Even in the Apple camp, which has traditionally favored sleek looking hardware, its been out of vogue for the past few years to be a lover of thin devices. The past few years has seen a noticeable increase in thickness and weight of the company’s most popular products. Chief among them, the iPhone and MacBook Pro.

So I was pretty thrilled to see that in Mark Gurman’s weekly newsletter, he reported that Apple is aiming to introduce thinner iPhones, Apple Watches and laptops. The new iPad Pro was apparently not a fluke or a leftover Jony Ive era design.

Why Thinness Matters

I get excited when I see a rumor about a future Apple device getting thinner. In fact, I’ve already waxed poetic about how much I appreciate thinner devices. With the exception of the iPhone 12, the iPhone has been getting thicker every single year since the iPhone 6 and the “Bendgate” controversy. When the iPad Pro got a fancy Mini-LED lighting system, it noticeably increased in weight. And my least favorite thickening, the Macbook Pros got about a half pound heavier with their 2021 redesigns.

We’re heard Apple executives talk about thinness before, and how a thinner device is lighter, which makes it even more portable. I’d argue, it also makes a device feel more premium, which is exactly the market Apple thrives in. We’ve become so accustomed to the proliferation of small computers since the smartphone explosion, that we forget that miniaturization is hard, and Apple has traditionally done it better than their competitors.

The biggest touted benefit of Apple’s custom chips, and ARM chips in general, is their power efficiency. It seems like a bit of a waste to build these amazingly power efficient chips and not take advantage of them by making the machines they go in thinner and lighter (which naturally leads to smaller batteries).

I’ve talked before about how my definition of “Apple-like” is thinner, lighter, and faster. I think Phil Schiller described it really well when introducing the iPhone 5 back in 2012.

On the other hand, thicker devices have their benefits…

The obvious counter argument is that Apple should continue with the path they’ve been taking within recent iPhones and MacBook Pros. Keep the device the same size, or make them thicker, and use a more effiicient chip to provide even better battery life. That’s a very valid argument.

In my day job, I’ve been working with a M2 MacBook Pro, and I can’t deny the battery life is absolutely amazing. But….I don’t enjoy using this machine as much as Intel MacBook Pro. The newer models are so much heavier and thicker, they just feel….basic. Maybe a little lazy? I guess expect more from Apple after years of thin and fast products.

With the departure of Jony Ive and Evans Hanky, and so many devices getting bigger, I’ve been beginning to lose faith in Apple’s industrial design team. It seemed like they were starting to phone it in a bit. The M4 iPad Pro was a statement that this team can still deliver sleek, forward looking designs. And I look forward to seeing what they can deliver for Apple’s other product lines.