MacBook Pro updates may reflect MacBook Air design style (mockup)

In late January, AppleInsider speculated that MacBook Pro updates were imminent, and that they would feature the same MultiTouch trackpad that debuted in the MacBook Air. Earlier this month, MacRumors stoked the speculation further with a report on new MacBook Pros appearing in Best Buy’s inventory tracking system.

Just for fun, Mac Predictions has put together this Photoshop mockup to illustrate how the new MacBook Pro may take its design cues from the style of the MacBook Air. It’s interesting to note that the “bulging” cross-section of the Air is also reflected in the new design of the iPod Classic and iPod Nano. This appears to be a new motif that Apple is rolling out across its entire product line. The advantage of the bulge is that it suggests that the product is thinner than it really is, since the product narrows at the sides to present a shallower edge profile.

Glossy black frames... everywhere

Predicting Apple is often easy (providing that you're not an analyst, that is) because patterns emerge in how Apple thinks. One such pattern is the way in which a new design style will spread across Apple's entire product range. First there were lurid colours and translucent everything. Then there was "any colour as long as it's white" (I remember sensing something was up when Steve Jobs announced the "Snow" iMac and uttered the immortal line "we think this looks really cool".) iPod introduced us to the "flat front and rounded back" which resulted in a new look for iMac. Finally, iPhone has ushered in shiny black and chrome. This year's iMac picks up on the theme. And now, with rumours of a sub-notebook doing the rounds, we should know what to expect.

It will of course have an aluminium outer enclosure, perhaps with some shiny chrome, black fittings and generous radial corners, but when you open it up, you can expect to see a thin, glossy black frame around that screen, and low profile white keys on that lovely shiny metal base.

We can expect to see glossy black bezels around Cinema Displays in the new year as well.

I know this is just stating the obvious, but I thought someone should say it!