Apple concepts - page 2

This iMac G4-inspired concept Mac is a futuristic blast from the past

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IMAC-G4_render_09 1
The iMac G4 was a thing of beauty. Meet its (conceptual) 2020 sibling.
Photo: Xhakomo Doda

Albanian-Italian Apple fan and 24-year-old designer Xhakomo Doda went back to the past for his latest concept, showing one possible direction Apple could take when it eventually releases a redesigned iMac. All the way back to 2002, specifically.

Doda’s iMac G4 New Edition is, as its name suggests, a refreshed take on Apple’s iMac G4: the sunflower-inspired iMac with a floating display on an adjustable arm. And it’s pretty darn stunning.

iPhone 12 Flip concept makes iOS handsets pocketable again

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The foldable iPhone 12 Flip concept could someday be a reality.
Apple is exploring technologies needed to make this foldable iPhone concept a reality.
Photo: ConceptsiPhone

The iPhone 12 Flip is the foldable iOS device many are hoping for. This proposed concept fits a large screen into a tiny package.

While currently only a dream, Apple is hard at work on technologies that could eventually make it real.

Watch a video of the iPhone 12 Flip concept now:

iOS 15 concept goes minimalist with the Home screen

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iOS concept thinks simple, not more complex.
An iOS 15 concept design simplifies the Home screen... and looks familiar.
Concept: Roland Mészáros

When concept designers imagine the future of iOS, they often pack in new features. A new design goes the opposite route, simplifying the look of the iPhone to “keep you focused,” in the words of the artist.

Still, it finds space for some Home screen widgets, which are supposed to debut in iOS 14.

Mac mini Pro concept proposes easily stackable, modular upgrades

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This Mac mini Pro concept is very modular.
This proposed Mac mini Pro could get more storage, or a graphics processor, just by placing a new module on top of it.
Photo: Kevin Noki

A concept artists imagines a Mac mini Pro that can be upgraded simply by placing an SSD or GPU module on top of the main computer. And his basic design borrows quite a bit from the “cheese grater” Mac Pro that launched in 2019.

Watch a video teaser for this concept now:

Apple spitballs iPhone with wraparound display

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Every bit of this concept iPhone is covered in wraparound display.
Apple’s own designers dreamed up this iPhone with a completely wraparound display.
Photo: Apple

Apple designed an iPhone that’s all touchscreen. Front, back, top, bottom and sides — every bit of the exposed surface is a wraparound display.

And the description shows engineers put quite a bit of thought into the proposal.

Apple dreams up curvy iMac concept

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Patent reveals Apple iMac concept
This could be a sneak peek at the 2020 iMac.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

The design of the iMac hasn’t changed much in over a decade, but Apple is considering a radical facelift. A proposed future model would consist of a pane of glass that surrounds the display, then curves forward to hold a keyboard and a pair of trackpads.

Beautiful iPhone 12 concept video kills the notch

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2020 iPhone 12 concept has a 99% screen to body ratio.
A proposed iPhone 12 boasts a screen with 505 pixels per inch, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and 900 nits brightness.
Screenshot: Pallav Raj/ConceptsiPhone

An artist has imagined the 2020 iPhone with in-display Face ID, a fourth camera lens, and a design based on the iPhone 5. His video brilliantly shows off these proposed features for the iPhone 12.

Watch it now:

iOS 14 concept brings Split View to iPhone

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iOS 124 with Sprit View concept
A concept video shows an iPhone with iPadOS’ Dock and Split View.
Photo: TechBlood

A new proposal imagines iPhones running next year’s iOS 14 able to display two applications side-by-side. Split View would enable users to, for example, look at a webpage while writing an email, and drag-and-drop items between them.

Watch a concept video of iPhone multitasking in action now:

Apple explores dual-screen MacBook with tactile keyboard

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Dual-screen MacBook patent
Apple wants to give MacBooks a second display with a tactile keyboard, ditching the built-in one.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple is considering a MacBook with two displays, with the second screen acting as a keyboard. By necessity, iPads already employ on-screen keyboards but these lack tactile feedback. Apple is looking for ways to make these virtual keys move when they’re typed on.

The company has been pursuing this project for years, as demonstrated by a patent it just received.

Brilliant folding touchscreen MacBook concept is almost a reality

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Astro HQ’s MacBook concept has a flexible touchscreen in place of the keyboard and trackpad.
This MacBook concept has a flexible touchscreen in place of the keyboard and trackpad.
Photo: Astro HQ

Astro HQ, makers of Luna Display, dreamed up a macOS laptop concept with a foldable display that covers the entire interior of the MacBook. The design includes a touchscreen and Apple Pencil support.

Artists’ concepts are often impractical dreams for the future but a version of this can be assembled right now. Sort of.

Exciting concept shows what a folding iPhone could look like

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Folding iPhone 2
Would you like a folding smartphone from Apple?
Photo: Foldable.News

Samsung showed off its foldable smartphone this week, and while it’s clearly a first-generation model, it’s got a lot of people excited. Foldable phones have the potential to combine our phones and tablets in a way that offers a big display and a pocket-size form factor, all in one.

What would a foldable iPhone look like? With help from industrial designer Roy Gilsing, the folks over at Foldable.News have taken a swing at showing us.

iPad Pro X concept wows with edge-to-edge design

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iPad Pro X
A concept iPad Pro X drawing shows an all-screen design, dual cameras.
Photo: Martin Hajek

Here’s what an iPad Pro with an iPhone X-style, edge-to-edge display might look like. Concept designer Martin Hajek combined the rumored iOS tablet with the logo for Apple’s next developer conference. (That’s where we might get our first actual glimpse of the device.)

Does this Apple Car concept rev your engines?

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The Apple Car is on the way, but how will it look?
Photo: Cult of Mac

Although Apple is rumored to have already started prototyping its much-rumored Apple Car, what the vehicle will look like if and when it rolls out of Cupertino’s Product Realization Lab (yep, that’s a real place!) is still anyone’s guess.

With that in mind, the folks over at automotive industry website Motor1 recently took a stab at guessing how Apple’s Project Titan will appear.

Cool concept brings the eMac back from the dead

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eMac 2016 concept
Look what's back. Kinda.
Photo: CURVED/labs

We’d almost forgotten about the eMac, but some designers have refreshed it for 2016.

The clever thinkers over at Curved have come up with a concept that brings the teardrop shape back for a new generation. Their version combines that classic design with more-recent Apple hallmarks. And while we’re not completely sold on some parts of it, it’s still a pretty handsome machine.

Check it out below.

With a little puck, you won’t miss 3.5mm jack on iPhone

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If you need a place to plug in . . .
If you need a place to plug in . . .
Photo: Sean Nelson

Your next iPhone probably won’t have a headphone jack, and Sean Nelson is telling you to get over it. But he says so gently by offering iPhone fans a glimpse of what a jackless future might look like.

The industrial design student has drawn up one way Apple or any other third-party company might bridge the 3.5mm gap with a small Bluetooth headphone puck. Under Nelson’s concept, our soon-to-be-outdated headphones would plug into a small, clip-on disk.

The future of UI for iOS 10 … or iOS 20?

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This video has lots of great ideas about how iOS 10's UI should work.
This video has lots of great ideas about how iOS 10's UI should work.
Photo: Cult of Mac

A lot of “next-gen iPhone” concepts are pretty crappy. Whimsical fancies that have nothing to do with the reality of industrial design. And hey, that’s true of this iPhone 7 concept, which imagines an edge-to-edge display that totally ditches a physical home button. You will not see an iPhone like this anytime in the near future.

But that’s not to say the concept isn’t cool. Because eventually, Apple will release a full-screen iPhone. And when it does, this concept has a lot of cool ideas about how future iOS UIs will work, once the hardware catches up.

iPhone goes dumb in this neat Apple concept

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iDot would be the first distraction free iPhone.
iDot would be the first distraction free iPhone.
Photo: Martin Hajek/Curved

Apple fans obsess over which new features will get added to the iPhone every year, but if the latest concept from designer Martin Hajek ever becomes a reality, the new iPhone will be more notable for the hardware it’s missing.

The iDot concept packs no camera, no internet connection, zero apps and minimal distractions, so you can focus on what’s really important instead of having your soul slowly sucked away by your iPhone screen.