Design

New images show iPhone 8 dummy wrapped in a protective case

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2017

Accessories vendors are no strangers to designing cases for unreleased iPhone models based on rumors alone, and this particular leak is no exception. Even though we're still months away from iPhone 8's likely introduction this fall, Slahleaks today published a few images of another iPhone 8 dummy wrapped in a protective case.

The dummy unit appears to reflect Apple's rumored final iPhone 8 design with no physical Home button, Touch ID integrated directly into the display and a full-screen face, among other features. A vertically-oriented cutout on the back for a redesigned dual-lens camera system is displayed prominently.

As you can see for yourself, the dummy unit shown on the photos is virtually all glass on the front, with only a physical slit within the OLED display, likely for an embedded earpiece. The side bezels, as per the annotations, should be only three millimeters wide.

It's been speculated that iPhone 8 would use 2.5D cover glass like the iPhone 6/6s/7 series that's slightly rounded on sides rather than have the OLED display extend all the way to the left and right edges of the device, like with Samsung's Galaxy S8. Apple is said to be releasing the iterative LCD-based iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus devices alongside iPhone 8.

Economic Daily News said last week that Apple has solved all technical issues related to its next-generation fingerprint reader, meaning iPhone 8 is likely to integrate an optical fingerprint sensor to enable authentication directly on the handset's OLED screen.

Jony Ive has been appointed chancellor of London’s Royal College of Art

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 25, 2017

Jony Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, has been appointed chancellor of London's Royal College of Art (RCA), which is the world's leading art school. According to the press release, Sir Jony Ive succeeds Sir James Dyson OM, Provost of the College (2011–17), as this key honorary role is renamed.

“I am thrilled to formalise my relationship with the RCA, given the profound influence the College has had on so many of the artists and designers that I admire,” said Ive.

“Our design team includes many RCA alumni, who embody the fundamental values of the College,” Apple's design tzar added. “I look forward to advising both the College and students, hoping that my experience proves useful in their work.”

He will take up the role in July.

In 2017, RCA was ranked the world's best institution for art and design for the third year in a row by QS University World Rankings.

Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art, commented:

We are delighted to welcome Sir Jony Ive as our new Chancellor. It is a great honour to be joined by the world’s leading designer of his generation, who has produced consistently innovative and commercially successful technology and design.

As Chancellor, Jony embodies the RCA’s ideals of technology and design excellence, inspiring students and staff, and enabling us to educate the next generation of world-leading artists and designers.

As Chancellor for a five-year term, Ive will advise the College during a period of expansion, embodied in the construction of a new building at Battersea, scheduled to open in 2020.

From the release:

Ive joins the RCA at a critical point in its evolution into a dynamic, STEAM-focused postgraduate university, expanding its research and knowledge exchange centres into the domains of computer and materials science, the impact of the digital economy, advanced manufacturing and intelligent mobility.

Ive received an honorary doctorate from the RCA, conferred in 2009.

He was awarded a CBE in 2006 and a KBE in the 2012 New Year’s Honours list. Among others, Ive also holds honorary doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. In 2012, D&AD named Ive and his team the Best Design Studio of the past 50 years.

The Chancellor is head of the College, presiding over meetings of the Court, a member of its governing body, Council, and conferring degrees at Convocation. Baroness Gail Rebuck remains Chair of Council and becomes Pro-Chancellor of the university. The posts of Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor are non-salaried.

Ive holds over 5,000 patents.

This iPhone 8 mockup is believed to feature Apple’s final design

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 18, 2017

The design of iPhone 8 has seemingly been finalized and BGR has now obtained the first photos of a poorly built iPhone 8 mockup which it says is “believed to feature Apple’s final design.” It was likely built using claimed schematics that were leaked from Asian factories in the past few weeks. Some of these schematics have been debunked as fake so take BGR's report with a few pinches of salt.

The cheap-looking mockup appears to suggests that Apple has managed to integrate a Touch ID sensor into the display assembly because there isn't any indication of a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone.

Assuming the mockup does in fact approximates iPhone 8's design closely, iPhone 8 should feature a full-screen face and a “glass sandwich” design where it would have 2.5D glass panels on the front and back that curve slightly at their edges, sandwiched between a polished stainless steel frame that's rounded as well.

At the bottom, we still see Lightning I/O rather than USB-C.

The Mute switch and the Volume Up and Down buttons are on the left side of the device. The Power button and a SIM tray are on the right side. The Power button does not appear to be elongated like with some earlier mockups.

A 3.5mm headphone jack is nowhere to be seen.

The back of the mockup shows a vertically aligned dual-camera system with an LED flash and a microphone built directly into an oversized bump. Even if this mockup has been built to closely match genuine iPhone 8 manufacturing drawings, there's no telling if it represents the actual device that Apple is expected to ship come this fall.

The Cupertino giant is said to be testing nearly a dozen iPhone prototypes.

Aside from iPhone 8, Apple should release the iterative iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus smartphones with screens based on the traditional LCD technology.

All 2017 iPhones should feature wireless charging, according to analysts.

To help with the wireless charging feature, iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus are expected to switch from the aluminum rear side to the back made from glass.

What do you think, guys?

Is Apple trolling us all? Could this particular iPhone 8 mockup represent the real deal?

Let us know by leaving a comment below!

These renders conceptualize all-glass iPhone 8 with stainless steel frame

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 26, 2017

Last year, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculated that nearly a dozen iPhone prototypes Apple's been testing in its labs probably include an iPhone 8 prototype with iPhone 4/4s-like design using chemically hardened curved glass on both its front and back.

To give you a visual idea of what an all-glass iPhone might look and possibly feel like, we're showcasing conceptual renderings created by artist Steel Drake. His work is a great attempt at visualizing a future OLED-based iPhone with the glass sandwich design held together by the stainless steel edges.

Apple’s tightly-knit industrial design group loses another longtime member

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2017

In what could be described as a shakeup to Apple’s vaunted design team, its longtime industrial designer Christopher Stringer has left the company.

He was with the iPhone maker for 21 years, as per a new article Monday by The Information.

About a year ago, Danny Coster, another member of Apple’s elite industrial design team, has left the firm for greener pastures at GoPro. The design team at Apple's gone through multiple changes in the last two years as Jonathan Ive stepped back from running the team, with Richard Howarth taking over day-to-day management of the group.

Check out Twitter’s new default profile image replacing the infamous egg avatar

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 31, 2017

In a blog post today titled “Rethinking our default profile photo”, Twitter announced that accounts without a profile image will now show a new, more generic avatar rather than the old icon resembling an egg. Twitter recently added new features to its mobile app in the form of notification filters that let you filter out “egg” accounts, as well as mute words, phrases and more in your timelines. The original egg profile image has lasted on the service for full seven years, but it's now run its course.

Twitter for iOS gains Tweets & Replies tab on profile pages

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 18, 2017

Twitter's mobile app for iPhone and iPad has gained updated profile design on mobile with a new Tweets & Replies tab now gradually rolling out to users. As first noted by 9to5Mac, the profile section shown upon tapping Me at the bottom of the app now resembles Twitter's web interface, which also separates replies into a dedicated tab. Previously, Twitter for iOS consolidated both your own tweets and replies under a single Tweets tab.

This tweaked profile design on mobile is a staggered rollout so check back in a few days if it's currently unavailable to you.

Apple posts Sketch and Photoshop design assets for iOS 10 development

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 19, 2017

Apple today shared new user interface resources aimed at iOS 10 development. They come in the form of ready-made design templates for Photoshop and Sketch and include a variety of other helpful assets for quickly designing iOS apps.

Apple says these resources accurately depict the full range of UIKit controls which are available in iOS 10, as well as views and glyphs to help speed up the process of constructing and designing user interfaces in iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps.

Appeals court reopens Apple vs. Samsung case over iPhone’s patented design

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 13, 2017

Believe it or not, the longstanding Apple vs. Samsung patent spat over iPhone's iconic design is now in its sixth year. During that time, Samsung was found guilty of infringing upon Apple's patented smartphone design, including iPhone's rectangular front face with rounded metal edges and a grid of colorful icons on a black screen.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reopened that lawsuit yesterday after a recommendation from the U.S. Supreme Court to determine how much Samsung should pay the Cupertino firm over copying iPhone's look and feel, according to court documents uncovered by Law360.com.

Senior Director of Design for Mac lineup leaves Apple for engineering role at Tesla

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

Apple was trying “very hard” (in Elon Musk's own words) to recruit top talent from Tesla.

Now that its Project Titan has shifted gear from building an electric vehicle to developing an autonomous driving software, some of the engineers associated with the initiative have departed for Tesla.

Just as we've discovered that Swift creator Chris Lattner was leaving the iPhone maker to take a position as Vice President of Autopilot Software at Tesla, Electrek.co is reporting that the guy who designed many of Apple’s iconic Macs will now be building Tesla vehicles.

Is Jony Ive no longer directly involved with iPhone and Mac product design?

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 22, 2016

In an article Tuesday titled “Pundits Believe Apple's Jony Ive No Longer Involved in iPhone, Mac Product Design,” AppleInsider reports that journalist Jason Snell and Daring Fireball's John Gruber speculated on a recent The Talk Show podcast that Ive, who is Apple's Chief Design Officer, may be now more focused on architectural projects like the upcoming Spaceship campus and special initiatives such as Project Titan than industrial designs related to the iPhone, iPad, Mac and other consumer products from Apple.