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Comment by kgermino | Hacker News Reader

Not to mention that, while it would be cool and notable (and maybe worth it for that alone) making the logo invisible when the computer is turned off eliminates a marketing opportunity. The simple Apple logo against a plain backdrop provides a clean advertisement for Apple. Removing the logo removes the distinctiveness of the computer when it is turned off.

Also, I'm not sure how the computer would look without a logo interupting it. I guess almost every other manufacturer comes close to this, but I think an Apple computer would feel wrong with a a view of unbroken alumninum.

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>The simple Apple logo against a plain backdrop provides a clean advertisement for Apple.

Exactly. Buying billboards on the most expensive streets in the world is very expensive. Having your customers sitting lined up in a row in coffee shops with their laptop lids with the lighted apple logo pointing outward to the street on these very same streets must be very valuable advertising. I'm constantly amazed when I walk by coffee shops and see the typical 75% apple market share, when just a decade ago they were really a niche player.

Just to point out, if Apple did what I'm suggesting they would still achieve the same effect because the laptop would be on and thus shining through.

It's only when it's off that they would miss out - but most of the time if my laptop is out of my bag then it's on.

If they did that, having the logo light up through aluminium would make an awesome ad.

I use a speck black satin plastic case on my air, and you see nothing when it is powered off, but the logo shines through when on.

"The simple Apple logo against a plain backdrop provides a clean advertisement for Apple. Removing the logo removes the distinctiveness of the computer when it is turned off."

It still took them a while to put them on the right way up. The first few laptops they sold with the Apple logo on the lid, they were oriented so they were "right way up" for the user when the lid was closed. That made them all upside down in all those tech conference shots from the stage...

It could also be a reflection of how laptop usage has changed over time. Maybe a couple of years ago laptops were closed most of the time, hence the decision to put the logo up that way.

In the future, they should create the microholes and keep the logo dimly lit in the orientation that faces the user when they open the laptop. Once the laptop is open, the array of LEDs could change to make the logo oriented the current way.

There is already something similar on one of the numerous android handsets out there where the 4 hardware keys turn 90 degrees when you switch from portrait to landscape mode. Not quite as polished, but similar in concept.

The lit-up logo is Not powered by a special array of LEDs, it's just the screen backlighting shining through a hole.

You can verify that by changing the display brightness, the logo will change brightness accordingly. Or just hold the turned-off laptop in front of a bright light source, the apple-shaped hole wil, be visible through the screen

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