Jony Ive Said to Be 'As Connected to Product Design as Ever' Following Speculation About His Role

[Mr Retina]

Im not going to join the Apples doomed crowd. I will say that I truly believe that Job's inspired his design teams to do better and not settle ever, telling them "That's not good enough, I know you can do better" and encouraging them to push the envelope farther than they thought they ever could. With Cook I just don't see that push. I still think hes a great leader, but he's running a safe ship nowadays. Its like every year we hear this speech of "Amazing" products coming down the pipeline, but they've always ended up with lukewarm surprises once they do announce said Amazing products. Ive said it before, and Ill say it again the Surface Studio's design could've really been a nice evolution of the imac and a nice throw back to the days of the swivel head imac with the guts in the base.

 

[LordVic]

The Mantra is still "Thinnner = Better"

so of course Ive's still the guy. He hasn't had a new idea in years. Everything is just "make it thinner"

when the ideas he had were "new", you could say he was a top designer. But in the last 5ish years, What "New" design has he released?

the Apple Watch looks nearly identical to the first iPhone, just smaller.
the iPhone 6, 6s and 7 are nearly identical
the MBP is almost the same as the last two iteration, just Thinner
the new macbook is a thinner Air.
the ipad pro/air2 is a thinner ipad

so when they showed the new MBP's that were just thinner... yeah, We all knew Ive was behind that one.

 

[gugy]

I've been an Apple fanatic since the 1980s. If you've been watching them this long, you'll start to see the patterns in the tech industry and see how the pendulum swings. Does anyone else remember when Sony was the "Apple" of that time? I do. Does anyone else remember when Apple nearly went bankrupt? I do. If you want to understand where Apple has come from and will mostly likely end up in the next decade or so, here's a great article on the rise and fall of Sony Corp. and how it influenced Apple's rise and speaks to its most likely future.
http://www.sonyrumors.net/2011/10/11/steve-jobs-wanted-apple-sony/

yeah, I remember being a Sony guy, loved their products. Today I walk by some of their retails stores and honestly there is not a single product that excites me to buy.
I hope Apple doesn't make the same mistake of spreading too thin across too many industries. When I hear, Music, Cars, watches, etc. I cringe. Focus on the Mac/iDevices both software/hardware and be careful jumping on others things. Make sure you offer the best instead of being on too many fronts offering a not so great experience.

 

[Mildredop]

Even the Watch is just a repeat of an old theme:

View attachment 674318

Some see a simplicity in this. I see someone playing it safe. YMMV.

Wow. That's actually a bit sad.
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so of course Ive's still the guy. He hasn't had a new idea in years. Everything is just "make it thinner"

Who's to say it's Ive that decides to make things thinner? Maybe he's told to reduce the thickness by others.

 

[petsounds]

Completely agree. Removing features constantly just to make it thinner, all while prices get higher.

The design team doesn't make decisions like this. Product decisions lie primarily with Phil Schiller (Marketing) and Tim Cook. Design's job is to take product requirements and make something great. I'm sure Ive has some input, but he's not the one saying, "Get rid of the HDMI port" or "I don't think we should make AirPorts anymore." I'm sure Ive's team makes products as thin and light as possible, but they don't have the latitude to axe features towards that goal.

 

[citysnaps]

Yep,
I don't mind Ive's design as of late. My issue is the compromising performance in the name of form. Not sure Ive is the responsible for that.
For me the biggest two examples of the above are the removal of the headphone jack on iPhone and the lack os ports and 16GB RAM on MBP. Phil could be the guy pushing or these. That said the products are still beautiful but they must bring function and performance back.

Apple had a choice to make. Release MBPs this year with Skylake CPUs (becoming available in the last two months) with 16 GB max RAM, and decent battery life. Or... wait until next year when suitable 35w Kably Lake CPUs are available in production quantities, with 32GB of RAM as a user option, and still keeping excellent battery life.

Since I suspect the majority of people, including a wide range of "professionals," are fine with 16 GB it made sense to release this year. Either way, ship now with 16 or next year with a 32 GB option, Apple would be trashed here on MR. Just as they are with every new product/generation released since Steve Jobs returned; first iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air, Watch, etc.

As far as "bringing back" function and performance, well, how about the four 40 Gb/sec TB 3 ports each daisy-chainable and also capable of supporting USB 3.1 gen 2, in addition to supporting two 5K external displays over a single cable providing display data, display control, audio, display camera, and laptop charging? How about the high-performance DCI-P3 wide color gamut display? And the 10 hour battery? And the touch bar offering a new UI that's highly integrated with the OS and applications?

 

[diazj3]

Maybe the 10th Anniversary iPhone will be his last major design for Apple?

We can only hope...

Jony Ive should've left some years ago now. He has contributed nothing valuable to customers for years.

Whats more, he has stolen value from customers with his stupid ideas...

Plus, he's an unbearable, smug *****.

 

[Investor27]

Just look at that picture profile of Ive. Uncompromising, stubborn and as arrogant as ever. We will never get a Macbook Pro or any other Apple product that we want again from him.

 

[Banyan Bruce]

Please reinstall headphone jack and give us better battery life.

 

[maadmole]

I wonder how it works, does Jony say "it needs to be Xmm 'thin'" or do that hardware/strategy guys say "we're going to go for all USB-C/TB3 so don't worry about all those other ports"?

For me the gaps at the moment are on the strategy side. No 3.5mm on iPhone but keeping it on Mac, dropping Airport, dropping standalone displays etc... That's not a design issue per se unless Jony's role include 'designing the strategy'.

I don't care whether Ive stays or leaves, but would worry if the product pipeline starts with him. Design comes into play actualizing the solution to a problem. Solve the wrong problems and design is irrelevant; your erstwhile customers will put up with flaws in competitors' products that meet their needs. The Mac line is a mess right now, as many here have noted (or see the latest Tidbits for a comprehensive enumeration). I'm not ready to give up yet, but I see two scenarios for 2017:

1) the current problems were caused by Intel's difficulties with Skylake delivery dates. The Macs get refreshed (mostly with Kaby Lake) with rational differentiation on price-performance-weight. Life is good.

2) continued neglect, desultory product releases, and maybe an attempt to push everyone over to iOS. It's the early 90's again, when Apple's last brush with extinction was preceded by years of overpriced, underpowered junk.

We'll know in a year, and if the latter, Windows with VMware starts to look tempting.

 

[steve333]

I would love to see Ivy leave. Then maybe Apple will produce computers where the inside is more important than being thin on the outside

 

[yanki01]

..

 

[Naimfan]

Has anyone noticed how the new 15" MBs do on geekbench? While it is an admittedly limited and artificial benchmark, the 2016 models are not performing as well as the high-end 2015s.

 

[LordVic]

Has anyone noticed how the new 15" MBs do on geekbench? While it is an admittedly limited and artificial benchmark, the 2016 models are not performing as well as the high-end 2015s.

Smaller chassis introducing mor e thermal throttling perhaps?

Something that will need to be tested. But it's a similar problem that's happened with the iMacs after they thinned them out. Less space for cooling often leads to thermal throttling

 

[Naimfan]

Smaller chassis introducing mor e thermal throttling perhaps?

Something that will need to be tested. But it's a similar problem that's happened with the iMacs after they thinned them out. Less space for cooling often leads to thermal throttling

Could very well be.

I think we would have hoped for a more significant improvement in performance, n'est-ce pas?

 

[LordVic]

Could very well be.

I think we would have hoped for a more significant improvement in performance, n'est-ce pas?

I would have liked to see it, but I recognize that Apple is limited In many of their performance gains by Intel.

Unfortunately due to current processes and physics we've reached a point of diminishing returns on straight up CPU performance gains per generation. Most of the benefits of new CPUs are ancillary functionalities that weren't there before. Native encoders for things like h265 decoding, thunderbolt 3, heat/power gains, etc.

The bigger concern I have is artificially putting a ceiling on even the small benefits in order to put form over function on an item that should be function over form.

When you call something a pro, ignoring what a "pro" is because it's different for everyone, but it implies that this thing is geared for working. Any kind of working. And I have an issues with potentially limiting something's power to make it 3mm thinner, because "looks"

For me, Pro means you take the Bert hardware you can find, and build around it, not build a chassis and force the hardware to work in it.

For those who want the superthin over power, there are already laptops for that. So why take the last remaining powerhouse and do the same?


I like this laptop. But it's more a retina MacBook plus, than a retina MacBook pro, but with a $500 markup

 

[Sylvan]

I wouldn't mind if he checked out and let someone design the products with more utility in mind.

 

[NY Guitarist]

...every aspect of every new product remains as much under his watchful eye as ever. That his chief design officer title isn't the least bit ceremonial, and instead is an accurate representation of his increased authority.

So now we know Ive gave the go-ahead on removing one of the least costly yet highly valued features, the MagSafe power adapter.

That one feature alone has caused me numerous times to stop and think, 'this attention to the enduser experience is why I buy Apple products'.

 

[Icaras]

I think Apple needs some fresh blood and fresh thinking in design beside thinner.

I think the fresh blood in this forum needs to find another forum to whine in.

 

[LordVic]

Wow. That's actually a bit sad.
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Who's to say it's Ive that decides to make things thinner? Maybe he's told to reduce the thickness by others.

Fair enough. But if it's not I've driving the overall design, than why does he take/get the overwhelming credit?

And why does he talk like he's a master designer?

He just, annoys me

 

[astrocramp]

I'm tired of thinness. Add a few more millimeters to the devices and fill ALL that extra space with battery.

Just yesterday, I just pulled out my mid-2010 17" MacBook Pro out after a long period of neglect to test a device that has only ethernet. I forgot how nice this laptop is - a giant screen, full sounding speakers, display port, 3x USB ports. I upgraded it to SSD, added more RAM, and now it runs even better. No, it's not paper thin, but I love this thing.

Apple needs to offer something like this again.

 

[Brian Clifford]

I hope Jony Ive stays with Apple as long as he is creatively happy and productive there.

 

[Soccertess]

He must first perfect the brushed aluminum block of metal. Only than can he move on.

For those of you who don't know:

The iblock, designed in California will retail for 100,000, but the the most amazing, innovative, and most advanced block Apple has ever made.

For all those Samsung posters here, Samsung didn't copy the block of metal, but will release one that looks the same 6 months later. Samsung doesn't copy though, they had blocks of mental available months before hand. I have to add this or else those on Samsung's pay roll who post here will get mad!

 

[dv8r]

Fair enough. But if it's not I've driving the overall design, than why does he take/get the overwhelming credit?

And why does he talk like he's a master designer?

He just, annoys me

Ive is a master designer. My take is that Apple with Jobs/Ive had the perfect balance between form and function, now it seems that it's mostly form and not much function, this is because Ive likes form waaay more than function. Take the touch-bar - why does there have to be a gap in the left side, so the keys seem to be oddly placed farther to the right? Because there is a gap in the right side because of the fingerprint scanner... form over function.

 

[LordVic]

Ive is a master designer. My take is that Apple with Jobs/Ive had the perfect balance between form and function, now it seems that is mostly form and no function, this is because Ive likes form waaay more than function. Take the touch-bar - why does there have to be a gap in the left side, so the keys seem to be oddly placed farther to the right? Because there is a gap in the right side because of the fingerprint scanner... form over function.

I never noticed the gap. Now I do. Thanks

The removal of the esc key to make it look right is what did it for me.

I live in vim. Escape is life