Apple’s ENTIRE October MacBook Event was Shot On the iPhone 15 Pro Max

Posted on 31/10/2023 by Sarang Sheth

The company may have announced new MacBooks and iMacs at its latest event yesterday… but what it secretly was doing all along was creating an advertisement for their smartphones. In a rare video uploaded to Apple’s YouTube channel, the tech giant revealed that their entire October 30th Keynote was filmed on the iPhone 15 Pro. The video lifts the curtain on how Apple pulled it off, while being perhaps the greatest act of ‘putting their money where their mouth is’ in terms of proving the iPhone’s top-notch video capabilities.

While it’s easy to think that the true star of the event was Apple’s new M3 chip, in reality it was the USB-C port on its newest iPhone 15 Pro. Unveiled just fifty days ago, the new iPhone 15 Pro’s USB-C port is capable of 10Gb/s transfer speeds, allowing you to move ProRes videos in a snap, and even connect external storage, 4K displays, microphones, among other accessories to augment the iPhone 15 Pro’s overall output.

The entire event was quite different from any of Apple’s events, and that seems to be by design. For starters, it premiered in the evening (or at night depending on which coast you live on), marking a massive departure from all of Apple’s morning events. We heard Tim Cook say the words “Good Evening” for the first time, but just before, we got a tour of the Apple Park at night. The camera flew in from up above, battling not just the tricky conditions of flight and navigation, but also incredibly low-light videography. The Apple Park was practically drenched in the Halloween spirit, with bats flying, ominous music, smoky/foggy pathways, and dimly lit scenes… all of which were captured brilliantly on the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s massive sensor.

The pre-Halloween keynote, the evening announcement, all seemed like a brilliant setup for the fact that Apple was planning on shooting the entire event on its latest phone. Sure, Apple could have had the event during the day and still boasted a “Shot On iPhone” disclaimer… but to shoot the entire thing in low-light – there’s no way Apple could resist that massive a flex. The event was also entirely edited on a Mac, as Apple’s way of showing how powerful the two devices are on their own as well as put together.

Anyone deeply familiar with Apple’s Shot On iPhone campaign knows that there’s more than just an iPhone involved. Those massive billboards with beautifully composed and edited photos look great, but a regular user holding an iPhone in their hand could never pull off the same visual mastery. The words ‘Shot On iPhone’ are often followed by ‘with a lot of expensive accessories’, but not many people know that. For Apple’s keynote, the company is at least a little more forthcoming by showing exactly what their rigs looked like… and no, it isn’t just a dude holding an iPhone in front of Tim Cook.

Verge reports that the entire Scary Fast event setup would have probably cost tens of thousands of dollars. The iPhone itself is mounted on a massive hand-carried rig that stabilizes the footage. For more consistent camera paths, the team used a dolly cam setup with trolleys and rails, and for the aerial shots, the Apple team literally built their own drones that held the iPhone 15 Pro Max. There are expensive microphones, monitors, battery units, lights, and a tonne of other equipment used in the picture. To be fair, Apple would still use all that extraneous equipment with a high-end camera… so just the fact that the iPhone could replace that camera does count for quite a lot.

The entire video dump was easily transferred out of the phone using the USB-C connector. Company 3, an American post-production company that handled the filming of the event, mentioned how buttery smooth the entire process was to shoot 4K ProRes with all those accessories and have all that raw footage simultaneously transferred onto an external hard disk without any hiccups. The A17 Bionic’s heavy lifting would then be complemented by Apple’s M2 chips, which were used by the Macs that edited the footage.

A quick glimpse at the hand-made drone used by Apple’s team to shoot all the aerial shots of the Scary Fast keynote.

This isn’t the first time the iPhone was used to shoot professional content. In 2015, a film named Tangerine was highlighted at the Sundance Film Festival for being shot entirely on iPhones. Notably, Olivia Rodrigo shot one of her music videos on an iPhone too, and Indian film director Vishal Bharadwaj collaborated with Apple to shoot a short film, Fursat, entirely on an iPhone. This is the first time Apple’s taken that plunge, and it seems to have paid off rather well. If only they had migrated to USB-C sooner…

The post Apple’s ENTIRE October MacBook Event was Shot On the iPhone 15 Pro Max first appeared on Yanko Design.

This LEGO Snow Globe with the Lo-Fi Girl inside is Peak Holiday Wholesomeness!

Posted on 31/10/2023 by Sarang Sheth

It’s truly amazing what people can do with the right combination of LEGO bricks. From building Bugattis to functioning calendars, the bricks have an unmatched versatility, and just in time for the holidays, LEGO-builder BrickAbe came up with yet another perfect LEGO project – a functioning snow-globe! The cherry on the cake, however, is that this snow globe also features YouTube’s most well-known fictional character, the anime girl from the LoFi Girl YouTube channel, known for her endless streams of great downtempo music.

Designer: BrickAbe

The Lo-Fi Girl Snowglobe is an interactive mechanical toy that features elements of Christmas along with the popular LoFi girl character, seen writing in a notebook with headphones on, with a laptop and a lazy ginger cat becoming a standard fixture in the background. BrickAbe’s globe captures these elements beautifully, turning the album art into a full LEGO-based diorama with a ground and first floor. The first floor becomes LoFi girl’s study, while the ground floor transforms into a living room during Christmas season, complete with gifts, and a decked up Christmas tree that rotates when you crank the lever outside!

The entire construction is incredibly wholesome, capturing the Christmas spirit in a rather adorable way. The diorama sits on a red platform that comes with its own Yuletide motifs, including stockings and presents, while being covered with a clear bell jar that is capped off with a snowflake on top!

“My greatest escape with Lo-Fi Hip Hop comes around the holidays. I feel very relaxed sitting next to a glowing fireplace, under a warm blanket, with Lo-Fi music playing in the background,” BrickAbe mentioned. “The idea for the snow globe came from a drawing I made a while back for #lofigirlchristmas. You can see this drawing displayed right above the fireplace. I created a charming loft apartment inside, decorated with holiday joy and Lofi Girl references!”

The post This LEGO Snow Globe with the Lo-Fi Girl inside is Peak Holiday Wholesomeness! first appeared on Yanko Design.

“World’s Lightest Mechanical Watch” clocks in at a Stunning 8.8 Grams in Weight

Posted on 30/10/2023 by Sarang Sheth

Billed as the world’s lightest mechanical watch, the MING LW.01 boasts an impressive weight of just 8.8 grams (0.31 ounces) for the manual variant and 10 grams (0.35 ounces) for the automatic variant. For reference, that’s lighter than one AirTag… or about as much as two AirPods WITHOUT the case.

The LW.01 takes the idea of minimalism a little bit further by going beyond just the visual sense of the word. “We wanted to push the envelope further than we – or any other brand – has ever done,” the folks at MING said. This includes some brilliant design hacks, the use of novel materials, and basically removing everything non-essential. In short, the folks at MING Marie Kondo-ed the hell out of this watch… and the result definitely sparks joy.

Designer: MING

The watch itself is a work of art, featuring a dial that’s as minimal to look at as its bill of materials. In fact, there isn’t a dial at all. The LW.01’s minute hand sits on a disc that obscures the movement, while the central portion comes with a gradient print that hides the skeletal view of the watch, while also having the watch’s minimal markings on its periphery. Every part of the watch is art and engineering combined to its nth degree, creating something that really stands at the intersection of great design and immaculate engineering.

“We set ourselves some ‘conventional’ constraints, though: the watch had to be a wearable size, and retain certain tactile qualities such as the texture and thermal transfer of metal,” MING’s team mentioned. “More importantly, it would have to be practically wearable and not technically compromised purely for the sake of lightness. As it turns out, it would take us a couple of years longer than expected and an exhaustive amount of metallurgy and testing.”

Those constraints, however, don’t in any way diminish the end product. The watch has a spectacular body that’s crafted from a special metal alloy that’s lighter than carbon but has the premium feel of metal. The lugs are turned into bars that allow the strap to through without any additional elements (which would add to its weight), and the face isn’t layered with sapphire crystal. Instead, it opts for equally resistant Corning Gorilla Glass – similar to the slim glass sheet found in smartphones, but with a separate hardening treatment done by UK-based Knight Optical.

“We explored a wide range of ultralight materials including carbon fiber derivatives and hollow-core 3D printing, but ultimately found that AZ31 Magnesium-Aluminium-Zinc-Manganese alloy from Smiths High Performance was both lighter than carbon (1.77g/cc, vs ~2g/cc density), more consistent to produce than hollow 3D printing, and more importantly retained the feel of metal,” MING mentioned. “It is further surface treated by plasmaelectrolytic oxidation by Keronite for corrosion resistance and biocompatibility, with a further composite protective layer.”

Every element of the watch, including the screws made of PEEK composite, the hollowed bezel, and the angled case buttressing, was meticulously optimized to achieve the perfect balance between durability and weight. The crown, crafted from anodized aluminum, ensures durability and smooth threading. To ensure overall torsional rigidity, finite element simulation was employed to assess the watch case. The fixed integral bars, machined from the same billet as the case, not only enhance rigidity but also weigh less than traditional steel spring bars.

As a result, the watch boasts an impressively lightweight head, weighing just 8.8 grams with manual winding, 10.8 grams with automatic winding, along with an additional 0.6 grams for the matching AZ31 buckle and 1.2 grams for the ‘record’ spec Alcantara strap. This translates to a total weight of 10.6 grams or 12.6 grams for a fully assembled, ready-to-wear timepiece… but don’t expect all that innovation to come cheap. The “World’s Lightest Watch” may be lighter than an AirTag, but it’s half the cost of a Tesla Model Y. With a brain-imploding asking price of 19500 Swiss Francs ($21,623 USD), you’re kind of better off buying a Patek Philippe instead.

The post “World’s Lightest Mechanical Watch” clocks in at a Stunning 8.8 Grams in Weight first appeared on Yanko Design.

The World Design Assembly 2023 held at Tokyo with Environment, Policy, and Digital Transformation in Focus

Posted on 30/10/2023 by Sarang Sheth

Every two years, the World Design Organization (WDO), an international powerhouse committed to “Design for a better world,” convenes the WDO World Design Assembly. This year, Tokyo took the spotlight as the World Design Capital, marking the third time Japan has had the honor of hosting this prestigious gathering, following a 34-year wait since the event was held in Nagoya in 1989. The three-day event was held between October 27th and 29th (Friday-Sunday) at the Chiba University Design Research Institute, and the Roppongi Academy Hills in Tokyo.

In a world still grappling with the effects of the COVID pandemic, this assembly aims to engage the global design community in discussions that transcend boundaries. WDO seeks to reaffirm design’s role as a catalyst for a more humane way of life, moving beyond its traditional identity as a driver of innovation and economic growth. Under the theme of “Design Beyond,” the assembly hosted multiple discussions ranging from perceptions of the new individual to environmental issues, digital transformation, policy, etc.

Visit the World Design Assembly 2023 Website to Learn More

Kazuo Tanaka (WDO World Design Assembly Tokyo 2023 Executive Committee Chairperson) addressing the guests.

The World Design Assembly commenced on Friday, October 27, with a vibrant forum featuring a panel discussion, paper presentations, and a poster exhibition. The WDA also awarded the World Design Medal to Dr. Patricia A. Moore for her overwhelming contribution to the design field. The event saw eminent design scholars, representatives from companies and government agencies, and even students, bringing a large gamut of people across all professional spectrums under one umbrella to highlight the broad appeal and relevance of design in today’s world. The day’s event was specifically geared toward students and researchers who are interested in learning about design. It aimed to align with the themes established by WDO and provide the next generation of designers and young researchers with opportunities and perspectives to explore the future of design and discover upcoming trends.

Ayse Birsel (Co-founder of Birsel + Seck, designer, author) delivering Friday’s Keynote Session

Dr. Patricia Moore awarded the World Design Medal for the year 2022

On Saturday, October 28, global experts delved deep into the theme of “Design Beyond” and its four intriguing sub-themes: “Humanity,” “The Planet,” “Technology,” and “Policy.” These discussions, led by researchers, activists, and designers invited from Japan and abroad, explored the intricate relationship between design and pressing societal issues, as well as the potential design holds for shaping our future. The theme on Humanity discussed what it specifically meant to be a new kind of individual (i.e., autonomously decentralized, digitally networked, committed to the life of the planet, etc.) and the role design played in this context. A common topic for the past few years, The Planet (theme 2) pondered on how society can be incentivized into tangibly shifting to a circular economy, and more importantly, what would be society’s goal BEYOND a circular economy. Given the rise of AI, the theme of Technology focused on what kind of changes the impending digital transformation will bring to humanity, and specific cases cited to provide thought about what design will be capable of. The last theme, Policy, was unlike any of the other breakout sessions, in that it focused on how suggestions from the previous three themes would effectively be implemented. Discussions were had around the two perspectives of “policies for the promotion of design” and “social policies that leverage the power of design.” The crowning moment of the day was the unveiling of the WDA Declaration during the Afternoon Plenary Session. Frankfurt RheinMain (Germany) was declared the capital for the year 2026.