22 Macworld • March 2021MAC
evolving Mac designs? We’ll never
know, but given the importance of the
iPhone and iPad to Apple’s bottom
line, de-emphasizing the Mac was
probably the right call during that era.FROZEN IN TIME
Now consider the current Mac product
line. It would be instantly recognizable
to a visitor from the early 2010s.
Apple introduced the first all-
screen iMac in 2004, though it was
made of white plastic. It’s probably
fair to call the 2007 aluminium iMac
the true progenitor of all current
iMacs, though in 2012 it reached
its final form, dropping the internal
optical drive and turning into the very
iMac models still being sold today.
Even charitably measuring from the2012 model, it’s been nine years since
the iMac design changed.
The Mac mini looks more or less
identical to how it looked in 2005
when it was introduced. It got thinner
and flatter and switched from a plastic
and aluminium case to all aluminium
in 2010, but since then there’s been
nothing to report.
The Mac Pro – well, here’s that
exception that proves the rule. In 2013
Apple introduced a new, cylindrical
Mac Pro – Apple’s first major Mac
design change in several years. It
was a flop, and six years later Apple
replaced it with a new model equipped
with handles and a perforated design
that are very clearly just a new take
on the ‘cheese grater’ Power Mac G5
enclosure introduced in 2003.
On the laptop side,
the second-generation
MacBook Air was the
definitive Mac of the
2010s and influenced
the design of modern
laptops immensely. But it
was introduced in 2010.
Even if you don’t consider
the Titanium PowerBook
G4 the originator of
Apple’s laptop designs,
it’s hard not to look at
the Air and see it as theThe Mac Pro is the only Mac that has had a major
design change in recent years.22 Macworld • March 2021MAC
evolving Mac designs? We’ll never
know, but given the importance of the
iPhone and iPad to Apple’s bottom
line, de-emphasizing the Mac was
probably the right call during that era.FROZEN IN TIME
Now consider the current Mac product
line. It would be instantly recognizable
to a visitor from the early 2010s.
Apple introduced the first all-
screen iMac in 2004, though it was
made of white plastic. It’s probably
fair to call the 2007 aluminium iMac
the true progenitor of all current
iMacs, though in 2012 it reached
its final form, dropping the internal
optical drive and turning into the very
iMac models still being sold today.
Even charitably measuring from the2012 model, it’s been nine years since
the iMac design changed.
The Mac mini looks more or less
identical to how it looked in 2005
when it was introduced. It got thinner
and flatter and switched from a plastic
and aluminium case to all aluminium
in 2010, but since then there’s been
nothing to report.
The Mac Pro – well, here’s that
exception that proves the rule. In 2013
Apple introduced a new, cylindrical
Mac Pro – Apple’s first major Mac
design change in several years. It
was a flop, and six years later Apple
replaced it with a new model equipped
with handles and a perforated design
that are very clearly just a new take
on the ‘cheese grater’ Power Mac G5
enclosure introduced in 2003.
On the laptop side,
the second-generation
MacBook Air was the
definitive Mac of the
2010s and influenced
the design of modern
laptops immensely. But it
was introduced in 2010.
Even if you don’t consider
the Titanium PowerBook
G4 the originator of
Apple’s laptop designs,
it’s hard not to look at
the Air and see it as theThe Mac Pro is the only Mac that has had a major
design change in recent years.