If you think back to Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ event, you’ll remember that one of the biggest selling points of the OLED iPad Pro was how thin the tablet is. With the slogan ‘thinpossible’, Apple made a big fuss about the fact that this is currently the thinnest Apple device ever – and this could be the start of a new downsizing trend.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, this is just the beginning of Apple’s thin and sleek era. In its Power On newsletterGurman describes the company’s plan to release a “significantly thinner” iPhone next year. He also notes that thinner MacBook Pro models and Apple Watches are also on the way, although the leaker does not give us any further information.
Gurman further notes that this move could lead to the creation of the “thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the entire technology industry,” no less.
While Gurman has a long history of being one of the most respectable sources for Apple leaks, we should of course take every rumor with a grain of salt, no matter where it comes from. However, if true, this move towards thinner devices would mark a shift in Apple’s strategy, as the last few iterations of its iPhones and MacBooks have largely remained the same size.
Moreover, this rumor makes us wonder how much thinner Apple products can actually be delivered without turning into potentially fragile pieces of papery hardware! At some point I struggle to imagine the reasons for pushing the boundaries of increasingly thinner technology beyond just seeing if it’s possible.
Still, it will be interesting to see if there will be a future trend where rival tech giants rush to match Apple in making their products a lot thinner. While I would hesitate to call Apple a trendsetter, it is true that it is such a popular brand that the company tends to set the tone for the computer industry in many different ways. Moves like ditching headphone jacks or the gray MacBook style and their simplicity have certainly had an impact on other rival brands.
So if Apple decides to make its various product lines a lot thinner, including MacBooks, might the rest of the computer industry follow suit? It’s not unthinkable.