Over the past year, we’ve compared jet card programs, reviewed specific planes, and even calculated the cost to fly carbon neutral. Today, we thought we’d have some fun and dream up a hypothetical new aircraft.

We’re Mac users here at Halogen Guides and believe that a big part of Apple’s success is their attention to detail, their focus on quality, and their design aesthetic. Wouldn’t it be cool, we thought, to imagine what a plane would look like if it was designed by Apple. Of course, it’d be called the “iJet.” (We thought that iJet Air might be a little redundant)

Exterior

Although Apple has had tremendous success using a cube shape for its computers (and its stores), the Borg are the only ones who’ve had any luck building cube-shaped vehicles. Apple would naturally use a more sleek shape for the iJet. Think of the iPod’s clean lines, polished surfaces, and tight, seamless fit. Consider the shape of the Mighty Mouse, wireless, streamlined, a three-button mouse that doesn’t look like one, without sacrificing functionality. The iPhone, with it’s one-button simplicity, is more aerodynamic than most planes out there. So it’d be a short trip to imagine what an Apple-designed jet might look like.

The iJet would be the ultimate “flying billboard.” Where better to emblazon one of their signature silhouette ads than on the tail of a iJet. Paint the jet matte black like a MacBook (or a stealth bomber) with a silver tailfin and matching winglets. Imagine Steve Jobs jet-setting to openings of new Apple stores. We know he already has the G-V, he insisted the board reward him with, but isn’t he missing a valuable branding opportunity? He’d zoom in on the iJet and attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans. Jump on the plane and an hour later, he’s back in the Bay Area for dinner. Or swing down to LA for a quick meeting with Hollywood music moguls and a board meeting at Disney. Hey, at the very least, we’re sure Fake Steve Jobs, would be interested in taking her out for a spin.

Cabin

Lead Apple designer Jonathan Ive could have a field day with the interior. Think all white, like the iMac, or brushed aluminum, like the high-end MacBook Pro. Imagine integrated multi-touch screens on the backs of every seat, translucent consoles that come to life when you tap them with your finger.

iPhones would be standard issue for passengers, along with embedded video iChat to communicate with headquarters and key customers. Jobs can call up keynotes from past MacWorlds or watch apple tv instead of JetBlue’s DirecTV while in flight.

Cockpit

Without a doubt, iJet’s avionics would run a custom version of OS X. It would do for the iJet what it’s done for the iPhone and apple tv – perfect, purpose-driven functionality. It might be called Jet OS X, or maybe “Flying Leopard 10.5.4.”

iJet pilots can’t be bothered with keyboards and mice, of course. Enter multi-touch controls and windshield display overlays. The iJet’s OS might have a customized version of Spaces, Apple’s multi-screen management tool. The captain could easily optimize what she sees for different flying conditions. Imagine a navigation-based version of Time Machine to call up past itineraries and flight-paths.

Typical flight console controls are replaced by Dashboard Widgets, of course. Instead of “fly-by-wire,” it’s fly-by-wireless. The iJet would re-define Airport Extreme for Apple.

Apple Force One

Unfortunately, as great as this sounds, Apple seems to have no plans to enter the private aviation industry. But with its expertise in hardware and software, the company could certainly design a phenomenal iJet – one worthy of the moniker “Apple Force One.”

Now there’s a jet we’d love to review.