Apple Designed The EarPods Packaging To Look Just Like An App Icon

Does the packaging design for the EarPods headphones look familiar? It should.

There’s no denying that Apple’s success with iOS has influenced every aspect of their business, but it goes even further than you might think: Apple’s now even modeling its packaging after iOS app icons!

Reader Andrew C. emailed us over the weekend and pointed out something which, once he mentioned it, seemed obvious: the packaging for Apple’s new EarPods headphones looks much like an iOS icon, with perfectly even sides and rounded edges:

“It looks like an icon that you would find on an iOS device,” Andrew C. wrote us.

Once he mentioned it, we realized he was right. Could it just be a coincidence, though?

I was curious exactly how close a match the EarPods packaging was for an iOS icon, so I decided to do some PhotoShopping to check it out. I used this wallpaper which shows the underlying geometry and schematics of the iOS homescreen to check out exactly how close the EarPods packaging conformed to the measurements of each iOS icon.

As you can see, it’s a perfect fit:

Of course, nothing at Apple is done for no reason, and it’s incredibly fitting that Apple’s next-gen, totally redesigned earbuds — a pair of headphones meant to be packed in with every iPhone and iPod touch sold — would come in packaging specifically made to evoke the spirit of iOS. Only Apple would design packaging for one of their cheapest products this way: not just to contain a product, but with a reason.

Well done, Apple.

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