are meant for people who do use computers. I used to have marks on my wrists (I no longer have an apple computer now).
Tell that to the people responsible for the trackpads of any other computer maker.
Apple computers are made for those who purchases a computer. They are engineered to look great on a demo shelf.
«During the first Jobsian era at Apple, I used to joke that Steve Jobs cared deeply about Apple customers from the moment they first considered purchasing an Apple computer right up until the time their check cleared the bank.» (Bruce Tognazzini)
It worked. Most people under 30 don't know Apple existed before the iPod / iPhone. ie: Before Jobs.
Of course it worked. Apple turned from a company that sells electronic equipment into a company that sells media consumption devices which double as fashion accessories signaling high social status. Of course the addressable market is 2-3 orders of magnitude larger.
They still sell computers, which count below 10% of the revenue, and are also partly fashion accessories.
This is the spicy content I come here to read. I wouldn’t do it myself but god speed to anyone who does.
There's a more thorough version of this at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSaJAAqSAMw and the end-result doesn't look as tacky
if you want to do this, there is a better technique than shown in this video.
get a single-cut fine file, maybe with a little more weight than the one in the video. single cut file has diagonal slots and allows firm and continuous contact with the piece. most files are double cut, have two sets of slots and look like bumpy diamonds. they remove more material but tend to bounce.
use long even strokes with firm pressure, only during the fore stroke. watch out for roll-off, where you unconsciously change the angle or pressure of the file as you're at the end of the stroke.
you can make a pretty even-looking chamfer that way.
I just came into Mac world for work and struggle to understand the choices Apple makes:
- Sharp edges eat into my forearms.
- Glossy screen makes it hard to see when it's light out.
- The keys have a real hard stop when you press on them which tires out my hands.
- An arrogant desire to obsolete ports.
I don't understand the appeal of the machine, it feels like style over function everywhere.
I, too, only use Macs when my employer forces me to do so. Here's how I made it bearable: MacBook lid stays closed at all times; plug it into a Thunderbolt hub (requires just 1 Thunderbolt port for everything); connect a proper matte monitor, external keyboard, Logitech mouse.
Now the only annoying things are the MacOS window manager (uBar attempts to fix this, but is flaky) and the weird keyboard mappings for things like "start of line", "end of line", "previous word", etc. Karabiner fixes those if you're willing to invest 3 hours in setting it up.
> weird keyboard mappings for things like "start of line", "end of line", "previous word"
Those are Emacs keybinding, and they're also present by default in Bash since they were copied by GNU Readline. They're one of the few things I really like about macOS. (But I'm an Emacs user and I'm also used to using them in my terminal.)
The window manager never stops sucking. Rectangle and Contexts or Witch help. Ice helps with the stupid menu bar design and problems with overflowing icons or oversized menus.
As I'm typing on mine right now, I wonder why they made these so sharp. It hasn't cut me yet, but they are decidedly uncomfortable.
>I wonder why they made these so sharp
So the seam looks neat when the macbook is closed, eg. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MacBo...
Truly the most horrifying post on HN I've seen in quite a while
Cool, but why is the most rounded-off part in the center? My wrists cover the edge at 5-25% and 75-95% when typing. When mousing, my right hand fleshy pad covers the edge at 65-80%.
I think because they had to. The rounded-off center part is actually the part you usually stick your finger into to lift up the lid. So it wasn't done for wrist ergonomics, but rather because it would've otherwise been sharp. The result is a big hole in the center.
It looks a bit strange, but to each their own, I suppose.
EDIT: this thing, below the trackpad https://imgur.com/a/DVzlDOj (What’s that even called? And is there a better image hosting service than Imgur?)
I've done this to my MacBook around the sharp and unpleasant corners near the touchpad. I had the laptop a few weeks before I couldn't take how unpleasant it was to touch any more.
Somebody should offer a service to chuck up Macbooks in a CNC mill and hit them with a chamfer tool
As a bonus the machine looks like crap so it’s far less likely to get stolen.
I think it looks nice.
Though you're right that machines whose exteriors are customized and unusual are less likely to get stolen.
I thought this was going to be on a softwarefix for the appalling inconsistency that are macOS Tahoe window corners. What I found deeply disturbed me, though I must agree, the edges are a bit more sharp then I'd like and a slight curvature could probably prevent them showing wear and tear [0]. Good on op for doing something they like, even if it's really out there and I could see more "pillowy" hardware becoming a thing now, after a few years of sharp edged devices.
Since I mentioned Tahoe, it bears repeating, my spotlight is still broken.
[0] https://ljpuk.net/2025/05/23/how-does-the-space-black-macboo...
Doing this to a work computer seem a bit questionable from the ethical standpoint.
Totally fine to do whatever you want to your personal belongings though.
My work computer is missing two keys and has been since they signed it out to me.
I'm betting they don't notice if I file down the corners. Hell they probably wouldn't notice if I just cut the corners off with a fret saw. But God forbid I try to install an ad blocker or use Firefox.
I promise you they’re claiming taxes on the depreciation of that machine every year. If anything they’ll be upset you didn’t tell them sooner so they could have claimed more.
If you're a US employee being paid market wages, the cost of the Macbook is rather trivial compared to how much you cost the company, and how much it costs them for you to be not working. But some lower-level managers and employees don't seem to understand this.
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE PRICE FOR THE PARTS AND LABOR TO REPLACE A SINGLE, GENUINE, APPLE-BRAND, 2021, MACBOOK PRO KEYCAP?!?! CALL THE ACCOUNTANTS, WE WONT BE PAYING TAXES FOR A FEW YEARS!!!”
Love that he took it so far. I filed mine a while back - it’s so much more comfortable to use. When I drop it and a corner get mashed, I file that back flat. It reminds me of kintsugi where it shines from the fine filing.
I filed my work dell laptop too. Very different feel, but it is nice not living in feel of your own stuff.
Would be cool if somebody would make a round over or chamfer plane that would allow you to remove the corner with a higher finished look.
> This was on my work computer.
Bold move to do this on your work Macbook. I'd be too worried of getting chased down with a bill when returning the laptop eventually.
Honestly that was the cherry on top for me -- the employee confident enough to just decide "this is my work computer, I need it to do work, I can't do work with my hands being irritated, so I will sand down the edge." Pure gold.
One way to equalize the form > function equation!
I'm not brave enough to try this on my own, but I applaud the effort. I'm pretty sure I'm developing lasting calluses on the underside of my wrists from all the constant rubbing against the sharp edge of my MBP.
If my work computer were my own I would do this in a second. The MacBook pro is ridiculously uncomfortable, both in terms of geometry and heat. I don't mind when it gets warm but on a cold morning it's just downright unpleasant to get working on it.
A hero post. I'm pretty sure we'll be able to shave using the edge of iPhone Air 20 or whatever they are coming up with. iPhone Stiletto.
One of the ATPers was going on and on a bit ago about how the Neo is very "rounded" and "not sharp" compared to the Pro. I wonder if it would need this.
Did the same for my Macbook Pro 15 unibody circa 2010. It was a great QoL improvement.
I feel like this is only a problem if you’re keeping your wrists at an unergonomic angle. I’m not saying that everyone is perfect all the time but like this is barely an issue if you’re sitting at your desk?
Laptops are used in so many more situations than just sitting at a desk.
Literally "you're holding it wrong".
> I’m not saying that everyone is perfect all the time but like this is barely an issue if you’re sitting at your desk?
It's a laptop computer.
Yes. I keep mine on my lap. My regimen is that I wake up at 3am and lie on the couch for several hours with coffee and write code (or these days, ask "someone else" to). It is highly productive and enjoyable and breaks all the rules and no I do not have RSI. Long ago I started sandpapering the edges because yeah otherwise it hurts my wrists.
>it is uncomfortable on my wrists
Are your wrists supposed to be coming into contact with that? I suspect many of us have bad posture and do rest our wrists like that, but if your concern is wrist comfort, you probably want to consider that you're going out of your way to enable harmful posture.
A very even 45 degree cut, like the cut to lift the screen but much shallower would look pretty cool. Maybe 2mm wide
Physical objects should be rounded, virtual windows should be square. I will die on this hill.
Tim Cook here, we've heard you loud and clear, the next Macbook will have a perfectly circular screen with square windows.
Jony Ive here. I’ll come back and help make your new keyboard perfectly flat and seamless- touchpad based, and we’ll remove all ports. Bluetooth devices only.
Alan Dye here. I'm coming back to Apple, and the next versions of the operating systems will not even have visible controls or icons. You just have to click on the beautiful, clear windows and hope you're interacting with the right UI elements.
Steve Ballmer here, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS!
DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS. DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS. WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!
also, where is the new version of Visual Basic, Ballmer? Your sweaty chants can only distract me for so long…. Wait….. ITS BEEN TWENTY YEARS!?!?
Cave Johnson here. I'll be honest, we're throwing science at the wall here to see what sticks. No idea what it'll do. Probably nothing. Best-case scenario, you might get some superpowers.
Scott Forstall here. I’ll resign before I apologize for the choices we make at Apple. All our research shows you’re gonna love it, and if you say you don’t it’s because you’re wrong, not me.
Steve Jobs here, this user is wrong and you are both fired for not realizing this
In response, I expect the open-source community to make an optimal square packing window manager. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_packing
Eizo made a square 1920 x 1920 monitor which was quite nice: https://www.eizo.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/
I had a blackberry passport and it had a lot going for it(best keyboard ever on a phone) but one thing I really liked for reasons I don't understand is it had a square screen and took square photos.
Square (or squarish) formats were pretty standard in pro photography once upon a time. Bliss, the Windows wallpaper, was shot on a camera that shoots in 6x7 natively (that's a nominal 6cm x 7cm, really it's more like 55mm x 65mm) A lot of other medium format cameras also shot in 6x7 or 6x6. And of course, 8x10 is still the standard "medium size print." I find square (or squarish) easier to compose with than wide ratios. Street photography, portraits, and sports photography don't often benefit from wider ratios, to name a few examples.
Square sensors ought to be more common because they maximize the field of view for a given lens. Well, apart from circular sensors.
That looks genuinely useful - I could see positioning a monitor like that on either side of my main monitor, at an angle, and using them for docs, reference material, slack, calendars, etc. All the screen space of a dual-monitor setup, without the separation right in the center! Ah well, shame they're no longer made.
LG sells a DualUp monitor that is 2560x2880, same size as two 2560x1440 displays stacked on top of each other: https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-28mq780-b-dualup-monitor
Yep, though what I would want is the width and height swapped. You can rotate the monitor, but then the subpixel layout isn’t good for text.
This worked great for a home arcade machine. Kind of expensive, but worked equally well for both 4:3 games (Super Mario) and 3:4 games (Pac Man).
Also, real windows and displays should have square corners, too. I refuse to buy a new phone until manufacturers stop cutting corners.
Hmm. Android uses the curvy bits for status so the main area is rectangle. So it is OK. It has the advantage of curved corners on casing to reduce chance of cracking screen on a drop.
> windows should be square
found the Windows 8 enthusiast! haha, I kid. (I myself use a tiling window manager , i3, with completely square windows without any gaps or rounding)
My custom XFWM theme has square corners on windows without focus and large-radius rounded corners on the one window with focus.
The square corners are part of a 2 pixel wide border (one black, one white) because who needs to waste space on handling things we aren't manipulating? But the title bar is high-contrast, because you'll go looking for it when you want to switch windows.
The round corners go with a fairly thick border in a customizable color, usually something very bright in the yellow, orange or cyan ranges. When you sit down, you should immediately know what is active.
Haha, Windows had square windows long before 8.
If I could run the Windows 2000 UI on a modern OS I would but any recent clone/theme/etc feels too uncanny valley.
I like rounding the corners on i3. It is a bit wasteful but the base WM is so efficient with my pixels that I have some to spare.
Not having i3 is truly the worst part about Macs.
(Yes, please tell me about some buggy half-compatible tiling window manager for my Mac.)
For real. Doesn't help that the three/four finger swipe between full screen windows/workspaces has a mandatory animation that you can't disable (you can turn on "reduce motion", but it simply changes the scrolling animation into an equally time-wasting fading animation).
Surely MacOS has some nice virtual machine that you could run Linux in?
Virtual machines aren't the solution for day-to-day computing though. You're missing out on the graphics acceleration, being able to plug things in that just work, and so on.
Nope. Virtual windows are rectangular because the screen is also rectangular while being small enough to see the edges within our field of view.
They don't have to be any particular shape or size. The property of being virtual overrides everything else when free of these self-imposed constraints.
Even if you lose the GUI and go back to text, the ideal terminal is a plane of infinite columns of arbitrary cell size that dynamically fills your field of view.
I'd further argue that the only reason VR/AR isn't more widely adopted is the lack of orthographic vs perspective modality per application (and uncomfortable headsets). In VR/AR, you don't want a window manager or even windows at all. What you want is a field manager (as in FOV "fields" of varying opacity that can be composited by the user). Shape and size is just an arbitrary region blended in with the environment.
For the sake of ergonomics, you'd more often prefer to project an interface onto a surface if you had the choice. When you don't, you probably want the projection to be orthographic, but for the edges to be fuzzy if not invisible. You'd generally want to be able to layer these interfaces as well instead of having opaque rectangles always in your way.
I don't think GP was advocating for actually square windows. Rather that the corners should be right angles.
This makes perfect sense considering that most LCD displays, and practically all computer displays, don't have rounded corners. This trend of rounding displays and GUI elements is purely an aesthetic choice. I also find this obnoxious since the only thing it does is rob me of a few pixels which are often useful.
But considering Apple users have accepted living without a large block of pixels dead center at the top of the screen, which they've been sold as a "feature", the rounded corners are likely even less of an issue.
I'm not sure that an infinite plane of pixels makes sense even in XR. I want to see a clear edge of where digital content begins and ends, and a rectangle is the simplest and most optimal shape for that. So I would rather have physical display-like floating rectangles, than floating text in arbitrary locations, or rounded off corners for the sake of aesthetics. I'm not opposed to a very slight rounding off of edges on certain elements, but the trend Apple is pushing is supremely ridiculous.
Yeah I don't think we disagree. I just think you all's preference for windows, tiles, etc. (anything rectangular and opaque) is rooted in an idealistic efficiency of pixels (or irrational fear of deception?) just as unergonomic and frustrating to everyone else.
I'm saying that there is room for your arbitrary preference for opaque rectangles if we all abandon the notion of a "screen". We are well past the point where we can do this economically. It only persists because of consumer acceptance. Traditional screens are less efficient in every tangible way. They are less power efficient for their apparent brightness and require more material to construct.
Even the notion of clear boundaries and pixel size is an illusion. Traditional screens only make the pixels so big because they require sufficient brightness and power to see them at that distance, not because we cannot manufacture smaller pixels for cheaper. We could have much better results for everyone and the only remaining cost/problem is finding a way to comfortably wear the display.
Everyone should be personalizing their belongings to suit their needs and desires. Living with belongings that make you feel anything less than happy and satisfied is NOT necessary.
This is a particularly hilarious customization both for its combined utility and shock value and also for doing it on a work computer.
Sitting in a reclined position on the train, I’ve had a MacBook fly into my face when the car lurched and slice my nose open. Bled all over.
Maybe it's just me, but I think it looks kind of cool. I like how it tapers from the ultra-smooth front to the jagged back edges. Only suggestion would be to use better tools to do the filing, since it looks a bit uneven/rough.
Yea, that's ugly. I'm sure it could've been done more gracefully with 15 minutes more effort. But judging from the general wear and tear on this poor Mac I guess they don't even consider the resale value.
I can't even imagine prioritizing resale value here over one's own comfort. The purpose of a tool is to be used, not to serve as an asset class.
Sure, but comfort != abuse :D Apart from the filing, I can't think of ways to make such a recent Mac look like this. Did it suffer a plane crash? Acid attack? Thermite fire?
I appreciate the customization, but would probably make an effort to make it not look like (another) accident.
I think he is not worried about the resale value.
> This was on my work computer. I expect to similarly modify future work computers, and I would be happy to help you modify yours if you need a little encouragement.
I don’t understand the actual decision but I appreciate the gusto with which it was made.
The main reason to consider resale value is 1-2 years later you may want to upgrade and selling it to another person typically yields you more money than trading it in with Apple. Doing something like this may decrease how much you could sell it for later.
If you’re not planning on doing that then it’s not really a factor for you.
Seriously, I have several mac laptops dating back to 2004 and they all have less wear than that.
I did this at my last job, it's nice.
Depending on how I'm using the computer, I may definitely have deep marks after working laying down, but if I sit in a wood chair for a while it's the same thing- and my forearm is much tougher than behind my knee.
I suppose I would prefer it nice and rounded and soft on my wrist - but I don't feel like it's quite as extreme as this thread would have you believe lol
The author has the same problem as myself; there’s a permanent imprint on the screen that sits right where the screen makes contact with the topside of the touchpad.
It’s quite an annoying flaw, and i’ve only had this problem with the machines since the M1 redesign
The sharp and high edges leave a mark in my skin. The older MacBook Air design was lower, so resting your palms wouldn’t give me this
Maybe it’s the lighting, but that doesn’t look even on both sides to me - that’d bother me more than the sharpness.
Maybe it's because I type like one would play the piano (with hands curved, fingers well below the palms), but I've never ran into an issue like this with a laptop before, wrists always clear the edges by a couple inches.
All the same, hell yeah.
The clearest demonstration that the knife edge is dumb is that there isn't a similar sharp edge around the exterior.
At one point due to the way I was using my just above my wrist my skin basically calloused from the edge of the macbook. Now at least the lid is not that sharp but it used to be I recall and I always worried about kids getting hit by it in case of an accident.
I'm very tempted to try this although I worry that the rubber "seal" around the edges of the screen will no longer have anything to butt up against, meaning there's glass-on-metal contact when it's closed?
Ok I did it, but to a lesser extent to OP, so it definitely doesn't affect the seal. Even a small radius makes a big difference to comfort!
Fans of My Mechanics on YouTube will chuckle at this.
The channel’s Swiss host is famous for removing sharp edges from metal things.
I too find the sharp corners incredibly uncomfortable for my weak sensitive baby wrists but I chose to overcome this by wearing a wrist band. Two very different approaches
Yeah, I wear a wrist band as well. I've used these (https://www.vivehealth.com/products/wrist-support) for some years now but they've since changed the material to something with less give.
Do you have a brand you'd recommend?
I dropped my MBA on concrete and the edges got dinged up and sharp.
A bit of 220 grit sandpaper and all the sharp edges are smooth and it actually looks pretty cool. I was grimacing at first but now I like the feel.
One concern with doing this would be when you pack it in a bag and the screen would now flex more than usual, leading to excessive wear of the anti-reflective coating on these screens.
Since the edge has been filed away, the rubber seal on the screen would no longer presses against the edge of the body protecting the screen.
On one of my old MacBook Pros, I managed to do this naturally through friction from my wrist moving back and forth on the keyboard for years; good idea to get ahead of it.
Another thing that multiple generation of MacBook Airs used to do is constantly be running (sometimes quite painful) amounts of electricity through your wrists if they accidentally touched the metal.
Not sure if the Apple Silicon devices have the same issue - but it was consistent through at least 3 different generations.
I remember, at university we had rows of metal chairs and one single person with a macbook could occasionally electrocute multiple people.
The Apple Watch Ultra also has an aggressively sharp screen edge. It's kept me from upgrading from my current watch (Model 8). But maybe I would get use to it?
The side that faces your wrist is rounded - only the face is sharp. I haven't noticed any issues with the edge wearing the thing.
I was worried about scratches because I abuse the shit out of anything I wear, and sure enough, there are scratches in the titanium bezel, but they look good in a way that scratches on my (non-pro) steel Apple Watch did not.
Did this too. Absolutely ridiculous I had to :(
It was oddly satisfying taking a file to my MacBook when a drop lifted a nasty burr on the edge.
Very minor "you can just do things" collides with the "infallible object" presence that Apple wants for its products - almost feels "wrong", but it's a nice norm to break.
(and I'm not a "Cult of Mac" guy)
It’s not just the edge but the corners where the finger accommodation is for opening the lid.
There’s a sharp corner there is unnecessary.
Sharp edges and an axehead-like profile wear down the bottom of the laptop sleeve in my office-commuter hand luggage. Solved by putting my old MacBook Air in a neoprene pocket case before putting the whole thing, now with the double-thickness :-( p into my sachel.
If only they'd round the edges/corners of the body instead of the screen and the UI
I don't want to do the whole front edge but this has definitely inspired me to take a file to these notch corners
The sharp points by the track-pad are bad design. Ive made some terrible decisions when he wanted to show off.
External keyboard and mouse too easy?
Unless you fly/train travel alot I guess.
Brilliant. Love the tech-disrespect and the “right to repair”!
I have never understood how Jony Ive is highly regarded as a designer when he put not only sharp, aluminum edges but sharp aluminum corners exactly where your body spends almost all the time for continuous contact with the device.
He honestly seems like a terrible designer, which seems corroborated by him doing nothing of remote interest outside of Apple and barely inside it. The items that are regarded as design epochs, like the iPod, we're not his.
Is it me or is that aluminum already developing some stress cracking?
You don't dock your MacBook for long sesh?
I just put a plastic case on my MacBook…
Wish I had the courage to do this too.
Goodbye resale value
Savage.
OMFG I am so glad to hear I am not the only one! The stupid thing hurt my wrists on the white Macbook generation so I shaved it off so it wasn't so sharp.
Love it, this is the ultimate laptop sticker.
anything but admitting the design is bad and frivolous
I hate those sharp edges. I've contemplated taking a router with a carbide roundover to mine many times.
Finally, now I know I'm not the only one! These sharp edges constantly cut into my wrists to the point I was thinking of doing the same, or glueing some kind of kind soft padding to the edges. Great someone did it. I wonder how far can you cut them?
I dealt with sharp edges issue by investing in an Andar leather case. Works just as well.
If instead you sharpen the corners it's a security mechanism.
I would remove material from the outside edges of the front, not the center near the trackpad. The blue edges of my M2 air have already become silver and the palm rests have become more silver and glossy like glass from wear. I'm probably going to do something like this.
This seems like a reasonable choice, but man you really need to do this with a CNC mill. The craftsmanship is not there.
yay
Not seriously... I too love the sharp edges but this is scary.. Lol
I hate this But I also understand Still I hate this
I'm now painfully aware of how uncomfortable the edge of my mac is.
> Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.
Damn good advice.
Apple users always convincing themselves they are still using the best premium most thought after designs of all time.
> Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.
Preach.
> Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.
Bet this person never heard about FAFO
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One of the many first world problems of this century. /s
Meanwhile a very important object called "Orion CM-003 Integrity" of the Artemis II mission is about to splash-down on Earth in 35 mins.
