Apple Design Chief Jony Ive: iPhone X Will 'Change and Evolve' Over Time

[redman042]

Fast forward 6 months and no one will be talking about the notch. They will just expect it to be there on an iPhone, and it will be fine.

Just like the first software keyboard, or AirPods, or most other initially controversial design decisions that Apple has made.

 

[kazmac]

I think what bums me out is that there was a time that I respected Ive and the work he's done as a product designer, the last time was around five years ago. As he moves away from hardware, and designs things which have no meaning, inspiration, impact or wonder for me so this mirrors my growing unease with Apple. Not to mention the hubris, price points and reality distortion field becoming ever larger.

The man has created some great products. I wish he'd do that again.

 

[Larry-K]

So are you predicting that most iPhone X users are having a similar experience to yours? I think you are actually the first person that I have heard who feels the way you do. Out of millions of phone users, there will certainly be a small number who don't like any feature.

But anyone who thinks that Apple is going to struggle to figure out how to embed a fingerprint reader under the screen for the few who don't like it versus continue to make Face ID even better is kidding themselves.

Touch ID isn't coming to any more phones anymore than a headphone jack is.

Hence the SE.

 

[Hirakata]

In the future, Ive believes the iPhone X will offer capabilities it doesn't have now...

Ahh, pretty much like everything created...ever.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Not to be confused with the notch apologists, or notch complainer complainers.

is that supposed to be me?

 

[Cartoonkid]

It's impossible to enjoy money in your pocket. Until you spend it it's just numbers in a spread sheet.

You obviously aren't, and have never met an accountant. Us bean-counters LOVE seeing big numbers on a spreadsheet (as long as they're in the right column).

Joking aside, perhaps I'm in the minority, but having money in the bank (or my pocket) is, by far, more enjoyable than spending it.

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

Definitely one of the unique aspects of going to a full screen design. Combined with 3D touch its possible to completely revamp the UI with a software update. I'm glad they aren't locking the design and are open to improving it in the future.

 

[FelixDerKater]

The notch will find its way off the screen.

 

[kre62]

Actually, it was a response to me saying that anyone who used it could see that Touch ID is dead. Even if Touch ID was currently superior it could be clear that in the long run Face ID would be a better technology.

So, his saying he didn't like it was not actually a rebuttal of my claim that those who have had any experience with it would realize that there is not going to be any more Touch ID period.

You in no way shape or form can declare that absolute. The people Ive talked to are 50/50 on FaceID and thats really concerning for supposed game changing tech. People could reject it and demand Apple go with the superior touchID.

 

[mazz0]

He’s absolutely right. I’m still in the “wow, this thing is gorgeous” stage with my X, but it’s already the best model yet at just getting out of the way and feeling like I’m holding the webpage in my hands instead of a device that shows me the webpage. As for the notch, whilst I’d rather it wasn’t there, I actually don’t find it distracting at all, which was a pleasant surprise. I think it’s more something that I’ll aprectiate not being there rather than being annoyed by when it is there, just like the old top and bottom borders.

Also, I think that magazine cover is very nicely designed.

 

[artfossil]

I think what bums me out is that there was a time that I respected Ive and the work he's done as a product designer, the last time was around five years ago. As he moves away from hardware, and designs things which have no meaning, inspiration, impact or wonder for me so this mirrors my growing unease with Apple. Not to mention the hubris, price points and reality distortion field becoming ever larger.

The man has created some great products. I wish he'd do that again.

My Watch, Pencil and Airpods are a joy to use. They’ve increased my productivity and my creativity. (Which has translated into satisfaction, recognition and money.)

When I look at Ives’ career, from the iMac (which helped to resuscitate Apple) to the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad . . . I find an astounding, and inspirational body of work.

I don’t have an iPhone X but I admire the design. My Apple Watch is my favorite, and most used, piece of technology in my 33 years of Apple products. I admire the aesthetics of these products and I’m grateful for the positive impact they have had on my life.

 

[citysnaps]

The level of discourse at MacRumors is embarrassing. It's like a bunch of children tossing around one line insults as if they are terrified of people and companies that actually succeed. 6 pages of snarky comments and not one tech discussion worth reading. It's sad, sophomoric and ultimately useless.

Trashing people and companies who have worked hard for their success is the only way for the powerless to have a brief and tiny blip of power, and being heard. 15 seconds of forum fame. It's a sad situation.

 

[GoldenJoe]

I wish I could get paid to design magazine covers like that. Incredible.

 

[M87]

It becomes clearer every day just how much Apple needed Steve Jobs steering the ship. Sad!

 

[PickUrPoison]

There where prototypes years back with cameras behind the LCD. And rumours of dual pixel designs having the screen also be a camera. Give it time and we'll see the notch disappear and the screen take over that space in the iPhone X edition 3/4/5.

Edit: Apple seem to have a patent for this already.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/08/apple_files_patent_for_camera_hidden_behind_display

The camera is only 1 of the 8 components located in the notch. I’m sure the notch will shrink in both dimensions, but it’s going to be a long time before all the components can be pushed up high enough (or somehow be located under screen) not to require some sort of cutout.

 

[EnderBeta]

Trashing people and companies who have worked hard for their success is the only way for the powerless to have a brief and tiny blip of power, and being heard. 15 seconds of forum fame. It's a sad situation.

So because people don’t like a product we’re looking for 15 minutes of fame?

Seriously?

I have a 2012 Mac Min Quad Core 2.3GHz i7, 2015 MacBook Pro 13” base model, hex core nMP with a 512gb ssd and d700 cards, and a Late 2015 iMac maxed model. I love these machines. I also have a iPhone6+ and iPad Pro 12.9 512GB LTE and both are great devices.

Why is it if I don’t like the notch on the iPhone X I’m all of a sudden trashing the entire brand? Good grief.

 

[preetb]

Good, evolve a home button and make simpler again.

Apple design chief Jony Ive recently sat down for an interview with design, architecture, and fashion magazine Wallpaper* to discuss Apple Park, Apple's newest campus in Cupertino, California which he had a hand in designing, and the iPhone X, Apple's newest device.

The iPhone X, Ive says, was designed to serve as a vessel for software, with a design that melds into the background. Apple's design team has always aimed to "get design out of the way." "We try to define a solution that seems so inevitable that it does recede," he said. In the future, Ive believes the iPhone X will offer capabilities it doesn't have now because software is always evolving, something he finds intriguing and fascinating.

Ive declined to comment on Apple's future product plans, but he said his design group is "absurdly curious and constantly looking for alternatives." Some ideas are "beyond the technology" at the moment, but exist to "galvanise the development of technology." Reflecting on the past, Ive says that looking back on the past 25 years, what Apple has learned is more important and precious than what's been designed.Ive is described as "giddily excited" about the new campus and its enormous ring-shaped main building and the potential it has to change the way Apple employees work by bringing them together. Design studios that are currently physically disconnected will be able to come together, so industrial designers can work with font designers, sound designers, motion graphics experts, and so on.

Ive says Apple Park has been designed to be inherently flexible and reconfigurable, with Apple able to "very quickly" create large open spaces or lots of smaller private offices. "The building will change and evolve," says Ive. "I'm sure in 20 years' time we will be designing and developing very different products, and just that alone will drive the campus to evolve and change."

Wallpaper*'s latest cover, designed by Ive​

There were rumors suggesting some Apple Park employees were dissatisfied with the open office design at Apple Park, so much so that Apple vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji insisted his team work at a different location, but the Wallpaper* piece mentions several times that office space within the main building is configurable, with teams able to choose individual offices or open spaces.

Apple will, however, maintain its culture of secrecy. "The way that we work is quietly," said Ive. "We are conspicuously different in that and it is an important part of who we are."

Ive's full interview with Wallpaper* is well worth reading and offers further discussion about the Apple Park campus and the attention to detail that went into its design. It also looks further at the various elements of Apple Park, including the Steve Jobs theater, the landscaping, and the configuration of the building.

Article Link: Apple Design Chief Jony Ive: iPhone X Will 'Change and Evolve' Over Time

 

[wizard]

so the era of phones is over its down to software updates the AR glasses will be its successor

Well all products eventually reach a point of equilibrium after which only minor improvements can be offered.

As for Johnny ands allusions to tech that isn't ready yet, I believe what he is talking about is a folding iPhone.

Maybe a bit further out I see Apple best future to be in the area of personal robots. That tech is still a long ways away but things like FaceID will expand to allow robotics to recognize people around them and adjust behaviors accordingly. In this regard even an automobile effectively becomes a robot, you could have that car set up to unlock when only certain people sit in the drivers seat for example.

 

[DNichter]

Your lack attention to detail makes me laugh

Lack of. I know it’s there, I just don’t pay attention to it in use.

 

[flat five]

cool article with some sweet pictures of the new HQ..
thanks for posting @MR

 

[CausticSoda]

The notch will one day be integrated into the frame itself. Going to be amazing the difference in the next decade..

Quite so! For all those people kidding themselves that the notch is some wonderful design feature / statement, it is nothing but a necessary fudge, albeit not a disastrous one. I am sure Apple will drop it the moment technology allows, and I look forward to that.

 

[flat five]

Quite so! For all those people kidding themselves that the notch is some wonderful design feature / statement, it is nothing but a necessary fudge, albeit not a disastrous one. I am sure Apple will drop it the moment technology allows, and I look forward to that.

technology allows that to happen today..
they could of just kept the bezel going straight across the top..
it would of been a lot easier for them to do that.

 

[now i see it]

The iPhone Notch reminds me of one of the old (transitory) Powermac G4 designs.

 

[artfossil]

It becomes clearer every day just how much Apple needed Steve Jobs steering the ship. Sad!

Jobs died six years ago. I appreciated him while he was alive. I live in the present and design for the future. I don’t miss him.

 

[Tozovac]

...with the most amazing back catalogue.

I think you nailed the reason why there's so much snarky criticism in this thread, a lot of it well-deserved in my opinion. Jony has some groundbreaking, amazing designs in his back catalog. He, Steve, Scott, and others exploited the hell out of some low-hanging fruit 10 years ago and created a phone and UI system that was head & shoulders above anything else at the time. But there's only so much low-hanging fruit to exploit, after which you eventually look up to a tree almost completely picked-over. Without good self-recognition, good self-managment, good vision, and a good overall design sense (or without good upper management), next thing you know you're unnecessarily polishing tree bark down to the wood and pruning away healthy branches you once painstakingly developed from a sapling, leaving behind something so stripped-out and smoothed-over that in some ways it's a fraction of its former robust self. The issues that many including myself have (and which is well-reflected in this article above that's so laughingly full of blow-hardy Jony-isms) is that Apple seems more about forced innovation onto a pretty mature product for the sake of innovation...more way too unnecessary plastic surgery onto their iPhone just to make it some evolving yet timeless vision of the future while foregoing a lot of the things that made Apple products flexible, unique, easy to use, fun, convenient, attractive, etc. After ten years, not one single “durable/industrial” shock-proof shatterproof iphone option?? Quite sad really.