Star Wars: Apple iPhone designer Jony Ive helped create new lightsabres for The Force Awakens

Apple's Jony Ive has revealed that he offered up a few design tips to Star Wars: The Force Awakens' director JJ Abrams regarding the lightsabres in his new science fiction blockbuster.

In an article profiling Apple's senior vice president of design, The New Yorker's Ian Parker describes a meeting between the two.

"Ive once sat next to JJ Abrams at a boozy dinner party in New York, and made what Abrams recalled as 'very specific' suggestions about the design of lightsabres. Abrams told me that 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' would reflect those thoughts, but he wouldn't say how," reads the profile.

Ive then commented on the meeting, downplaying his involvement in any design process – including the design of the new crossguard lightsabre seen in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer released last year.

At first saying it was "just a conversation," Ive then revealed that his suggestion was that the famous laser swords created by George Lucas for the original film in 1977 should look uneven. "I thought it would be interesting if it were less precise, and just a little bit more spitty," he said.

The lightsabre in that trailer certainly seems to have a less refined beam to it, with the crossguard sections in particular looking more like flames jetting out of the hilt. It definitely fits the description of Ive's suggestion.

Ive added that he thought the sabres should be "more analogue and more primitive" and therefore "somehow more ominous."

It's certainly interesting that the designer of so many sleek Apple products would want to see a "more primitive" lightsabre, but his suggestions do fit with Abrams' vision for a more grounded rebirth of the series, particularly after the CG-heavy prequel trilogy.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on 18 December.