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There are some questions on the site that apply to all Apple notebook computers. These questions tend to be tagged arbitrarily as MacBook or MacBook Pro. However, a question can also be related very specifically to a MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro and vice-versa.

Should there be a tag that covers all Apple notebook computers such as [notebook]?

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Since this is a poo-storm I will add my two cents.

I believe that macbook or macbookpro should be there, as much as macbookair (if it exists), a tag synonym should encompass the same models (i.e. unibody, etc.)

The truth is that tags are nice, but if you go tooooooo specific, it turns against you. If I have a macbook pro 17’’ problem, I don’t think that the (in)existence of that tag would prevent me to find it. I’ll just search macbook pro 17’’ etc.

Apple Laptops are called macbook, macbook pro and macbook air. That’s all you need in my humble opinion. Of course Powerbook should be there too, but old models will definitely get less questions.

All other variants (size, etc.) should be grouped into synonyms.

And Unibody stuff? Unibody should be its own tags. Mac-minis are unibodies too, so that’s an additional and distinctive feature of a particular model. There are Macbook Pros and Unibody Macbook Pros. The tag should exist as such.

In my opinion, (to repeat myself) the current Apple models (macbooks) are more or less the same and a problem that exists on a Macbook Pro 15’’ will probably be the same on a 17’’ model and if not, my idea is that Tags are not the right tool to differentiate that particular aspect of the question.

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  • +1 for unibody reference. I think it's a relevant subset of hardware model.
    – glenstorey
    Dec 3, 2010 at 10:18
  • +1 for unibody from the standpoint of a hardware repair technician - see the wikipedia article on macbooks for details how much different non-unibody versus unibody hardware is. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbook
    – bmike Mod
    Jun 9, 2011 at 20:41
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How about using [laptop] for those questions? (I'm adding this as an alternative as calavera suggested.)

See what Wikipedia prefers. ;-)

Edit: With the above I meant not using two categories like [unibody] & [notebook]. I am not suggesting that any original [macbook] etc. tags should be removed, if that's what some downvoter thought.

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  • ok, now that you brought the wikipedia thing into it, I agree laptop is better :P I still think there should be a unibody tag though, since people ask questions about hardware that only applies to unibody MacBook and MacBook Pros. Like the optical drive replacement stuff, as far as I know, those products will only fit in unibodies.
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:34
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    so come up with a better descriptor and propose it rather than blowing away a helpful addition. it sure as heck doesn't work for all macbook pros or macbooks either, so your own logic is working against you.
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 22:21
  • Apple refers to them as [portable] since many are too warm to run comfortably on a lap anymore.
    – bmike Mod
    Jun 9, 2011 at 20:41
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FYI I did the wikipedia "be bold" thing and created two new tags:

[unibody]: for questions that that aren't specific to the MB or MBP, but encompass both versions if they are in unibody cases.

[notebook]: for questions that encompass all Apple portable computers with a physical keyboard (i.e. no iPads, iPod Touch, iPhone... just MBP, MB, PowerBooks, etc).

edit @Dori:

Why are you rolling back these changes without any discussion? You haven't posted on here why you think the tags should be kept as is. So far there is no opposition, and the tags you reverted to are not descriptive of the topic elements in the questions.

in regards to these particular tags:

this is obviously open to discussion, so feel free to post your preferred alternative and hopefully some votes can help us reach a consensus. I just created the tags to get the train rolling, but they can be edited if there is a better option

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  • I'm not sure if both of these are needed (and would have probably picked laptop myself), but yeah, I've also recognised the need for such tag.
    – Jonik
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:08
  • @Jonik: I still call them laptops as well, but since all the manufacturers officially call them "notebook" computers these days, I figure we should just go with the flow :P
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:10
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    Heh, I think what users call them is more important. But whatever. With regards to rollbacks, I agree. Perhaps leave the original tag (e.g. macbook) too, but removing notebook without justification is just silly. :(
    – Jonik
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:23
  • @Jonik: this is obviously open to discussion, so feel free to post laptop as your preferred alternative and hopefully some votes can help us reach a consensus. I just created the tags to get the train rolling, but they can be edited if there is a better option.
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:24
  • @Dori: not a problem, I just did not know if you had even seen this topic so I didn't know how to get your attention :P
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:48
  • however... maybe next time you could post before you go through and roll back all the changes?
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 22:00
  • @Dori: How are they not applicable?? I left the macbook tags and added tags that more correctly specified the nature of the question... I don't see any reason why you would remove tags that describe the question. The tags that you are reverting to are the ones that "aren't necessarily applicable", but as you state yourself in your answer, they make the questions more easily search-able. So I agreed with you on that point and kept those tags and added more specificity and that's bad??
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 22:15
  • @Dori: it doesn't apply to all optical-drives or all enclosures either, but you aren't removing those. It applies most specifically to unibody macbook and macbook pros. Like your previous logic regarding macbooks, most people that see "unibody" are going to think macbook or macbook pro, very rarely would anyone assume it refers to the macbook air. As I said in my response to your other comment, I don't care if unibody is not the absolute 100% best tag... but come up with something better rather than removing it since it certainly is applicable.
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 11, 2010 at 22:30
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    @Dori: This was a hot-headed response, and I apologize for not giving myself and hour or so before responding :) extends olive brand
    – Robert S Ciaccio
    Oct 19, 2010 at 14:18

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