Apple Desktop Navigationbar

If you’ve ever opened Apple’s website on a desktop, you might have noticed how clean, fluid, and interactive their navigation is. Today, I’ll walk you through creating a desktop navbar inspired by Apple’s design, using React, Next.js, and Motion for animations.

We’ll cover:

• The inspiration behind the design

• Structuring a dynamic navbar

• Using motion for smooth dropdown animations

• Overlay effects and hover interactions

Let’s dive in.

Inspiration

Apple ↗’s website has always been a benchmark for sleek UI/UX. The desktop navbar stands out for its:

1. Minimalist logo placement

2. Clean typography with subtle hover effects

3. Interactive dropdowns that feel fluid rather than jarring

I wanted to recreate a similar experience using modern web tools, while keeping it fully customizable and React-friendly.

Tech Stack

Here’s what we’re using:

• React & Next.js: Component-driven architecture with server-side rendering and routing.

• Motion (from Framer Motion): Animations for dropdowns and overlays.

• TailwindCSS: Quick and responsive styling.

• TypeScript: Strong typing for component props.

Component Structure

The main component is called AppleDesktopNavBar. Here’s the general idea:

1. Logo Section: The Apple SVG logo sits on the left.

2. Links Section: Dynamically rendered links using a data array.

3. Dropdowns: Appear on hover, with smooth Motion animations.

4. Overlay: Dimmed background when a dropdown is active, using backdrop blur.

We define a type AppleLinksProps for better TypeScript safety:

This type allows us to handle both standard links and search-enabled dropdowns.

Rendering the Navbar

The navbar is fixed at the top of the page and dynamically renders links from an array called AppleLinks. Each link handles hover interactions:

Notice how we update activeLink on hover to control which dropdown is visible.

Dropdown Animations

Motion is where the magic happens. Using AnimatePresence and motion.div, we create smooth enter/exit animations for dropdowns:

We use blur effects, vertical translation, and opacity changes to mimic the Apple feel. The AnimatePresence wrapper ensures animations play when the component mounts or unmounts.

Overlay Effect

When a dropdown is active, we display a semi-transparent overlay with backdrop blur, giving focus to the dropdown:

Notice pointer-events-none—this ensures the overlay doesn’t block interactions with the dropdown itself.

Handling Search Dropdowns

Some links, like “Search,” need a custom section in the dropdown:

This pattern makes the navbar fully flexible—you can have regular dropdowns, search-focused dropdowns, or even custom content in the future.

Takeaways

• Apple’s design inspires clarity, subtlety, and smooth animations.

• Motion makes it trivial to create smooth dropdown animations without messy CSS transitions.

• TypeScript ensures our props are structured and safe.

• Overlay blur effects improve user focus and visual depth.

Next Steps

• Make it responsive for mobile using a hamburger menu.

• Add keyboard accessibility and ARIA labels.

• Optimize for SSR in Next.js, especially for large link datasets.

• Experiment with custom animations for a more unique feel.

Conclusion

This Apple-inspired desktop navbar is fully open-source ↗, built with React, Next.js, TypeScript, TailwindCSS, and Motion. It’s flexible, reusable, and designed to be a solid foundation for any modern web project. Whether you want to mimic Apple’s sleek UI or customize it for your own style, the code is ready to adapt. Dive in, explore, and make it your own!