As I was dozing off to sleep last night, I found myself looking at this random source of light. It was an LED-based light that seemed to fade in and out, like some kind of indicator or something. Knowing that I was on the edge of sleep, I chalked it up to drowsiness and started to forget it. But making myself cognizant of it woke up that part of my brain and I saw it fade in and out again, almost like it was pulsing. Before the panic set in that the Terminator had finally found me and the post-apocolyptic times were shortly ahead, I realized that it was just Jayme’s MacBook Pro. She’s been sick recently, and was working on her laptop from bed the past two days.
What I was seeing was the sleep monitor light on the front of the laptop. You see, when the system is asleep, to show you the laptop is still actually on (and just sleeping), the LED light is on. But, this being Apple, they decided to take it a step further. Not only can you see the light and recognize that it’s on, they made the light pulsate (if you will) as if it were actually sleeping. If you sit there and watch it, it will pulsate to the rhythm of someone breathing while they’re asleep.
Don’t believe me? Check this out (this is a newer MacBook Pro than Jayme’s, but it works the same way):
I know I keep saying this, but this is just one of many things that keeps me coming back to Apple. You think Dell would ever take the time to build something like that? I really don’t think they would. Many people have said this, but it bears repeating. Dell (and most other PC manufacturers) want to sell you specs. Apple wants to sell you the experience.
And this sleep light is a small thing, but it’s also a really cool thing.
And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my MacBook Air. Overall, it’s probably the coolest piece of tech I’ve ever had, with the possible exception of the first iPhone I owned. But my Air does not have this feature. Believe it or not, the case of the Air is just too small to even have the LED light on it. Yet, strangely, I do miss it from my old MacBook Pro.
