Apple iPhone 11 could include a nostalgic design not seen in more than 20 years

Apple is widely-tipped to unveil its next-generation iPhone at an event in September. The so-called iPhone 11, or iPhone XI if the company persists with the Roman numerals it introduced to the brand name with the iPhone X, will purportedly be a relatively minor upgrade that focuses on the rear-camera. Apple is tipped to keep the same industrial design as the iPhone X and the iPhone XS.

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However, the company might spruce up the two-year-old industrial design with a lovely nostalgic nod to its heritage, according to a tipster speaking to MacRumours.

The source is well-connected inside the company and has a reliable track record forecasting as-yet unannounced products, MacRumours claims. The latest prediction? That Apple is planning to revive the rainbow logo it used on all of its products prior to 1998 when the design was phased out in favour of the single-colour variant we see on the likes of the iPad Pro, iPhone and MacBook Pro today.

The original fruit-centric logo included bands of six different colours: green, yellow, orange, red, purple, and blue. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is  believed to have insisted on the colourful stripes as a way to "humanise" the company.

While that might be true, the logo was also launched in the run-up to the Apple II, which sported the first colour display on a PC, suggesting it might've also been a tactful way of plugging the new innovation.

It has been more than two decades since there was any meaningful tweak to the Apple logo – one of the most instantly recognisable in corporate history, so maybe it's time for the Cupertino-based company to change things up.

With the most recent redesign, Apple has completely removed all of its backlit logos from the cases of its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro range. As such, it could feasibly bring some colour back to the logo itself.

Interestingly, ahead of the MacBook Air event last year, Apple teased the announcement by sending out invites with a unique redesign of its corporate logo. In the minutes before CEO Tim Cook took to the stage, the company played subtly animated versions of the logos on a loop.

Likewise, with a very similar industrial design to its two predecessors, a nostalgia-drenched reimagining of the six colours logo could help drive sales from passionate, long-time Apple fans. It would be a good way to make the newer models instantly recognisable as such, despite the close similarities with the two previous generations. Although, the whopping triple-camera on the back of the phone probably already has that covered, truth be told.