The LEGO Apple Store Inches Closer to Becoming a Reality
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It seems like there’s a significant overlap between Apple fans and LEGO enthusiasts. If the nearly two dozen LEGO-themed apps for iPhone and iPad users to enjoy aren’t enough, last year, one particularly creative fan submitted a LEGO design for a detailed Apple Store that now looks like it could become a real product.
The LEGO Apple Store appeared early a year ago on LEGO’s “Ideas” website, where LEGO aficionados can submit mockups of things they’d like to see turned into LEGO sets, with other members able to vote on the ideas. The Apple Store design began as just another random entry of dozens, but it was also beautiful and meticulously designed, attracting plenty of attention. It hit 1,000 supporters only six days after being submitted on May 22, 2024, and quickly reached 5,000 by June 15.
Those levels bought it another two years to hit the final milestone of 10,000 votes. That threshold advances it to the Review phase, in which a LEGO Review Board decides if this can be turned into an official LEGO Ideas product.
In other words, there’s a possibility we could someday be able to buy this LEGO kit of an Apple Store.
Still, this merely means that LEGO is actively considering the idea. The Review Board could still decide to nix it for any number of reasons. The board is made up of designers, product managers, and other key team members within LEGO, who evaluate the product to see if it meets the company’s high standards for “playability, safety, and fit with the LEGO brand.”
LEGO does these product reviews three times a year, so the Apple Store set has made it in just in time for the regularly scheduled May review.
This isn’t just a paper or theoretical evaluation. The team builds concept models, meaning this Apple Store model will be built internally. Whether anyone outside of LEGO ever sees it will be determined by how feasible it is, not just from a practical standpoint but also in securing the necessary licensing agreements.
That’s where things could get sticky. In a superabundance of legal caution, LEGO will almost certainly seek Apple’s permission to use its brand. Here’s hoping Tim Cook is a LEGO fan, or this could be dead in the water.
In theory, LEGO could proceed with a more generic electronics store that avoids any explicit connection to Apple, but that would make the product considerably less marketable. After all, it’s probably fair to say that the 10,000 people who upvoted it want an Apple Store, not another fruit-themed computer store.
Either way, the review process is expected to take several months, although you can watch the LEGO Ideas page for updates.
Even if LEGO decides to proceed with developing and selling a LEGO Apple Store, it will probably be another year or two before it lands on shelves, as LEGO model designers have to refine the product and create the box, instructions, and marketing around it before they can even ramp it up for a production run.
Once picked, a product idea enters the Production phase. LEGO set designers take the original submission and refine it into a LEGO product that’s ready for release. Our team designs the final LEGO model, the product materials (building instructions, set box, and marketing assets), and gets everything ready to be produced in our factory.
LEGO
The design proposes a 1,539-piece kit that measures 16.1 x 10.1 x 6.2” when assembled. The level of detail is also incredible, with true-to-life miniatures of current Apple products on the tables and homages to iconic Apple products as some surprise easter eggs. It’s not based on any specific location but is unmistakably an Apple Store. However, since the design is submitted as an illustrated concept, it’s hard to say whether the result will end up identical to what’s been proposed. LEGO designers may need to make some changes before it can be turned into an actual product.
The designer, TrumanBricks, is quite prolific on LEGO Ideas. They’ve submitted 49 designs since 2019, with several recognized as “Staff Picks” and one that made it to market: Vincent Van Gogh: The Starry Night.
