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While the iPhone 12 offers several color options, the MacBook remained design-boring for several years. Right now, the darkest MacBook you can buy is “ space gray, ” which isn’t that dark. This seems like a strange oversight, given our love of black tech products.
But it looks like Apple is finally planning to catch up if a new patent is to be taken at face value. Interestingly, the patent begins by revealing the reasoning behind the lack of black MacBooks – and it boils down to their metal casing.
“Housings for portable electronic devices can include an anodized coating that can be dyed in different colors to improve their cosmetic appeal to consumers,” the patent states. “However, some colors are much more difficult to achieve than others,” he continues, explaining that a “true black” color often ends up being dark gray thanks to the shiny finish of the anodized metal which reflects too much light.
Apple’s answer to this problem is with an “etched anodized surface” with “light trapping characteristics”. Not only is this capable of absorbing “almost all visible light,” the patent has a second trick for bits that aren’t. “Whatever visible light is not absorbed by the light-trapping characteristics, it is diffusely reflected by the light-trapping characteristics,” he explains.
Apple describes the material as having a “low-gloss, matte finish” that would certainly make an eye-catching MacBook without the need for ugly skin. And while a patent application doesn’t guarantee real-world action, it seems like one of the safest bets, given the world’s thirst for black electronics.
Of course, it’s hard not to discuss this without thinking about the short-lived iPhone Jet Black. Only a color option for the iPhone 7, the more expensive Jet Black model was extremely prone to scratches as Apple added a footnote to its site warning of “micro-abrasions in use.” It should be noted that Jet Black has not found its way to any iPhone since.
The black color of the MacBook looks different enough that lightning doesn’t strike twice – and obviously, the way people use laptops is completely different from smartphones. All the same, it highlights one thing: When making cosmetic changes to long-lasting product lines, it’s important to make sure there aren’t any unintended consequences along the way.
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