Reminds me of a story I heard from one of the package guys from Apple when I worked there:
The iPod classic package at one point, if you recall, had a recess that the iPod sat in so you'd see the iPod sitting there waiting to be popped out when you opened the package. That recess was white, but the package engineers didn't like the lack of contrast where the recess walls met the recess base, so they tooled out a small sub-millimeter section of material so it would cast a subtle drop shadow on the base.
That kind of attention to detail, on packaging no less, is one of the big reasons I'm a big Apple fan.
The parent post isn't describing form over function (there is no loss of functionality by adding a dropshadow to a box). You need the design to hurt the actual functionality of the device in some way before you have that.
When your computer overheats because it absolutely must have no fans and be very small, you have form over function (G4 Cube). When your mouse is difficult for some to use because it is shaped "interestingly" (Apple USB Mouse from 1998), you have form over function.
What people love about Apple isn't design for it's own sake, but rather that they care about how individual parts of a design fit together to make something. That they take most of the sharp edges of a system and remove them so that the experience is great.
Details are important. The packaging of a product is part of the experience and shouldn't be ignored just because it doesn't help you calculate digits of pi faster.
When I first saw the change from the PowerBook keyboard to the MBP, I couldn't fathom why they would make such a decision. The new keyboard, while not as bad as it looks, is still nowhere near as comfortable.
Then came the iPod shuffle: switching from a tiny device with few buttons, to one with no buttons at all. "Tap 3 times to...." I don't know anyone who would jog with earbuds, let alone reach for a thin cable while running. What was the target audience for the shuffle?
The Mighty Mouse? No buttons at all? Inability to rest your fingers on the mouse. Inability to click both "buttons".
Glossy screens? Which people defended to the death. Only until Apple finally released an "Anti-Glare" screen on the higher end models.
I don't know. Apple, when the aluminum PowerBooks just came out, was melding form with function. Removing the latch that snapped off on laptops, hiding it in the bezel with a magnet. MagSafe plugs. Not having all the worthless little switches and buttons on the laptop like that oh-so-useful "Wireless" switch.
While I'm not generally in the habit of defending Apple's decisions, I'd argue that all of those examples have tradeoffs that improve function. I don't necessarily agree with the tradeoff, but improvements to function do exist.
* The new style keyboard (with bezel between keys) is vastly more reliable for me. On the older keyboards, keys would come flying off all the time. I'd have to replace the keyboard every 8 months. My unibody macbook has lasted almost 2 years with no signs of wear.
* I can't comment on the reliability of the new ones, but I had an old iPod shuffle that was flaky as hell, especially when covered in sweat. Button clicks would get ignored or falsely triggered frequently.
* The Mighty Mouse is optimized for multitouch gestures, and having no seams on the top surface of the mouse makes that experience fantastic. Personally, not my style, but I see why they did it that way.
* The glossy screens have much better color and contrast than matte, and stay cleaner. Yes, glare is a problem in the sun, but I'm using an apple glossy LCD in an office right now and I can't find any angle or spot of the screen where there is even the slightest hint of glare.
It could of course just be a coincidence... however I am reminded of the story about how the (new) Mini Cooper exhaust tip was modeled on the bottom of an aluminum beverage can, because the designer happened to find one lying around when building a mockup, and afterwards no one saw any reason to change it. Maybe a designer traced their iPhone while working on an early sketch of the laptop, and then the detail just stuck?
The MacBook in question is the October 2010 redesign of the Air. It's conceivable that there were iPhone 4s (or prototypes of such) in the Apple design office at the time it was being designed.
Something to do with multiple Apple products being cut from the same sheet of aluminium to reduce waste, perhaps? From Ive's comments in the Objectified documentary:
'This is the bezel for the iMac. When we remove the aluminium from the display in the centre here, we actually take that material, and then we can make two keyboard frames from it.'
Machining doesn't work that way. The groove in the laptop is done with a round nosed end-mill. It makes the rounded profile and creates lots of chips. Those chips are then melted down and made into something else by some other company.
I would have to agree with this. More likely, the same design team was on both projects and they used a set of proportions to create a visual harmony across the entire product line.
Phi doesn't change, why should your proportion change if it's nailed?
I'm wondering it it's connected to some kind of conclusion apple has about what constitutes the typical "width" of an adult's hand, since that groove is designed to fit your four fingers for opening and the iphone is probably also sized relative to some data how what is easy to hold.
That's true. Apple is one of a few companies who care about design too. The Mac OS X, iMac, MacBook/Pro and all devices are designed to fit us the best way.
The iPod classic package at one point, if you recall, had a recess that the iPod sat in so you'd see the iPod sitting there waiting to be popped out when you opened the package. That recess was white, but the package engineers didn't like the lack of contrast where the recess walls met the recess base, so they tooled out a small sub-millimeter section of material so it would cast a subtle drop shadow on the base.
That kind of attention to detail, on packaging no less, is one of the big reasons I'm a big Apple fan.