For All Mankind is easily one of the best shows to hit streaming over the past few years, and easily a highlight of Apple TV’s already-exceptional library of original TV shows. The concept of “What If” has always appealed to me, especially with science fiction, and it is fascinating to see a version of our world where the space race never ended.
One thing I particularly like seeing is how technology has advanced differently in the show, in part due to the alternate timeline’s increased push into the great beyond throughout the ’80s and ’90s. The show acknowledges those changes in a bunch of different ways, and I’ve been taking great pleasure in trying to spot as many as I can.
For All Mankind is pushing ahead in weird and wonderful ways
As we’ve seen in our universe, space travel has played a crucial role in developing technology that has important applications back here on Earth. NASA has a whole list, including LED lights, memory foam, wireless headsets and even the computer mouse.
For All Mankind’s increased investment in space travel means that manifests in a lot of different ways on the show. Lunar rover technology led to electric cars gaining prominence in the 1980s, as did video conferencing technology, while the need for nuclear power on the moon meant technology existed to prevent the Three Mile Island disaster.
Eagle-eyed viewers even spotted an iPod during season 3’s 1994 Mars mission — a whole seven years before the iPod would go on sale in the real world. How? It’s never explained, but it goes to show that even consumer technology is somehow more advanced in this space-fueled timeline.
Season 5 kicks off in 2012, and needless to say, that means smartphones make an appearance. Seeing as this is an Apple TV show, we don’t get to see alternate takes on the Google Nexus or Samsung Galaxy. But these aren’t exactly iPhones either. They sure look like iPhones, but the show makes it very clear that these things are actually called Newtons.
Frankly, I think that’s a very cool easter egg to have in this show. Anyone who knows Apple’s product history will know that the Newton was Apple’s failed attempt to enter the PDA market back in 1993. The mini-computer was marred with issues and delays that turned it into something of a joke.
Despite this widespread mockery and lackluster sales, the Newton stayed in production until 1998, when it was killed at the behest of returning CEO Steve Jobs.
This wouldn’t be the first time an Apple Newton showed up in ” For All Mankind, either. Season 3 featured the “Newton Message Pad”, which was a compact home video phone, while a larger model appeared in season 4 with a more tablet-inspired design.
For All Mankind’s Newton Phones are a sight to behold
The 2012 Newton models featured in For All Mankind season 5 are so clearly based on the iPhone. But, unlike the iPod, it’s clear that these devices are distinct from any kind of Apple device we’ve seen in the real world. The show could have taken a relatively modern iPhone and slapped it into the show as a form of product placement. Instead, they seem to have put in a lot of effort to make them stand out.
A lot of things are still the same as you’d expect with an iPhone. The devices are touchscreen-based, suggesting that the world still decided to give the stylus the boot at some point, and the software looks remarkably like iOS did before iOS 7’s controversial 2014 redesign. But the actual hardware is quite something.
The Newton is almost like a mashup between a bunch of different Apple devices. The chunky metal frame is reminiscent of the metal iPod Classics, while the back panel has the vertically-stacked dual camera lenses that first appeared on the iPhone X. That said, it doesn’t feature the same full-screen design as the tenth anniversary iPhone.
This device retains the chunky bezels and notch-free design that hasn’t been seen on a flagship iPhone since the release of iPhone 8, but there’s no physical home button to be seen. Instead, there’s the same white pill that’s present on modern iPhones, and what I can only assume is a fingerprint scanner on the top right side of the phone
There also appears to be a charging port that looks fairly similar to USB-C, which didn’t appear on iPhones until 2023, and a headphone jack. That suggests that even in this more advanced timeline, Apple hasn’t felt “brave” enough to strip that port out of its phones just yet.
Bottom line: Product placement done well
There is no shortage of Apple-centric product placement on TV these days, even in shows that aren’t made for the Apple TV streaming service. Keep your eyes open, and you’ll see iPhones, MacBooks, AirPods and countless other devices appearing on screen. It’s rarely in your face the way some product placement is, but it’s the kind of thing that you can’t unsee.
For All Mankind has reached the point in its timeline where the set designers could have done something similar. Slap some iPhones into the actors’ hands, and dress up some desks with an iMac and be done with it. In fact, there are office scenes that prominently feature the Magic Mouse and what looks like a 2009 iMac. Which, while hardly inventive, is at least period-appropriate.
It’s still very cool to see the amount of effort that’s gone into creating an alternate version of the iPhone, for a world where travelling to the moon and Mars is seen as fairly routine. For All Mankind’s Newton is eye-catching, and obviously an iPhone analogue to anyone who looks at it, but looking closer reveals a bunch of cool details that phone nerds like myself can appreciate.
At the very least, it’s a reminder that this is an alternate version of our world, and a way of pointing out how different things could have been if history had unfolded just a little bit differently.
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