Remotes should be simple and sleek. At least, that’s always been Apple’s policy when it comes to making remotes, or anything for that matter. The company proved this with the Apple TV’s remote, which has a mere seven buttons, and people are wondering whether Apple will do the same thing with the next Apple TV’s remote. If rumors are to be believed, Apple will actually be making the remote even more simple by reducing it down to two buttons and a trackpad, although the remote itself will be slightly thicker.
Apple has long ridiculed remote controls for being too complex. Now after eight years of a minimalist design for its Apple TV remote, the company is revising the device’s design. When Apple introduces its new TV box this summer, the remote control will gain a touch pad and also be slightly thicker than the current version, according to an employee briefed on the product, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the device was confidential. The touch pad can be used for scrolling around and there will also be two physical buttons, the person said. The remote’s thicker size is comparable to the remote control for Amazon’s wireless speaker, the Echo, the person added. Tom Neumayr, an Apple spokesman, declined to comment on the product. The current Apple TV remote has been an important case study for Apple’s employee training program, Apple University. In one course, instructors compared the Google TV’s remote control, which had 78 buttons, with the Apple TV remote, a thin piece of metal that in its current version has three buttons. The Apple remote was used to show how the company’s product designers started out with an idea and debated until they had just what they needed for the device to be usable and easy to understand, according to people who have taken the course.