Apple has a new range of updated MacBook Pro notebooks, and while they get a pretty nice internal upgrade courtesy mostly of the new M3 processor lineup, the big news for aesthetes is on the outside — in addition to the existing silver and space gray colors, there’s a new space black that is just 🧑🍳💋.
This is a return to form for a company whose best-looking Mac is obviously still the famous “BlackBook” MacBook introduced in 2006 — the original MacBook that took over from the iBook and that brought in a lot of the design language that continues on Mac notebooks to this day. The black MacBook was a matte polycarbonate, however, and this new MacBook Pro is that same aircraft-grade aluminum that we’ve seen on the past few models, but now in a darker tone that’s still probably more very dark grey than black, but a lot closer than anything we’ve been able to get in a Mac for years.
This is notable not just because I’m a depressing grayscale boy who loves to get my accessories in the darkest shade of black I can manage, but also because Apple has stayed away from using black in the mix for many of its products and accessories for at least the past few seasons now. It switched over to a “Midnight” tone in the aluminum Apple Watches and the Watch accessory line a couple generations ago, and it offers a “Midnight” version of the MacBook Air, too. These are nice — but as the name implies, they’re also not actually black: They appear that way in certain lighting conditions, but in actuality there’s some blue in the mix. Also, those pick up fingerprints like crazy, and Apple went out of its way to say the new one has a special treatment that won’t make it a fingerprint magnet.
Now, I’m not saying that the “midnight” stuff doesn’t look good; it does. But I’m a professional, and as a professional I need some way to convey that with the outer shell of my MacBook. I realize this sounds like I’m joking, but I’m actually seriously very excited about having an actual black (or very very dark gray) metal computer to convey my seriousness and competence.
Some might say “space gray was enough!” but it really was more of a placeholder — an acknowledgement that I wasn’t to be taken as lightly as someone who carries around a silver computer — but it just doesn’t have the same gravity.
I’m hoping this means Apple’s extended vacation from black is over and we can stop with the blueshit and get on with our lives. All I know is I ordered one of these instantly to replace my 14-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro and it has nothing to do with needing a more powerful processor.