September 14th, 2021 was an exciting day for the entire tech world! Apple had its much-awaited event, and as it ended, it left us with some pretty amazing launches. Apple revealed the iPhone 13 models, the Apple Watch Series 7, the new iPad, and iPad Mini. The leaks that have been pouring in for almost the past year left us with some major expectations. Some were met, and some were not. This year’s iPhone has a smaller notch, bigger battery, better chip, and not too many major changes. While The iPad Mini comes with a modern flat-edge design, an ultrawide camera on the front, TouchID in the power button, support for Apple Pencil, USB-C, and 5G, making it an absolute behemoth even for its size. As we pour over and explore what Apple did give us this year, we can also fantasize about what it didn’t! But there’s still hope…in the form of the October 18th event! Everything we wanted to see, and couldn’t witness at the September event, may just be unveiled at the event on Monday. And, we’ve curated a collection of ingenious conceptual designs that we WISH Apple launches on Monday! From an Apple device that merges AirDrop with an external flash drive to an iPod Classic concept that celebrates its 20th anniversary – these are the designs we hope we get to see soon!
The iPod officially turns 20 this year, and we do wonder what if Apple had released a newly designed iPod Classic to celebrate its 20th anniversary?! Andrea Copellino took the iPod classic and gave it some modern touches – thin bezels, curved edges, and a lot of glass! He did however maintain the iconic click wheel but integrated it with the concept of a magic trackpad, so you don’t actually have to click anything. He wanted to create an iPod design that harmoniously integrates the old and the new…a design that celebrates everything we loved and appreciated about the iPod while adding some much-needed futuristic upgrades. I do wish I’d gotten to see this launched at the September 2021 event!
The notebook will feature a flat-edged design, doing away with the curved edges for a more iPhone 12-like form factor. The designer here sways from the thought and envisions the design identical to how we have come to recognize the MacBook Pro in recent years, and it looks splendid nonetheless. The most notable difference this year is expected to be in the display. The MacBook will have brighter panels, supposedly with mini-LEDs, the first for the MacBook. Mini-LED display means there will be a significant improvement in the screen’s picture quality, contrast, and brightness. Marc’s vision suggests thinner bezels – whereas, I, for one, want Apple to shed the thick bezels to give us more screen real estate and also step up the MacBook Pros case in 2021.
Apple devices have their own technical language, so working between two Apple devices is always a walk in the park compared to working between one Apple and another non-Apple device. Incorporating Apple’s design and technical language into his product, Taiseer created Drop to make file transferring and storage between Apple devices even easier. Drop operates as a wireless USB Type C and offline external flash drive and an AirDrop file transfer and Thunderbolt 3 data transfer device. Drop is a standalone Apple-inspired device that operates as a flash drive, storage device, and file transfer cable.
Designer Iván Antón has come up with an Apple TV 2021 concept, which comes with a wall plug built-in. Now that’s full marks for the compact build, but the practicality is debatable until we have something like this to use. Taking nothing away from the vision, I’m impressed with the concept of Apple TV’s ability to interact with Siri without the need for a remote. Furthermore, the new concept also integrates the MagSafe charger into the Apple TV unit, so the compatible remote can now be charged conveniently by sticking it to the back of the set-top box.
As Apple gradually began phasing out the iPod, it increasingly began looking like the iPhone (in fact the iPod Touch was almost indistinguishable from earlier models of the iPhone). Copellino sidesteps this problem by giving the iPod a complete refresh and making it circular. The new iPod Nano paves its own path forward with a fresh new design that’s instantly distinguishable from the iPhone. It sports a circular UI that Copellino designed from scratch too, borrowing elements from the Apple Watch. It also comes with a circular display that looks just marginally smaller than the one used on the HomePod Mini.
Louis Berger took the current square-shaped Mac Mini and transformed it into a futuristic pill-like design. Called, The Mac Pill Mini, Berger integrated it with a Touch Bar. Although one would wonder, is such a change more for aesthetic purposes, rather than functional ones? Aesthetically, it would contrast with the current Apple designs, which are leaning towards sharp and edgy! Whatever the reason may be for this redesign, it surely is a refreshing one!
Antón’s redesign turns the Apple AirPods Pro case from something that looks like a ‘box of floss’ to a really classy-looking ‘chewing-gum-stick dispenser’. The rounded-box shape gets ditched for a taller and sleeker capsule shape, with lids on both ends, allowing individual earpieces to fit into each end of the case. Sure, the redesign presents some structural issues – like where would one place the Qi charging coil or the battery, but what Antón’s concept really provides is a sense of variety, while sticking to Apple’s design philosophy of building sleek products. The redesigned AirPods Pro case also fundamentally changes the UX of the AirPods.
This Pencil or ‘input tool’ would sit within the MacBook’s magnetic docking area, charging while not in use. Pop it out and I’d imagine you could use it on both the screen as well as the trackpad, although Patently Apple’s article doesn’t really highlight usage. It does, however, show that the Pencil is no ordinary stylus. This new input device would have multiple buttons or touch-zones on it, allowing it to double up like a row of Function keys when docked, and even letting you calibrate/control settings like your screen’s brightness, media volume, or more specifically brush sizes as you sketch on the MacBook screen.
How the next exciting iPhone will look is anybody’s guess, for now, to be frank, but industrial designer Laci Lacko believes it could be a radical leap with its roots tracing back to the iPhone 7 series. That similar rounded side design lending it a thin feel in hand. Surprisingly, the designer doesn’t give us a peek into the front of the device, but going by the rumor mill, it should have minimal (as compared to iPhone 13) or no notch at all. What’s highlighted in this concept phone is the rear camera module.
Chau is a wireless charger that can be either mobile or stationary. Much like wireless chargers already on the market, Chau comes in two parts: a wireless charger and its charging dock. The charging dock can be plugged into any outlet and features two charging stations for Apple products. The raised charging station holds the auxiliary charger in place so users can either leave their phone to charge on the dock or dislodge the auxiliary charger from its magnetic port and charge on the go.