"For All Mankind": TV Show Gives New Life to Defunct Apple Tech

Every season of Apple TV’s “For All Mankind” kicks off in high gear for prop master Jaime Mengual. This go-to guy attends a key huddle with aces like co-creators Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, and producer Ben McGinnis to tackle a major prop assignment - the Apple Newton.

Apple goods aren't uncommon on the big screen; for years they've been sparking chats. Who can flaunt an iPhone on the silver screen? Are villains doomed to nondescript gadgets just to avoid generating disorder with Apple's famous logo? Yet, “For All Mankind" challenges the norm with a different inquiry; Would it use a long-abandoned Apple product that got the boot two decades ago?

For those of us who missed the handheld personal assistant craze in the '90s, the Newton was Apple's early stab into the world of mobile devices, complete with stylus-operated touch screen for digital planned-ness and neatness. It was a pioneer that paved the path for the iPhone. However, despite it being a pathbreaker, it was dwarfed by its more showy competitors like the PalmPilots and Blackberrys, and Apple eventually pulled the plug on it in 1998. In the alternate world of “For All Mankind”, where the American space hiking fervor is still burning like wildfire, this once-forgotten Newton is having a ball, being the iPhone of the era.

But here's the catch - it doesn't exactly act like our current smartphones. Newton 2.0 serves as a powerful line of communication between Earthlings and Martians but without the addictive temptations. "In ‘For All Mankind’ world, when the internet came around, it wasn't public domain, so social media doesn't have the same turnout,” says Mengual to Variety. "This changes how people connect to their device. In our show, Newtons mostly help characters communicate and stay informed.”

The maiden Newton-introduction in Season 3 was made possible thanks to Mengual's eBay scavenging adventure, where he found some authentic, still-in-shape Newtons. He spirited these relics away, furnished them with a nice backlight, slapped in some sharp graphics, added an attached camera, and Voila! A video-call-ready Newton - something they never had in reality.

"I love sifting through past images of prototype iPhones, or designs that didn’t make the cut," admits Mengual. "Even though our Newton outperforms the iPhone in certain aspects, current iPhones do influence our design.”

Our familiar iPhones and iPads had no FaceTime-like features or capacitive touch technology back in the ’90s when “For All Mankind” envisioned such tech for its Newtons. Every choice concerning their evolving Newton is run by Apple's crew, who green-light designs on how apps and sounds are tweaked season by season. Hardware is mostly Mengual's turf, including pondering over the placement of buttons. In Season 4, the enhanced Newton drew heavy inspiration from the iPad Mini, while Season 5 dialed down the size, replicating the iPhone's trend.

Building a scratch model using AMOLED screens didn't quite pan out, and Mengual found himself placing a real iPhone inside an aluminum Newton case. Aesthetics aside, their Newtons echo practicality. "Advanced tech doesn't necessarily mean sleek hardware. Sometimes you'd prefer a more rugged model, fit for harsh environs like Mars or the moon", he adds.

And just in case you were wondering, there's unlikely to be a Genius Bar in space. As Mengual cheerfully points out, "There may not be an Apple repair shop on Mars as close as you might like, so things have to last a little bit longer.”