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Apple Maps, Apple Stores

2026-09-29 11:09:36

An archive of the detailed 3D Apple Store models in Apple Maps.


Apple Maps launched in 2012 and has continued to improve year after year. In 2021, Apple began adding detailed 3D models of iconic landmarks. That growing collection now includes the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the hotels, racetracks, stadiums, and attractions along the Las Vegas Strip. Apple also snuck a few of its own stores into the collection, and they’re worth a closer look.

This entry was inspired by Andreas Storm’s social post. I took the idea and ran with it, turning his post into this archive. I left out buildings like the Oculus, home to Apple World Trade Center, and Battersea Power Station, home to Apple Battersea because those models represent larger complexes rather than the Apple Stores themselves. Enjoy!

Version History

1.0: As of September 2026, the archive includes 15 Apple Store models.


🇨🇦 Canada

Apple Sainte-Catherine

Location: 1255 Rue Ste-Catherine O, Montréal QC H3G 1P3

Apple Sainte-Catherine first opened in Montréal on July 25, 2008. It moved to a larger location nearby on January 16, 2026.

🇫🇷 France

Apple Champs-Élysées

Location: 114 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris

Apple Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, opened on November 18, 2018. The store occupies a historic Haussmann-era apartment building on the famous French avenue.

🇮🇹 Italy

Apple Piazza Liberty

Location: Piazza del Liberty 1, 20121 Milan

Apple Piazza Liberty in Milan, Italy, opened on July 26, 2018. Its glass fountain marks the entrance, with water cascading down the sides. The store itself sits underground, reached by stairs leading down from the piazza. Above ground, there’s a public square and a large outdoor amphitheatre.

Apple Via del Corso

Location: Via del Corso 181-188, 00186 Rome

Apple Via del Corso occupies Palazzo Marignoli, a 19th-century palace that was once the home of Marquis Filippo Marignoli. The building also housed Caffè Aragno, a gathering place for artists, writers, and actors.

🇸🇬 Singapore

Apple Marina Bay Sands

Location: 2 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018972

Apple Marina Bay Sands in Singapore opened on September 10, 2020. The store sits inside a glass sphere that appears to float on the bay, with panoramic views of the skyline.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Apple Covent Garden

Location: No. 1-7 The Piazza, London WC2E 8HB

Apple Covent Garden in London opened on August 7, 2010.

Apple Regent Street

Apple Regent Street in London opened on November 20, 2004. It was Apple’s first retail store in Europe.

Location: 235 Regent Street, London W1S

🇺🇸 United States of America

Apple Carnegie Library

Location: 801 K St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Apple Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C., opened on May 11, 2019. The building originally opened in 1903 as a public library funded by Andrew Carnegie. Apple restored its marble façade and turned the former circulation desk area into a bright atrium for Today at Apple sessions.

Apple Country Club Plaza

Location: 227 Nichols Rd, Kansas City, MO 64112

Apple Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, first opened on September 25, 2004. It moved to its current location at 227 Nichols Road on August 20, 2016.

Apple Downtown Detroit

Location: 1430 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48226

Apple Downtown Detroit opened on September 19, 2025, coinciding with the launch of the iPhone 17.

Apple Fifth Avenue

Location: 767 5th Ave, New York, NY 10153

Apple Fifth Avenue in New York City first opened on May 19, 2006, and reopened after a major redesign on September 20, 2019. Its famous glass cube marks the entrance to the store beneath the plaza. Oh, and in the city that never sleeps, it’s also open 24 hours a day.

Apple Michigan Avenue

Location: 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Apple Michigan Avenue in Chicago opened at its riverfront location on October 20, 2017. The store features massive glass walls and a thin carbon-fiber roof, with views of the Chicago Rive.

Apple Soho

Location: 103 Prince St, New York, NY 10012

Apple SoHo in New York City opened on July 18, 2002 inside a former post office. It was Apple’s first store in the city.

Apple Tower Theatre

Location: 802 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Apple Tower Theatre in downtown Los Angeles opened on June 24, 2021. The building originally opened as a movie theatre in 1927 and was among the first in the city equipped for films with sound.

Apple Union Square

Location: 300 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Apple Union Square in San Francisco, California, opened on May 21, 2016. The store features massive 42-foot-tall glass doors that slide open toward Union Square. Inside, you’ll find Apple products, indoor trees, and a huge video wall. There’s also an outdoor plaza with seating, a wall covered in greenery, and a fountain by San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa.

Apple Park Visitor Center

Location: 10600 N Tantau Ave, Cupertino, CA 95014

The Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, California, opened on November 17, 2017. Its rooftop terrace offers a view of Apple’s ring-shaped headquarters, and there’s a café where you can grab a coffee. Oh, and there’s an Apple Store, too. It carries exclusive Apple merch, including shirts, totes, sweaters, cups, and more.

Surprise and Shine Apple Event Bingo

2026-09-05 10:02:57

Apple’s annual September event is here! A foldable iPhone, the possibility of a ceramic Apple Watch, and new home devices could make this a big one.


On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, Apple announced their September event, which for more than a decade has meant new iPhones & new Apple Watches are set to debut. This will also be the inaugural Apple Event with new Apple CEO John Ternus at the helm.

This year, all eyes on on whether Apple will announce the long-rumoured foldable iPhone, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup and a new generation of Apple Watches. There’s even the possibility that a ceramic Apple Watch case could return after a seven-year hiatus. But there’s still plenty we don’t know about the event, including whether Apple will finally unveil its long-rumoured Home accessories.

This Bingo Board represents my picks for what Apple will showcase during the event: a mix of rumours, dark-horse candidates, stagecraft predictions, and things I simply want to be true despite having absolutely zero evidence to support them.

Follow along, have fun, and enjoy the Surprise & Shine event!

BINGO 101

Winning in Bingo means completing a specific pattern on your card, in this case, a row, column, diagonal, or the entire card. The "Good Morning Free Space" in the centre is already marked and can be part of any winning pattern.

Suprise & Shine Bingo Board

The Bingo Board is available to download as a PNG or PDF, and I've added a more printer-friendly PDF so you don't end up using all your toner printing this card (but if you're at work during the event, you have my permission to print the full-colour PDF).

PNG | PDF


Picks Explained

The predictions for this board were collected between August 30 and September 03rd and finalized on September 04, 2026.

AirPods 5 Announced

Apple has a pretty good track record of releasing new AirPods alongside the iPhone. In 2022, the second-generation AirPods Pro debuted alongside the iPhone 14, followed by the USB-C refresh a year later at the iPhone 15 event. AirPods 4 arrived alongside the iPhone 16 in 2024, and last year, the AirPods Pro 3 were also announced at the September iPhone event.

If Apple does decide to release AirPods 5 at this event, they could come with updated chips, perhaps that heart rate sensor the Beats and Pro 3s got, and a handful of improvements to things like noise cancellation, audio quality, and battery life.

Event duration: +90 minutes

Each year, I try to predict the runtime of Apple’s iPhone event. Over the last nine events, the average has landed around 91 minutes, with the online years generally coming in shorter than the in-person shows.

This year feels like it could be a packed one. Between the foldable iPhone, the iPhone Pros, new Apple Watches, and the possibility that Apple’s long-rumoured home accessories finally make an appearance, I’m putting my money on the event running just shy of 90 minutes.

September iPhone Event History:

  • 2025 Apple Event was 72 minutes

  • 2024 Apple Event was 99 minutes

  • 2023 Apple Event was 83 minutes

  • 2022 Apple Event was 95 minutes

  • 2021 Apple Event was 79 minutes

  • 2020 Apple Event was 71 minutes

  • 2019 Apple Event was 102 minutes

  • 2018 Apple Event was 107 minutes

  • 2017 Apple Event was 116 minutes

iPhone 18 Pro gets Apple's C2 Cellular chip

Apple has been slowly rolling out its own cellular modem across more of its devices. The C1 chip first debuted in the iPhone 16e in 2025, before being followed by the C1X later that year, which has since appeared in the M5 iPad Pro, iPhone 17e, and M4 iPad Air. Apple’s modem efforts have been received favourably so far, particularly for their lower power consumption and the battery life improvements that come with it. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is the event where Apple finally brings its own cellular modem to the Pro iPhones as well.

Note: It’ll be interesting to see whether Apple debuts the C2 chip in markets outside the US while continuing to use Qualcomm modems stateside, as Apple’s cellular chips still don’t support the mmWave 5G bands used in the United States.

At Least One iPhone 18 Pro Model Gets a Variable Aperture

There are rumours that Apple could introduce a mechanical aperture with this year’s iPhone 18 Pro lineup, bringing a feature to the camera system that Apple has mimicked through software since introducing Portrait mode with the iPhone 7 Plus.

A mechanical aperture would allow the camera to physically control how much light enters the lens, while also giving photos a more natural and customizable depth of field than what can typically be recreated digitally.

I had wondered if this might end up being a Pro Max exclusive feature, but a MacRumors article from earlier this year suggests it will land in both Pro models.

Apple Finally Updates the HomePod mini

By the time the September keynote rolls around, the HomePod mini will have gone 2,156 days without an update. Similarly, the HomePod itself will have gone more than 1,300 days without a refresh.

With Apple rumoured to have held back several of its home devices while it worked on rebuilding Siri AI, it makes sense that, if the company does announce a broader smart home initiative at this event, devices like the HomePod mini could finally get a long-overdue update too.

iPhone 18 Pro & iPhone 18 Pro Max Announced

In a shift from Apple’s long-established release format, the company is expected to announce only the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, and possibly its long-rumoured foldable iPhone, at this event, saving the standard iPhone 18 for a separate launch in the spring of 2027.

Apple has long been rumoured to be moving toward a biannual iPhone release cycle, with its most premium models arriving in the fall and the rest of the lineup following sometime in the spring.

So for this event, we’re fully expecting a refresh to the Pro lineup, though no major changes to the overall form factor are anticipated. That redesign happened last year.

Lil' Finder Guy Makes an Appearance

We saw the briefest appearance of Apple’s lil’ mascot at WWDC, so I’m swinging again on the hope that another Lil Finder Guy Easter egg gets snuck into this event somewhere.

Apple Unveils a Foldable iPhone

At long last, we might finally see Apple’s first foldable device. Expected to start somewhere between $2,000–$2,500 USD, the device is rumoured to feature a book-like design with a 5.5-inch external display that opens into a nearly creaseless 7.8-inch inner display, resembling an iPad mini.

How Apple will handle software on the foldable remains to be seen, but at WWDC we saw Apple update iPhone Mirroring to allow dynamic window resizing, strongly hinting at Apple's upcoming foldable device.

The iPhone Fold, or iPhone Ultra as it’s often referred to, is expected to come in Silver and a darker colour, using a titanium/aluminium construction and a thin design similar to what Apple debuted with the iPhone Air last year.

A Secret Location is Accessed via Whimsical Transition

In addition to the expected drone footage around Apple Park, at some point, we'll transition from one place to the next via a fancy corridor, a tricked-out golf cart, an escape hatch, a portal, or a secret underground tunnel accessed via the fountain inside the courtyard of Apple Park.

Foldable iPhone is US Only at Launch

I really don’t want this one to be true, but with Apple expected to produce a relatively small number of these devices at launch, there are some whispers suggesting that the first wave of foldable iPhones could be exclusive to the US, with Apple expanding the device to other markets in the future.

iPhone Foldable Uses Touch ID Biometric Authentication

Face ID has been an authentication method on Apple’s iPhones for nearly a decade, dating all the way back to the iPhone X. But with Apple’s upcoming foldable, the company is rumoured to be making a return to Touch ID. That could simply come down to keeping the device as thin as possible, but there’s also a more practical explanation: with both an external and internal display, Touch ID would give you a consistent way to unlock the phone regardless of how you’re using it.

Sky Blue iPhone 18 Pro Colour

Sorry, Cosmic Orange lovers, but it looks like your favourite colour may be on the way out. Sky Blue, and possibly a Merlot Red colourway, are expected to take its place in the new iPhone 18 Pro lineup.

Both colours have been rumoured for months, with Sky Blue looking all but confirmed after Apple released an event invite heavily adorned in the colour.

Foldable iPhone is Called iPhone Ultra

Although the name of the device isn’t currently known, my pick, and one that’s commonly floated online, is that Apple’s foldable will be called the iPhone Ultra.

Base iPhone 18 Pro Lineup Price Increases by $200.

RAMmaggedon has forced nearly everyone to dramatically raise their prices. Everything from memory sticks to decade-old consoles has gotten more expensive just to keep up, and Apple is no different. On June 26, Apple dramatically increased prices across nearly its entire product lineup, with two notable exceptions: the iPhone and Apple Watch. With nearly everything else Apple sells seeing double-digit percentage increases, except the Polishing Cloth, which somehow got cheaper, it's entirely expected that the iPhone 18 Pro lineup and Apple Watch finally get their turn this year.

Apple has disguised price increases before by removing the lowest storage tier. For example, Apple could eliminate the 128GB option and make 256GB the new base model at the same price the 256GB model already sold for. Technically, the price of that configuration hasn’t increased, but by removing the cheaper model, Apple also eliminates the option with the smallest margins and requires everyone buying the base device to spend more. With the iPhone 17 Pro, though, 256GB is already the base storage tier at $1,099, and I have a hard time seeing Apple eliminate it entirely and jump straight to 512GB, which currently costs $1,299.

Current Prices (in USD)

iPhone 17 Pro:

  • 256GB iPhone 17 Pro: $1,099 (Base)

  • 512GB iPhone 17 Pro: $1,299 (+200 over base)

  • 1TB iPhone 17 Pro: $1,499 (+400 over base)

iPhone 17 Pro Max:

  • 256GB iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,199 (Base)

  • 512GB iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,399 (+200 over base)

  • 1TB iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,599 (+400 over base)

  • 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,999 (+800 over base)

Apple Watch Ultra & Series 11:

  • Apple Watch Ultra 3: $799

  • Apple Watch Series 11 42mm Aluminium: $399

  • Apple Watch Series 11 42mm Aluminium + Cellular: $499

  • Apple Watch Series 11 46mm Aluminium: $429

  • Apple Watch Series 11 46mm Aluminium + Cellular: $529

  • Apple Watch Series 11 42mm Titanium: $699

  • Apple Watch Series 11 46mm Titanium: $749

Apple Watch SE 3 (not rumoured to be updated):

  • Apple Watch SE 3 40mm: $249

  • Apple Watch SE 3 40mm + Cellular: $299

  • Apple Watch SE 3 44mm: $279

  • Apple Watch SE 3 40mm + Cellular: $329

Apple Unveils a Home Device with Screen

Apparently, this thing has been sitting around waiting to debut for years. The hardware has reportedly been ready, but Apple’s stumbles in overhauling Siri have delayed the product time and time again. But now that Siri is now working incredibly well, and this event could be a golden opportunity for Apple to show off the beginnings of its growing home strategy with a Home Hub–like device.

The Home Hub is expected to be a seven-inch tablet that can either mount to a wall or attach to some sort of speaker docking station. It would display information and widgets from your devices, while also providing quick access to Siri, smart home controls, and other lightweight interactions throughout the home.

Apple TV is Updated

The Apple TV has now gone more than 1,400 days without an update, and to complement any broader home announcements, including the expansion of Siri AI to more products, Apple could use this event to refresh the Apple TV with updated chips updated Siri experience.

2NM A20 Chip Announced

It’s pretty much a given that if Apple is releasing a new iPhone, it’s also going to debut a new chip. Last year we got the A19 and A19 Pro, and it only makes sense that this year the A20 Pro will arrive with the iPhone 18 Pro lineup and, if I were betting, Apple’s foldable device as well.

The A20 Pro is also expected to move to Apple’s two-nanometre chip architecture, similar to what we saw with the M6 in the new Mac mini.

Apple Watch Series 12 Gets a Ceramic Finish

Forget the foldable iPhone, forget the iPhone 18 Pro, and forget the new cheaper polishing cloth, because Apple is rumoured to be bringing back a ceramic case for the next Apple Watch!

Apple last released a ceramic Apple Watch Edition with the Series 5, featuring a beautiful pearlescent white zirconia case that not only looked stunning, but was also incredibly durable and scratch-resistant. Having worn the ceramic Series 5 for more than half a decade, I can confidently say it was my favourite Apple Watch and absolutely one of my most prized Apple possessions during the time I owned it.

Ceramic Apple Watches were also positioned as premium offerings, with prices starting north of $1,300. It’s still unclear whether Apple plans to revive the old Edition branding or introduce a new premium tier that sits above its already expensive stainless steel models.

Foldable iPhone begins at $2,249

Samsung’s current flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, starts at $1,899 for 256GB of storage and climbs to $2,499 for the 1TB model. Foldables are already incredibly expensive to manufacture, and with the price of memory and storage these days, that cost only gets pushed higher. Rumours suggest Apple’s first foldable could start somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500, so I’ve planted my guess right smack dab in the middle at $2,249.

Foldable iPhone Supports Split View

If Apple is going to debut a foldable iPhone that opens up to roughly the size of two iPhone displays, there’s no way in hell they’re not going to offer some sort of split-screen multitasking on the device.

A New Band Style is Announced

The Apple Watch has seen over a dozen different band styles over its decade-long history, everything from the Alpine Loop to the Woven Nylon band. But it's been a couple of years since we saw a new Watch band style debut, so why not new colours, which they'll undoubtedly do, but also a brand new style of band.

* for this pick, I'm not counting the Hermès bands.

Foldable iPhone Supports Split View

If Apple is going to debut a foldable iPhone that opens up to roughly the size of two iPhone displays, there’s no way in hell they’re not going to offer some sort of split-screen multitasking on the device.

iPhone 18 Pro Lineup Sees Improved Battery Life

With rumours that the iPhone 18 Pro line could get a little bit thicker, see improvements to the vapour chamber, and adopt new chips like Apple’s C-series cellular modem, there’s a pretty good chance the updated iPhones will also see a noticeable bump in battery life.

Foldable iPhone has a Later Release Date than iPhone 18 Pro

Making the prediction that the rumoured production challenges and limited launch supply of the foldable iPhone could result in Apple giving the device a later release date than the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. We’ve seen Apple do this before with the iPhone X in 2017, when preorders didn’t begin until six weeks after iPhone 8 preorders opened.

One More Thing...

With some of the products rumoured to launch at this event, there's a chance that we might hear the infamous "One more thing..." line used by John Ternus during the event.

Summit

2026-08-23 11:27:41

Introducing the Summit Series, a new series of wallpapers for your iPhone, Mac, and iPad that's sure to peak your interest!


The Summit Series (not to be confused with the 1972 Canada–USSR hockey tournament, which Canada won) is a collection of four abstract mountain wallpapers for your Apple devices. With a soft, Cubist-inspired style and plenty of colour, the Summit Series brings a simple mountain aesthetic to your devices.


Buy the Collection - $4.99

Summit Series CA$4.99

Summit Series, a new series of mountain-inspired wallpapers for your iPhone, Mac, and iPad that's sure to peak your interest!

The collection includes wallpapers for the Mac (6016×3900), iPad (2732×2732), and iPhone (1320×2868). Enjoy!

Thank you for your support.

The collection of Summit Series wallpapers is available below, free of charge and in full resolution, but if you can support the work I do, I am also making the collection available as a donation gift of $4.99.

The collection includes wallpapers for the Mac (6016×3900), iPad (2732×2732), and iPhone (1320×2868). Read more about my approach to making wallpapers available for purchase over at The WinRAR Approach.

You can also support through tips. Every bit is truly appreciated! 

PURCHASE DETAILS 

Once purchased, a download link will be emailed to you to download the .zip file (67.5 MB) containing all 12 versions for Mac (6016 × 3900), iPad (2732 × 2732), and iPhone (1320 × 2868).  The digital download link will expire 24 hours after the first download. If your link expires and you need to redownload the files, please send me an email with your order number and I can send along a new link for you.


Of the four summits, two are inspired by peaks located inside in my own backyard of Canada: Rundle Mountain & Lake Louise.

Mount Rundle is the famous wedge-shaped mountain overlooking the town of Banff, Alberta, with a peak more than 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) above the valley below. Fact of the blog post: it’s believed that moisture hitting Rundle’s western slopes travels through a network of faults and cracks before eventually feeding the famous Banff Upper Hot Springs.


The next Canadian summit wallpaper is Lake Louise, perhaps best known for its milky turquoise water, which gets its colour from fine rock sediment carried into the lake by glacial meltwater. The lake is framed by Victoria Glacier and Mount Victoria, which sits right along the border between Alberta and British Columbia.


The third peak featured is Half Dome. Located in California’s Yosemite National Park, Half Dome rises roughly 1,450 metres (4,790 feet) above the floor of Yosemite Valley.


And the fourth wallpaper, well, that one’s not really based on anything. It was actually the first wallpaper I made for the series before pivoting to actual peaks, but I liked it enough that I decided to keep it in the collection too..

All four wallpapers are available for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Enjoy!

Download

Half Dome

iPad | Mac | iPhone


Rundle

iPad | Mac | iPhone


Louise

iPad | Mac | iPhone


Untitled

iPad | Mac | iPhone


SUPPORT

I’m a one-person operation, working in healthcare by day & running this site as a passion project in my off time.

If you enjoy my work (the articles, the wallpapers, my general demeanour… anything really), consider leaving a tip & supporting the site. Your support is incredibly appreciated & goes a long way to keep this site and the works I produce ad-free & free of charge.

🏔️ Tips

Mosaic

2026-07-30 05:06:03

Mosaic is a fun and vibrant collection for your Apple devices.


Mosaic is a simple and vibrant gradient background collection for your Apple devices.

Buy the Collection - $3.99

Mosaic CA$3.99

Mosaic, a new collection of four vibrant wallpapers for your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The collection includes wallpapers for the Mac (6016×3900), iPad (2732×2732), and iPhone (1320×2868). Enjoy!

Thank you for your support.

The collection of Mosaic wallpapers is available below, free of charge and in full resolution, but if you can support the work I do, I am also making the collection available as a donation gift of $3.99.

The collection includes wallpapers for the Mac (6016×3900), iPad (2732×2732), and iPhone (1320×2868). Read more about my approach to making wallpapers available for purchase over at The WinRAR Approach.

You can also support through tips. Every bit is truly appreciated! 

PURCHASE DETAILS 

Once purchased, a download link will be emailed to you to download the .zip file (67.5 MB) containing all 12 versions for Mac (6016 × 3900), iPad (2732 × 2732), and iPhone (1320 × 2868).  The digital download link will expire 24 hours after the first download. If your link expires and you need to redownload the files, please send me an email with your order number and I can send along a new link for you.


I wanted a new wallpaper and something a bit brighter for my devices and designed this pack of four variations in Sketch. The colours and gradient idea were loosely based on an image Apple teased of the Apple 川崎 (Kawasaki) retail store, which opened in December of 2019. But as I played with it more, I deviated from the angular look in favour of a variation that had more flowing shapes and lines.

Four versions are available for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Enjoy!


Downloads

Mosaic I

iPad | Mac | iPhone


Mosaic II

iPad | Mac | iPhone


Mosaic III

iPad | Mac | iPhone


Mosaic IV

iPad | Mac | iPhone


SUPPORT

I’m a one-person operation, working in healthcare by day & running this site as a passion project in my off time.

If you enjoy my work (the articles, the wallpapers, my general demeanour… anything really), consider leaving a tip & supporting the site. Your support is incredibly appreciated & goes a long way to keep this site and the works I produce ad-free & free of charge.

☕️ Tips

Lil Finder Guy Updates

2026-07-25 04:37:44

Lil Finder Guy. Born: 2026.04.11. Height: One Apple Tall.


It’s been several months since Apple launched the MacBook Neo and the ad campaign that gave birth to “Lil’ Finder Guy,” the adorable Finder-faced mascot that stole my heart and quickly took over parts of the internet.

Since their debut, we’ve learned a little more about the mascot through posts shared by Apple employees, including a look at the campaign’s appearance at the Cannes Lions festival and, most recently, some of the early sketches and design details that helped bring Lil’ Finder Guy to life.

And so, in an follow-up to my previous post about Lil’ Finder Guy, I wanted to collect all this updated bit of information and compile it into a single entry.

Cannes Lions

Apple’s Neo submission at Cannes Lions. Photo originally by Rachel Karten but the image has been adjusted.


I learned about Apple’s submission of its MacBook Neo campaign to Cannes Lions, an annual festival in France celebrating creativity in advertising, marketing, and design, during Episode 610 of Connected. The gang shared a link to a post by Joe Burger, an Associate Creative Director at Apple, who had posted about the campaign’s submission to the festival. The poster reads:

“When was the last time you noticed the launch of a budget laptop? People don't. Their phones are for "social." Their tablets are for "me-time." Their computers? "Work."

Enter MacBook Neo. Real performance, gorgeous colors, full macOS, at a price that, for Apple, is kind of radical.

A product Apple had never made before. For people Apple had never really talked to. Launched somewhere Apple had never really hung out: TikTok.

The campaign rolled out in four acts. We introduced the product through a birth announcement then a TL;DR explainer for the specs, and a chill unboxing. A Live Matcha Break at Apple Park turned the announcement into a hangout. Next, twelve videos highlighting Neo's palette: Blush, Indigo, Citrus. And our Can-Dos served up Mac explainers with the help of a new friend.

The videos incorporated new sounds, trending audio, ASMR, and we even remixed decades of familiar Mac sounds.

Our favorite comment of the whole run: "This is so un-Apple-like, but also done in a way that feels very Apple and I don't know how to explain it."

The results were anything but boring. The unboxing alone pulled 8M views, 1.2M likes, and 120K shares in two days, with no paid media. And then things really took off.

176M views on TikTok. 14.3M engagements. 11M likes. 603K saves. 98K comments. 1.9M shares — of an ad. 65K live viewers. 1M+ new followers since launch. It's the most searched new Mac in history.

The top eight trending Neo hashtags pulled another 680M views on TikTok before you count the spillover onto X, Reddit, Linkedin, and Instagram. TL;DR became the #1 citation in TikTok's Al search summary. And one brand-new internet icon in 'Lil' Finder Guy.'“

WWDC Pins

Lil Finder Guy Pin. Source: Tyler Stalman


Lil’ Finder Guy made their next appearance at WWDC, when attendees began posting photos of Lil’ Finder Guy pins included as part of their swag for attending the event. The pins were very limited, and unfortunately, incredibly elusive to find resellers online, with the few listings that have appeared asking anywhere from hundreds to more than a thousand dollars.

Rare listings for the Lil Finder Pin are unhinged.


The pin also gave us our first proper look at a flatter, two-dimensional version of Lil’ Finder Guy. Up until this point, most of the images we’d seen depicted them as a more three-dimensional character.

Lil Finder Guy based on the enamel pin gifted to attendees at WWDC.


But that wasn’t their only appearance at WWDC. Lil’ Finder Guy also made an incredibly quick and understated cameo behind Stacey Ford, VP of OS Program Management, during the opening moments of the WWDC keynote, tucked away behind one of the laptops on screen.

Look behind the MacBook to the left of Stacey at the 06:28 mark and you’ll see a little Finder Guy peeking out. Source: Apple

Lil' Finder Sketches

The decapitated head and body of Lil Finder Guy, posted by Sofia Coelho on LinkedIn (post since removed).


Our next drop of information came through another LinkedIn post in late July, this time in the form of a “BELATED BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENT” from Apple art director Sofia Coelho, who wrote:

"BELATED BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENT: On March 4th at 11:00 a.m., measuring exactly one apple tall, a mascot, charmingly coined by the internet as Lil' Finder Guy, was born!

Getting to lead the visual design and concept for this character and then watching it take off as a full-blown ‘internet icon’ (internet's words, not mine!) was a dream design project.

This lil fella is part of the larger MacBook Neo launch on TikTok, which I had the pleasure of working on with an insanely talented team. Thank you to everyone who brought this project to life.

You can check it all out on Apple's TikTok profile!”

Can we all just appreciate for a moment how adorable it is that Lil' Finder Guy is measured in units of apples?

In addition to the announcement, the post also shared a model of Lil' Finder Guy (albeit decapitated), and a few sketches showing the early prototyping phase of its creation.

Early sketches of Lil Finder Guy, posted by Sofia Coelho on LinkedIn (post since removed)


In Sum

Thankfully, Apple’s tiny Finder-faced mascot hasn’t disappeared just yet. Since their debut, we’ve gotten a few more glimpses behind the scenes, including Apple’s Cannes Lions submission, an incredibly elusive WWDC pin, a tiny keynote cameo, and even some early sketches showing how Lil’ Finder Guy came to life. I hope we continue to see more of Apple’s adorable mascot in the days to come.


Fin Merch

If you can’t get enough of this little mascot, I have made a small collection of merch including stickers, an enamel pin (note: shipping may be higher because tariffs, customs, and fuel surcharges), shirts & hoodies (version 1 | version 2), beanies, and hats (version 1 | version 2)

Atlas Apple Park

2026-07-14 04:32:38

Introducing Atlas Apple Park, a new collection of topographic wallpapers of the Cupertino area and the Apple Park campus.


Over half a decade ago, I created a collection of topographic Apple Park wallpapers, and today I’m revisiting it.

The collection features a range of colourful and more subdued designs showing the Cupertino area, with Apple’s sprawling 175-acre campus at the centre.

You can see Apple’s enormous spaceship building, which measures 4,805 feet (1,465 m) around, along with the fountain and rainbow arch inside the 30-acre courtyard. Just south of the main campus sits the Steve Jobs Theater, and if you look west of Apple’s current headquarters, you’ll also spot its former home at Infinite Loop.

To create the wallpapers in this series, I started with Terraink, a website developed by Yousif Amanuel that uses open-source map data from OpenStreetMap to generate colourful topographic maps. After downloading the SVG files, I brought them into Sketch and Pixelmator Pro to refine the colours and create a collection of wallpapers for all your Apple devices.

And if none of my designs are quite to your taste, Terraink makes it incredibly easy to customize the colours and map details so you can create something that looks exactly the way you want. Enjoy!

Download

Blue

iPad + Mac | iPhone


Carbon

iPad + Mac | iPhone


Aubergine

iPad + Mac | iPhone


Midnight

iPad + Mac | iPhone


Sage

iPad + Mac | iPhone


Slate

iPad + Mac | iPhone