Quick Summary
Apple's lawyers have told a leading iPhone concept designer that his renders are "too real".
They claim possible customer confusion as the renders are products that don't exist.
There's an online phenomenon called the Streisand Effect where getting your lawyers involved can draw more attention to the very thing you're trying to quieten down. And it looks like Apple might be about to experience it, because it's just asked a leading creator of future-iPhone renders to stop being so good.
The renderer in question is Antonio De Rosa, and you've almost certainly seen his work: he makes some genuinely beautiful renders of Apple products that don't exist, such as the incredible iPhone Air concept pictured above. But it seems the renders are so good that Apple is getting concerned.
Posting on X, De Rosa says that "I received a call from an Apple attorney asking me to adjust some of my concepts because they were considered too realistic". And that raises some really interesting questions about De Rosa's renders.
I received a call from an Apple attorney asking me to adjust some of my concepts because they were considered too realistic. pic.twitter.com/e5PGOVT7tjAugust 15, 2024
The case of the too-realistic iPhone renders
As far as I'm aware, this is the first time Apple's legal folks have gone after concept creators. For many years they've preferred to concentrate on actual leakers and they've brought their biggest guns along – in the late 2000s Apple got the rumour site Think Secret shut down for posting leaks.
That means there are two possible explanations for this. There's the official explanation, which Apple's lawyers say are about possible customer confusion, and there's the conspiracy explanation. And that one's much more fun.
The official explanation is that because De Rosa's designs are so widely circulated, they "may actually create consumer confusion". Apple's lawyers said that, and also said that they didn't want De Rosa to stop posting; "we’d rather talk through the nuances of the issue and ideally find a reasonable solution that works for everyone."
But the conspiracy explanation is that De Rosa's renders are too good not just because of his obvious talent, but because he's got too close for comfort with some of his renders. The lawyers don't appear to have singled out any renders in particular, but if I were a betting woman my money would be on the iPhone Air.
If that's indeed the one that's got Apple worried, that raises another question: why? It's possible that the concept is incredibly close to what Apple's making. But it's also possible – and funnier – that the concept is so pretty that the real folding iPhone won't be as exciting.
