Interpreting Apple's Sandbagging Patent from a product POV

Last week Apple filed a patent for what looks like an old school iPod Nano – a small, cracker-shaped device with a screen and (hopefully) a clip on the back that can attach to your bag or jacket. While the prospect of a revived iPod is thrilling to me, Apple doesn’t do Greatest Hits. In fact, they just discontinued the final iPod last year. So what exactly is happening here?

Dug out my old #ipod collection - they all still work! Enjoying the random selection on the iPod shuffle! pic.twitter.com/5GUaxp5Bii
— Neil Hopkins (@thermalsatsuma) May 11, 2022

Apple leaves the nostalgia to the fans.

Telegraphing

Showing music and AirPods in the filing is the biggest sandbag of all time! Apple is the best product roadmapping company on the planet — no one looks farther ahead and leaves more breadcrumbs. This is why reading Apple tea leaves has become its own cottage industry in tech. We can look at past features and where they led to imagine where this might go.

In 2013, Apple launched the iPhone 5S with Touch ID, a nifty little piece of tech that made unlocking your iPhone safer and quicker. A year later they released Apple Pay which authenticated itself by Touch ID.

The Haptic Engine on the original Apple Watch in 2015 led to their Force Touch trackpads and the upcoming, mythical buttonless iPhone.

iBeacons, the pint-sized transmitters that let stores and museums whisper information to nearby iPhones, were announced in 2013. The same sorcery was later used in AirTags.

The iPhone 4S's A-series processor was the humble acorn from which the mighty Apple Silicon tree grew.

AirDrop, from 2011, grew into Continuity Camera in 2022.

Ok, with that for context, let me speculate about what this device might be.

Take 1: AR glasses companion

For the pair of rumoured Apple AR glasses to have any kind of reasonable battery life, the processing will need to happen off-device. The measly 2-3 hours in Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories may be fine for Facebook but Apple would never allow it. Battery life is a point of pride for Apple. Of course, the existing iPhone can and will do this off-board processing but that leads to my next take.

Take 2: A ‘Her’ world

If you've tinkered with AI bots like ChatGPT, you know we’re heading towards a future straight out of the movie 'Her.' Just a tiny pair of headphones and your trusty AI buddy will be all you need to conquer the world—or at least your day’s errands. Even before then, there's a big enough group of people who don’t need a monster screen, camera, keyboard, or any of the other bells and whistles you get with a full-sized phone. And even if you're part of the mega-phone fan club, there'll be times you'll want to leave it behind and revel in an unburdened afternoon.

Take 3: A ‘Post-Distraction’ world

Look around and you’ll see people locked in a perpetual struggle against distraction on their phones. Apple championed the anti-distraction fight with features like Screen Time and Focus Modes and this device would continue that. A tiny device with a screen barely big enough for a haiku strikes the ideal balance between full connectivity and going full hermit. I’d bet there's a substantial audience ready to swoon over this device, not knowing they even needed it until laying eyes on it.

Bonus: iPod Nostalgics

Not to be ignored are the millions of people that bought the 375M+ iPods sold in the last 20 years. Make those little devices in some retro colours and you can count on a few million units sold on pure nostalgia. +1 for me.

Let's not forget the nostalgics who bought up 375M+ iPods over the past 20 years. Make those new iPods in some retro cool colours and you'll have millions of sentimental souls tossing their cash at the screen faster than you can say "Remember the good ol' days?" Count me in!