A concept for a standalone camera tries to think the way Apple does but might still come up short of providing a convincing USP to become an actual product.
There is no shortage of dreams and wishes that people have when it comes to Apple products. On the mobile front alone, the list spans from simpler requests of a larger battery to wishful thinking about foldable iPhones. There is also no shortage of creative designers coming up with concepts that seemingly reflect Apple’s language and principles, like this AirCam idea that almost checks all the right boxes.
Designer: Andrea Copellino
This wouldn’t be the first time someone came up with the idea of a standalone camera that would make GoPro shake in fear. An earlier “ActionCam” concept was actually closer to the popular action camera than to any of Apple’s accessories, though it did have some design cues similar to an AirPods case. The complexity of the device, however, easily marked it as a pipe dream, something that this newer concept is trying to avoid.
In coming up with the design concept for an Apple camera, designer Andrea Copellino tried to stick to known Apple design principles like simplicity and compactness. The squarish camera definitely hits those marks almost to an extreme degree. It has no display of its own, for example, requiring the use of an iPhone or an iPad as a separate viewfinder. Such a design isn’t exactly unheard of, though more often employed on 360-degree cameras than action cams.
The designer’s justification for the existence of something like an AirCam would be to offer a higher-quality camera not just for content creators but for future users of Apple’s future AR glasses. In theory, this would allow Apple to address a very specific market segment, one that requires dedicated camera hardware, without adversely affecting its other products.
That said, Apple is unlikely to create its own standalone camera for the very same reason of simplicity. An Apple AirCam wouldn’t exactly be simpler to use and would be difficult to handle without another paired device, something that would also go against Apple’s philosophy. The company is also more likely to improve its iPhone’s camera as much as it can and market that extensively rather than come out with a first-party accessory that basically admits that it isn’t up to snuff.
Photos also courtesy of AppleDesign.
