Jonathan Ive will go down in history as “the” Apple designer. His work was undoubtedly reflected in the company’s products and is already part of the history of computing. Even now that he has cut all ties with Cupertino, his legacy is very present in all his successors.
But that doesn’t mean all of Jonathan Ive’s designs are brilliant: there are also imperfections on his record that have sparked ongoing debates over which products continue to sell. Let’s take a look at this legacy and examine what is life at apple like without jonathan ive.
A track record of success but not without its “flaws”
I walked very little on the stage of the opening speech from Apple, but did so to introduce the “Unibody” design of laptops that is still used today. And now it’s something everyone accepts, but at the time it caused intense debate
Among them, a too brutal imposition of USB-C ports (especially for professional users), ending MagSafe charging which ended up returning and with other options such as the card reader. The butterfly keyboard was also a big mistake: after several attempts to improve it, we ended up going back to the scissor mechanism.
I’m not saying you have to to crush to Jonathan Ive (most of his legacy is impeccable and without him we wouldn’t have products like the iPod or the iPhone), but we must consider these or other details that we still suffer from: the charging mode of the Magic Mouse is still something that in my opinion is incomprehensible.
In search of a replacement for an Apple that no longer takes design into account as much
After I announced his departure from Apple to create his own design studio, LoveFrom, many of us wondered if this would be reflected in the company’s products. And over the years, it has been noticeable: steps have been taken to resolve user complaints, even if it sacrifices finesse and lightness in some cases.
In this igamesnews article, they comment that the end of working relationships with Ive caused no drama for Apple Park workers: apparently there was less and less interaction, and Ive’s duties at during his last months they were rather those of a mere adviser.
Jonathan Ive’s first replacement was Evans Hankey, but he has already confirmed that he will be leaving Apple and therefore another person must be found
Jonathan Ive’s first replacement was Evans Hankey, who shared design responsibilities with Alan Dye. But Hankey has already announced that he will also be leaving Apple, so it’s time to find someone else with the experience to run it all. Nobody can be Jonathan Ive, but you have to find someone with the talent to approach him. And so far the facts show it’s not easy at all
Apple’s approach may also have gradually changed: Mark Gurman said a few weeks ago in Bloomberg that priority rotated slowly from product design to profit squeeze. And that must have also caused his run-ins with the design team. Part of the price of wanting to keep growing no matter what.
We may see more traces of evolving design decisions in Apple’s next big new product: the augmented and virtual reality headset. Being an unprecedented device in Cupertino, they must have started designing it from scratch and without Ive’s influence. Although little by little, as we have already seen in some Macs, the design and appearance of the rest of Apple’s ranges has already changed little by little.
Original Image | Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
