14 DAY TRIAL // Apple plans a revamp of its iconic logo starting next year, helping differentiate old from new in product lines where different models share the same design. The move would also mark an exciting new beginning and perhaps a new direction for Apple’s design team.
A report from Taiwan citing sources in the supply chain claims that the company is still on track to launch a 12-inch MacBook Air with a Retina display. This, despite rumors that the computer’s difficult design is causing manufacturers to output very low numbers of the product, causing it to be delayed until next year.
In the same report, DigiTimes cites the supply chain sources as saying that “Apple is also planning to upgrade the technologies used for printing its logo onto devices and will use laser cutting and unique embedded technologies to make the logo 3D-like and shine at the edges.”
According to these people, every product in Apple’s lineup (supposedly iPhones and iPads too) “will feature the new logo in 2015, starting with the next-generation iMac,” the report states.
Retina iMac may be the first to get it
If Digi’s sources are correct, we may even catch a glimpse of the logo on the company’s rumored Retina iMac, which is set to be unveiled tomorrow. Shipments are said to start in 2015, so it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see Apple demo the “shine” on stage.
From the description offered in the report, it’s a bit unclear exactly what the new logo will look like. Apple using “unique embedded technologies” could be a reference to Liquidmetal, an exotic material that the Cupertino giant has purchased rights to for widespread use in its products.
If memory serves us right, one of the characteristics of Liquidmetal is its ability to hold a hologram underneath its glassy surface. This would make it a good candidate for the 3D gimmick, which is essentially (and most likely) just an optical illusion.
A new beginning for Apple
If the 3D logo turns out to be as cool as we’re imagining it to be, this could mark an entire new design direction for the Cupertino giant. For example, it could start emphasizing the logo (and implicitly the Apple brand) and even build particular aspects of the product around it, both visually and functionally.
A new logo would also reignite some of the coolness factor that Apple has been losing steadily for the past three to four years (since Steve Jobs passed away).