Apple’s new MacBook has one job

Next week is going to be important for Apple. With a new iPhone and a new iPad, Apple would launch its most anticipated Mac version since the beginnings of Apple silicon. According to reports, Apple will launch a new entry in the MacBook line, a budget laptop that can compete with Chromebooks and cheap Windows laptops. A laptop that Apple hopes will increase the installed base of Macs. A laptop aimed at customers priced out of the Mac market.

This is great, especially since it’s something customers have been asking for for a long time. But there’s another reason I’m excited about this new laptop: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that this laptop will come in “playful colors,” with yellow, green, blue and pink among the possibilities.

Yes, that’s what excites me the most. A palette of color options means much more than a wider range of choices. This indicates that Apple is bringing some fun to its laptop lineup, something that has been missing for too long.

Orange activator

Until recently, I played as safe as Apple with my own color choices: black, silver, gray, anything neutral. Then, two years ago, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and buy an orange car. Not only do I not regret it, but I love it. I remember once being at a red light, surrounded by four black and gray Teslas (which are everywhere in San Francisco). Suddenly, Elle Woods and I had something in common.

MGM

Then last fall I got a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max – without that car and the way it changed my perspective, I don’t think I would have chosen it. For a while, I appreciated the back of the phone almost as much as its screen. The color just made me smile.

This is the aspect that Apple’s laptops have been missing for a while. They’re marvels of design and they’re quite worthy, but the term “fun” doesn’t come to mind. Not like looking at an iBook. It was fun.

The spirit of six colors

I haven’t forgotten the iMac and its playful color palette, but it’s a desktop computer. I don’t carry an iMac with me (that’s not my thing), I carry a Space Black MacBook Pro. And as I sit in my local coffee shop writing this article, I count 13 laptops in use, all gray, silver or black. As iconic as the MacBook Pro is, most laptops have copied its style. There seems to be an opportunity here to stand out, to think differently.

Apple took the deepest dive into the fun side of the pool with the MacBook Air’s Starlight and Sky Blue options. I tested the Sky Blue MacBook Air, and it looks nice, but it and Starlight are subtle, fun versions, more variations of gold and silver than actual colors. They’re not bold like Cosmic Orange or the lime green and tangerine of the iBook. Many believe that the logo Apple used to promote its March 4 media event is an allusion to the colors of the new laptop. I certainly hope that is the case.

Apple

Speaking of this logo, it reminds me of the original Apple logo, often called the “six color” logo. Long-time Apple customers believe this logo is indicative of a different era for Apple, a time when the company had a more down-to-earth, unique, and playful aura. Today, Apple is one of the most powerful and richest companies in the world. It’s a monolith, and the logo it uses on its products reflects that.

Many users long for those good old days, but the truth is that this kind of thinking is as dated as the six-color logo. Apple can still have fun, it just needs a modern interpretation. We don’t need a carrying handle (which was a bit stupid on the iBook, anyway), or a clamshell design. Playful colors are the way to go.

Superficial choice

You might be thinking, “Colors? Really, Roman? Did you force me to read your superficial reasoning for buying this underpowered laptop?” Well, here’s another, more practical reason why I want this laptop. There are times when I have to take my laptop with me, but I prefer it not to be an expensive MacBook Pro. For example, when I travel, I take a 15 year old MacBook Pro (with a built-in disc burner) and use it during downtime to manage all the travel photos and videos I take. If it breaks, is stolen, or lost, the loss isn’t as devastating as if it were the MacBook Pro.

I’ll happily replace that old MacBook with Apple’s new budget laptop. It will be more powerful than the Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge processor in this laptop. And saying the budget laptop will be underpowered is a bit of an exaggeration. If Apple uses an A18 Pro or A19, we’re talking about M1-like performance, which is good for general productivity and internet access, as well as basic media management that I like to do on vacation.

This budget laptop will be able to do a lot of things. Practical and fun? Count on me.