How 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Will Be Influenced by Apple Computers

Stormtroopers in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (Lucasfilm/Disney)

Last month, it finally became possible to buy the first six Star Wars films on an Apple device — and if the rumors are true, there may just be some subtle nods to Apple devices in the next Star Wars film.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Michael Kaplan, the costume designer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, says that he made several changes to update the Stormtroopers’ uniforms. In addition to making the iconic white armor heavier and sturdier, he and director J.J. Abrams wanted to streamline and simplify the gear, and when it came time to sketch out his new ideas, Kaplan had a simple mantra: “What would Apple do?”

Kaplan made sure to draw a more firm distinction between the gear worn by the good guys and bad guys. The First Order, the evil army formed from the remnants of the defeated Galactic Empire, “is in very cold blacks and grays and metallics and teal blues,” Kaplan said — a scheme that certainly reminds one of the sleek designs of Apple’s laptops and mobile devices.

Those products were shaped by Apple design guru Johnny Ive, who may have actually also had a direct impact on The Force Awakens. As he told The New Yorker in a long profile late last year, he once had a boozy conversation with Abrams about the design of the new lightsabers.

Amongst the suggestions he gave Abrams: “I thought it would be interesting if [the lightsabers] were less precise, and just a little bit more spitty.”

Lo and behold, one of the most talked-about elements of the film’s first trailer was that crossguard lightsaber brandished by the evil Kylo Ren — which just so happened to feature a flickering blade.

Kylo Ren in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (Lucasfilm/Disney)

Fans will have to wait and see whether Apple has any more influence over the look of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but given the fact that Abrams wore an Apple Watch during his presentation at April’s Star Wars Celebration, it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see BB-8 downloading B.B. King from iTunes (Just kidding! Everyone knows BB-8 is into torrenting).

Watch the trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ below: