Apple Design Chief Jony Ive Talks iPad Pro Design in New Interview

[imageWIS]

Likewise

Stop committing logical fallacies, lepton.

 

[Icaras]

Stop committing logical fallacies, lepton.

You’re just thinking about what you care and want in a device. Nothing is wrong with that. But you’re being hypocritical when you say that people who don’t share your opinion are only thinking for themselves.

When it comes to the audio jack, you’ve got options out there. Great example: the 10.5” iPad Pro. Change is hard. More so for others. When all the complaints and dust have settled, you only have one other move left in your cards: don’t buy it.

 

[Rogifan]

Ive comes across more authentically in 1-1 convos in person. Lots of nonverbal cues.

Standing on stage (a global stage too - with all manner of opportunities for cultural dissonance and misunderstanding) is clearly not his thing.

I find the perception people have of him vs how he apparently is in real life fascinating. Marco Arment was at the event and was standing near Ive in the hands on area. He said Ive had a crowd of people around him mostly wanting selfies and whatnot. He said it was so obvious how much Ive couldn’t wait to get out of there. Marco didn’t try to go up to him but as he finally broke away he walked past Marco who shouted out “hey Jony we missed you in the videos”. Ive smiled and said “thank you” and walked on. If you ever have seen video of him giving an interview in front of a larger group of people you can tell he’s uncomfortable and quite nervous. He studders quite a bit. Maybe he’s different in settings where it’s just him and a journalist 1:1.

 

[Gameboy70]

I understand the camera can only be so thin.
I'd rather the overall device be that minuscule amount _thicker_, with the benefit of longer battery life (what else would you fill the extra volume with? probably get 30-60 minutes more runtime), and have the back be _flat_.

Agreed. An "honest" design, in the Jony Ive / Dieter Rams sense of the word, would have the lens' focus distance define the lower limit of device thickness.
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I don't care about the corners being "concentric with and sympathetic to the actual enclosure", I care about the screen being the same basic shape as every movie, TV show, video, and photo that will be displayed on it.

I suspect when reviewers and customers actually get the IPP and play a video, the default display will be letterboxed, with the image's corners touching the bezels' corners. Not unlike the letterbox default display on the iPhone X, which everyone assumed would have a notch-cropped fullscreen display as demoed in the first hands-on videos.

 

[Bacillus]

Ah. So...450 meetings, 1000 designers, 500 assistants, 2500 pilots, 45 billion on R&D, 15% for design.
And what we got: a 0.5” larger rectangular screen with a magnet.
Just incredible what pure, singular talent can accomplish

 

[0920872]

Agreed. An "honest" design, in the Jony Ive / Dieter Rams sense of the word, would have the lens' focus distance define the lower limit of device thickness.
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This. Also, the removal of the jack port also goes against Dieter Rams' principles.

The Jack vs Wireless headphones thing is becoming like the good old mp3 vs CD or Vinyl argument. In the very late 90s/early 2000s when compression wasn't there yet and the difference was striking. It isn't the case anymore (you need good gear to hear it).

To the "Who needs a jack anyway in 2018?" people:

Audiophiles. Bluetooth audio is Plagued. With. Compromises.

1. You need to apply extra compression on your signal to be able to consistently deliver it to the headphone (it still gets to be wonky sometimes)
2. You need to convert the signal from digital to analog IN your headphone, where you have to reduce the weight as well as the power usage of the converters.
3. You need to keep your headphone charged and battery life matters
4. Although pairing is easier nowadays, it still doesn't have the simplicity of just plugging your wired headphones in and out.
5. With many of these BT headphones (including those junky Beats ones) you cannot charge and listen simultaneously (W-T-F)

The key to Apple's success used to be a seamless experience that justified the premium. For me, the above is definitely not seamless, but hey, at least the corners are concentric and sympathetic. While the former is true indeed, I'd drop the sym from the latter.

 

[farewelwilliams]

I signed up just to comment on this.
Is it really that hard to appreciate someone trying to describe their passion and effort behind their work? I’m a designer myself and deal with this regularly.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

On a side note, this sort of explains why Apple isn't as "greedy for money" as some people on this forum think they are. People think that Apple makes certain controversial design decisions to make more money but in reality it's just Jony and his team figuring out what's best for the user experience because they're just passionate about this stuff.

 

[RickInHouston]

Is Ives only worth $130 million? I would think it would be so much more.

 

[imageWIS]

Agreed wholeheartedly.

On a side note, this sort of explains why Apple isn't as "greedy for money" as some people on this forum think they are. People think that Apple makes certain controversial design decisions to make more money but in reality it's just Jony and his team figuring out what's best for the user experience because they're just passionate about this stuff.

None of your post is based on reality.

 

[netdudeuk]

Ah. So...450 meetings, 1000 designers, 500 assistants, 2500 pilots, 45 billion on R&D, 15% for design.
And what we got: a 0.5” larger rectangular screen with a magnet.
Just incredible what pure, singular talent can accomplish

That would be pure, unashamedly singular talent

 

[VMMan]

Ives is gifted. Blame Cook for Apple’s greater problems.

 

[I7guy]

Ah. So...450 meetings, 1000 designers, 500 assistants, 2500 pilots, 45 billion on R&D, 15% for design.
And what we got: a 0.5” larger rectangular screen with a magnet.
Just incredible what pure, singular talent can accomplish

If it were easy anybody could just slap an iPad together.
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Ives is gifted. Blame Cook for Apple’s greater problems.

What greater problems?

 

[Abazigal]

Agreed wholeheartedly.

On a side note, this sort of explains why Apple isn't as "greedy for money" as some people on this forum think they are. People think that Apple makes certain controversial design decisions to make more money but in reality it's just Jony and his team figuring out what's best for the user experience because they're just passionate about this stuff.

This.

Apple sets out to create the best products possible. It's just that being a design-led company, their interpretation of what "best" entails for the consumer tends to differ from most other tech companies, and as such, often comes across as appearing quite unorthodox.

That's why I continue to argue that the biggest risk facing Apple is not in charging $1k for iPhones, but for them to basically become like any other tech company out there, because that means losing everything which made Apple unique in the first place. As long as Apple remains being Apple, people will buy whatever price Apple asks of their products. Of this, I have no doubt.

 

[imageWIS]

This.

Apple sets out to create the best products possible. It's just that being a design-led company, their interpretation of what "best" entails for the consumer tends to differ from most other tech companies, and as such, often comes across as appearing quite unorthodox.

That's a great description of Apple under Steve Jobs. That's NOT what Apple is now.
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If it were easy anybody could just slap an iPad together.
[doublepost=1541288853][/doublepost]
What greater problems?

It's a lot ***** easier with $400 billion in the bank! Does 'anybody' have $400 billion in the bank? No.

 

[Music Ambulance]

I'm not going to comment on his skill as a designer

but whenever he speaks, holy crap. it's excessive hyperbolic buzzwords out the wazzooo. trying to break down and understand what he says is a nightmare as most of it generally just sounds like "I do good stuff" in fancy wording.

there's so much... fluff when he talks that it distracts from getting any real detail out of him. He's either a master at it, or maybe he's just one of those type whose not great at speaking his mind.

this quote:


Literally means nothing. there's no meaning here. it's roughly translated to "We like the look of rounded corners"

"is concentric Sympathetic to the actual encloser = We rounded the screen to match the case
"You feel it's authentic"... literally means "we think it looks good"
"it's a single clear product" ... means absolutely nothing.

Agree! Incredibly gifted at product design, but his ego takes over once he opens his mouth, and a whole lot of crap spills out (like your average architect). He needs to go listen to some Iggy Pop to learn truncation and summary.

 

[Abazigal]

That's a great description of Apple under Steve Jobs. That's NOT what Apple is now.

So you don’t think products like the Apple Watch and Airpods are innovative?

 

[davidjearly]

That's a great description of Apple under Steve Jobs. That's NOT what Apple is now.
[doublepost=1541296214][/doublepost]

It's a lot ***** easier with $400 billion in the bank! Does 'anybody' have $400 billion in the bank? No.

Typing something in caps does not make it any less correct.

So you don’t think products like the Apple Watch and Airpods are innovative?

I'm guessing no, given they've spent two days dissing Jony's work and Apple's products in this thread.

 

[MarsViolet]

"The simple flat edge of the iPad Pro is also an achievement..."

Say what? It's the same design as iPhone 4/5. <sarcasm> That's some 'magic'..... </sarcasm>

-Jeff

Not to mention the original iPad which you could hold by the edges without it slipping away.

 

[Tozovac]

Then there is the $1T silent majority.

As I’ve said many times, they’ve gone from being the unquestionable best and only option for many to just a better option than windows and android. Huge difference. If money is your sole metric, they’re leaving money on the table and could possibly be $1.5 if they still created wildly-desired more customer-serving designs than showy future-forcing ones. My upgrade rate vastly slowed after 2013. I’m not alone. Jony’s focus is lost, in his labs too long.
[doublepost=1541320364][/doublepost]

This. Also, the removal of the jack port also goes against Dieter Rams' principles.

The Jack vs Wireless headphones thing is becoming like the good old mp3 vs CD or Vinyl argument. In the very late 90s/early 2000s when compression wasn't there yet and the difference was striking. It isn't the case anymore (you need good gear to hear it).

To the "Who needs a jack anyway in 2018?" people:

Audiophiles. Bluetooth audio is Plagued. With. Compromises.

1. You need to apply extra compression on your signal to be able to consistently deliver it to the headphone (it still gets to be wonky sometimes)
2. You need to convert the signal from digital to analog IN your headphone, where you have to reduce the weight as well as the power usage of the converters.
3. You need to keep your headphone charged and battery life matters
4. Although pairing is easier nowadays, it still doesn't have the simplicity of just plugging your wired headphones in and out.
5. With many of these BT headphones (including those junky Beats ones) you cannot charge and listen simultaneously (W-T-F)

The key to Apple's success used to be a seamless experience that justified the premium. For me, the above is definitely not seamless, but hey, at least the corners are concentric and sympathetic. While the former is true indeed, I'd drop the sym from the latter.

6. Worldwide near-universal applicability.

I’d love an interviewer to probe more about designing out usefulness one day!

 

[Bacillus]

So you don’t think products like the Apple Watch and Airpods are innovative?

Sure but let’s not forget how dongles replaced Airpod socks.
(a paradigm change - instigated by a meticulous understanding of design implications and a desire to create intrinsical beauty)

 

[Coconut Bean]

......

That iPad Pro is just as powerful as a MacBookPro shows us where Apple is headed.

It's not. It is surely very fast and the programs it can run do run comparably.

But when it comes to most benchmarks they won't even run on iPad. Maybe through emulation it would but the performance would be utterly ******.

All these comparisons are done with a subset of tests that both ARM and x86-64 support and thus they are not complete.

 

[Bacillus]

It's now becoming obvious that the iPad is experiencing a metamorphosis into more of a Mac than a large iPhone where it started. The addition of the USB port is starting to make that clear. The iPad Pro has taken on a MacBook Pro design language with flat edges and rounded corners.
In retrospect, the move to creating iPad only Mac-like UI elements like the dock, drag and drop, split screen and more in iOS 11 were the first steps. I expect to see iOS 13 move iPad's iOS further away from the iPhone and closer to macOS. Perhaps we'll see the loss of the app grid which Apple seems to be shifting a focus away from in its iPad Pro marketing materials.
That iPad Pro is just as powerful as a MacBookPro shows us where Apple is headed.

In the reality distortion field of those who want to sell more iPads (and cripple the MacBook Air cpu not to obsolete the MacBook...) that is

 

[deckard666]

Ah. So...450 meetings, 1000 designers, 500 assistants, 2500 pilots, 45 billion on R&D, 15% for design.
And what we got: a 0.5” larger rectangular screen with a magnet.
Just incredible what pure, singular talent can accomplish

Same with any product that’s been designed well to start with - it’s always evolution not revolution. Oh look my new LG tv just got slightly brighter, oh look my Mini Cooper just got slightly faster / more economical....etc etc etc

 

[I7guy]

As I’ve said many times, they’ve gone from being the unquestionable best and only option for many to just a better option than windows and android.

Yes, in your humble opinion.

Huge difference. If money is your sole metric, they’re leaving money on the table and could possibly be $1.5 if they still created wildly-desired more customer-serving designs than showy future-forc..

Again, no way anybody could know if there was money on the table, especially when the first paragraph is an opinion. Correlation does not imply causation comes to mind. My upgrade rate is the same, 3 years for the phones and I want to add airpods, watch and ATV. I’m not alone, extended family upgrades nearly every year.

What does all this mean? Nothing really, just changing opinions over time for a company still at the top of its game.

 

[I7guy]

Sure but let’s not forget how dongles replaced Airpod socks.
(a paradigm change - instigated by a meticulous understanding of design implications and a desire to create intrinsical beauty)

You mean with the lightning equipped ear pods? Dongles optional?