The iPhone 12 design we really want just appeared
The iPhone 12 figures to be a pretty exciting-looking phone, but even Apple’s brightest minds may struggle to come up with a design as creative as a newly released concept creation for its future products.
Industrial designer Louis Berger (via Creative Bloq) has revealed his new “Mosiac” concept on his portfolio site. While it’s not explicitly meant to be an Apple product, the colors, lines, fonts, software design and other elements all give off a distinctly Cupertino vibe.
The basic idea is to turn a smartphone’s rear camera module into a removable self-contained unit that can then be slotted into different bodies.
The camera module, or “Photo Tile” as Berger has named it, contains all the camera sensors you’d expect, plus a tiny rear display in a circular cutout for notifications and Apple Watch-style complications, pressure-sensitive bezels and an internal CPU and battery to keep things running.
This module can then be fitted into a large or small “Display Tile,” which adds additional battery life as well as a larger display, and extra CPU power in the large version’s case.
You also would be able to connect your accessories, such as earbuds or a smartwatch, to use as a shutter button. The Display Tiles can also be mounted on other items, such as a pendant, clip or watch band so it can be easily worn instead of stored in a pocket.
We can certainly see how this might appeal to some users. Phones are currently growing larger with every year, with very few devices sporting screens smaller than 6 inches. Offering a smartphone-like experience in a peripheral-sized casing, with the option for extra features and screen space if you want it is an interesting solution to the problem that has also seen the rise of foldable phones like the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Motorola Razr (2020) and Galaxy Z Flip in an effort to maximize display size while keeping the phone compact.
Apple itself has yet to make a foldable phone, although many patents show that the company is thinking about it. The iPhone 12, the next big iPhone release due this fall, won’t be foldable, but rumors claim it will offer the smallest full-screen iPhone yet — a dinky 5.4 inches, as well as the largest in the form of the 6.8-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max, along with improved cameras, a new A14 chipset and OLED displays and 5G across the board.
