Apple's Longtime Design Chief Jony Ive Leaving to Start New Design Company With Apple as a Primary Client

[chilly willy]

Change is inevitable. The man made great contribution to the Apple products we love, so I am thankful for all he did. But I will also try to be optimistic that this may allow a bit of a shake-up that any ongoing entity needs to thrive, imho. I do not see Apple collapsing with Ive departure. To me, Apple's success will be determined by the quality of OS and hardware it puts out - the design is already unique and stands out from the crowd at this point. A bit more focus on the innards might be a good thing at this juncture so Apple does NOT become just another bland tech company as someone else mentioned in a prior post. His legacy will stay and allow for interesting design to remain a factor in product development - I do not expect Apple to suddenly start churning out bland rectangle towers or laptops the size of cereal boxes tomorrow. lol
Part of why I came to Apple ecosystem was admittedly the aesthetics, that I cannot lie about, but mainly I became an Apple guy because of OS and that macs "just worked".
Anyway, thanks Jony. Good luck to you and Apple going forward....

 

[mrxak]

Angela for sure as she's a more successful CEO than Cook has been. Jony would likely be a CEO if required to step up.

I just have to LOL at this.

 

[mi7chy]

So I was talking about design. Tim Cook doesn't design hardware of software. Does he? Did I miss something?

You're correct. Tim Cook is a supply chain guy which means cutting corners to increase profit resulting in crappier products so opposite of design DNA.

 

[Reason077]

OMG! Well, it could have been worse. At least he wasn't found dead.

 

[nouveau_redneck]

Good riddance. Seriously, he has been a drag on Apple with his thin fetish and form over function stance. Don't let the door hit ya.

 

[Mactendo]

Well its back to this then, I guess.

Apple computers never looked like that. Since the first Mac they had very nice design.

 

[rp2011]

Change was eventually gonna come. Icons like Jobs, Ives and Bill Gates are irreplaceable and not inmortal, but the world goes on. The good thing is Apple is in good financial shape right now to absorb any immediate turbulence.

 

[len5]

"Can't innovate anymore my ass!" Phil Schiller should have been gone 10 years ago.

 

[stevet]

Can we please have someone who has more design objectives than "make it thinner". Enough of the literally 2-dimensional thinking.

I usually roll my eyes at Gruber posts nowadays, but I completely agree with him on this one. The problem isn't necessarily Ive's leaving, it's now the underlings are reporting to operating officers not designers. If this is an interim solution then fine, but they didn't make it sound like that. That might be the worst news.

 

[Wide opeN]

Brexit

Easily the best comment so far!!!

 

[TheNotch]

Oh no...Notch daddy has left the chat.

 

[DNichter]

Wouldn’t be surprised if this was some compromising arrangement. Maybe Jony wanted to step out and spread his wings, and “leaving” Apple allows him to do that, while still working with them.

I’m sure it’s something along those lines. He’s been strictly Apple for so long, I’m sure he just wants to work on different types of projects. He will still design Apple products in this new role, he now just has more freedom to do other things As well. Seems amicable to me.

 

[Khedron]

Jobs very clearly played the role of much-needed editor to Ive's design work. That's why after Jobs died, Apple became a fashion company with form over function. It was clear that Tim Cook lacked the ability or willingness to say no to Ive.

Tim constantly says no to Ive. Jobs created new manufacturing processes to meet Ive's vision. Tim points Ive to use existing parts bins like a Lego creator.

 

[chilly willy]

You're correct. Tim Cook is a supply chain guy which means cutting corners to increase profit resulting in crappier products so opposite of design DNA.

Cook is great at what he knows, and when Jobs was around, he was a big piece of the success of Apple. Without Jobs, or similar counterweight, he is simply doing what he knows how to do to maximize profit, just as many think Ives lacked someone to reign in design choices and impact on functionality. Who knows. But I do admire in hindsight the team that was firing on all cylinders when Apple took off after coming back to life......and Cook was an important part of that team - regardless of whether you think he's a very good CEO

 

[rp2011]

My guess is Craig Federighi is named to take over Tim Cook within the next 2 years.

 

[Wide opeN]

So what does this actually mean?

Thicker devices?
More ports?
Less courage?
Better keyboards?
Matte screens?
No more TouchBars?
Apple logo glowing again?

Who knows?

I wish him well though, he's a good designer.

Getting rid of the glowing logo = dumbest decision ever!!!

 

[Rockar82]

Seems to me to be a soft exit statement for stock market purposes, if they come out and say he’s leaving to pursue other ventures it would be a different reaction from the markets. It doesn’t seem that long ago he said he wouldn’t be going anywhere, and now with the iPhone at peak he’s picked the perfect time to call it a day. The question now is what does Apple require from his ‘new company’ that they can use on the mass market.

 

[Glideslope]

So, Jony’s first product for Apple will be “The Love Phone 1?”

 

[stevet]

Does anyone here really believe he's going to be designing products for Apple?

 

[Khedron]

Change was eventually gonna come. Icons like Jobs, Ives and Bill Gates are irreplaceable and not inmortal, but the world goes on. The good thing is Apple is in good financial shape right now to absorb any immediate turbulence.

The bad thing is Apple is in good financial shape right now with no motivation to innovate.

 

[Asarien]

Pretty sure he'll end up designing the next generation of electronic and self-driving vehicles.

 

[Khedron]

Does anyone here really believe he's going to be designing products for Apple?

He'll be "collaborating", i.e. collecting royalties for current designs being reused by Tim for about 8 years

 

[patent10021]

Don't worry. It's no different than missing out on the latest Rolling Stones or Duran Duran album. They once were great but their time is over.

It's better this way because now he can actually hire some young proteges who have better design ideas.

 

[panjandrum]

This is huge. Such a enormous impact he's had on the company.

Yep! And pretty much all negative! Too bad Apple is going to be one of his primary clients. They should just be done with the idiot and get on with someone who actually know how to design computer hardware and software UIs that don't suck big hairy moose muscles. He can go elsewhere to design minimalist **** and sell to people who don't need actual productivity.

Personally I think he should go on to design and sell a blank white piece of very thin plastic that does absolutely nothing as the "computer of the future". After all, what self-respecting hipster would ever want a computer with something as crass and tasteless as a functional keyboard, screen, and visible UI? That's for all the poor sad norms of the world!

 

[nouveau_redneck]

Best Apple news day in a long time. Now, maybe Apple can get serious.