Apple’s Industrial Design team has long been admired for their incredible work in
a variety of product categories.
In fact, their exceptional talent has earned them the title of the most awarded design
studio in the world.
And nearly every Apple fan knows the face of their design team; Jonathan Ive.
He's been with the company since September of 1992, and deserves credit for some of their
most iconic product designs.
But after 27 years of working exclusively for Apple, Jonathan Ive has decided to leave
the company at the end of the year and create his own independent design firm called LoveFrom.
This move has left everyone in the tech community speculating as to why he left Apple and what
his decision means for the future of the company’s design team.
This is Greg with Apple Explained and I want to thank Ting for sponsoring this video.
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So if you’ve been following the news about Jonathan Ive leaving Apple, you’ve probably
seen very similar comments and articles as when Steve Jobs resigned in 2011.
Things like this, “And that, my friends, is how the story ends.”
“Beginning of the end of Apple.”
“I think this is not good news for Apple’s future.”
“Why now?
I think they’re not telling us something.
Some internal battle or debate we don’t know about.”
And that last quote was the first reaction of many news outlets and pundits, who made
the assumption that something must be wrong with Apple’s leadership if talented people
like Jonathan Ive are leaving.
But this theory is founded on nothing but hearsay, rumors, and speculation.
If we consider the observable evidence over Apple’s history, the truth becomes much
clearer, and much less sensational than others may have you believe.
Let’s start by pointing out that no one from Apple’s original design team formed
in 1991 is still with the company today.
There’ve always been people leaving and joining the team, under Jobs leadership and
Cook’s leadership.
We also have to consider that all of our attention is placed on Apple’s small Industrial Design
group of 20-22 members.
Despite the fact that there are literally hundreds of other product designers at Apple
not part of that small exclusive team.
And when one person leaves Apple’s Industrial Design group, it tends to create a domino
effect of others following suit.
It happened in 2000 when five people left the team in close proximity, and again earlier
this year when three people announced their departure followed by Jonathan Ive himself
in June.
And Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson certainly didn’t help the situation when
he went on CNBC and said, “In my book, Steve says how Tim Cook can do everything, and then
he looked at me and said, ‘Tim’s not a product person.’”
He later went on to say, “Sometimes Steve, when he was in pain and it was problematic
and he was angry, he would say more things than [Cook] was not a product person.
I felt I would put in the specific things that were relevant to the reader but not the
complaints.”
Those comments quickly fueled the fire that the Wall Street Journal had ignited just a
week earlier with their article titled “Jony Ive Is Leaving Apple, but His Departure Started
Long Ago.”
And just by simply reading the sub-header you get a clear picture of the article’s
argument.
It reads, “Design chief helped create some of the world’s best-known products, but
grew distant as the company shifted focus under CEO Tim Cook.”
The implication being that Apple’s focus has changed since Steve Jobs death.
But if you saw my video last week titled “Why Apple Has NOT Changed” you’ll understand
that the Wall Street Journal’s article is false, or at least extremely misleading.
Because if you were aware of Steve Jobs temper and personality, it would come as no surprise
that he uses quite pointed language when frustrated or angry.
He was also known for having a certain opinion one day, and completely changing his position
a few days later.
So you’ll likely find much more truth in his actions rather than his words.
And when it came to Jobs actions in regard to Tim Cook, the evidence is unmistakable.
Jobs actually poached Cook while he was working at Compaq in 1998 and persuaded him to work
for Apple, despite the company floundering and being at serious risk of bankruptcy.
To any rational person, leaving Compaq, one of the leading tech companies at time, to
join Apple, a sinking ship, was career suicide.
And this is what Cook later said about the decision, “no more than five minutes into
my initial interview with Steve, I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and
join Apple.
My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work
for the creative genius, and to be on the executive team that could resurrect a great
American company.”
Many people give Steve Jobs all the credit for bringing Apple back from near bankruptcy
in the late 90s, but even Jobs himself admitted the achievement was a team effort that wouldn’t’ve
happened without the talents and expertise of people like Cook.
And when is comes to allegations of Tim Cook shifting Apple’s focus from hardware to
operations or not being a quote “product person,” just take one look at what Apple
has accomplished with Cook as CEO.
He spearheaded the Apple Watch project which was not only one of the most complex projects
from an operations perspective, but also one of the most successful products from a hardware
perspective.
The Apple Watch has dominated the industry with 51% market share in the fourth quarter
of 2018, and no other product is even close to catching up.
The AirPods were developed under Cooks leadership and has become a global phenomenon.
In fact, revenue from the Apple Watch and AirPods combine recently surpassed the iPad.
Which is quite an achievement considering the original iPad was the fastest selling
product in Apple’s history.
Now I say all that about Tim Cook in order to make it clear that Jonathan Ive didn’t
leave Apple because he felt they were no longer a product-driven company or because he had
problems with their leadership, which is what many people are claiming.
And this can be proven by comparing Apple’s hardware today with that of the mid 90’s,
when Apple’s leadership truly valued making cheap products rather than great design.
And this quote from May-Li Khoe in an interview she did with Rene Ritchie said it all.
She said, “it’s about the organization support around the design team much more than
it is about whether or not there’s creativity or great designers inside the organization.”
And I think that’s an incredibly important distinction that many people don’t consider.
Jonathan Ive was working under poor management in the 90s before Steve Jobs return to Apple.
He admitted to feeling uninspired and defeated since the leadership was forcing the design
team to simply fit as much technology into cheap beige boxes as possible.
And the hardware Apple produced during that period was exactly that, cheap and uninspired.
But it wasn’t for lack of talent or creativity, it was due to poor support and management.
That’s absolutely not the case today.
Apple is still producing products with incredible hardware and maintains an environment conducive
to great industrial design.
So then what are some possible reasons why Jonathan Ive decided to leave?
Well, I think there are a few explanations.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the video, Jonathan Ive has been working for Apple for
27 years.
It’s where he established his reputation as one of the world’s leading designers
and how he became well-known.
But over the past decade we’ve seen Ive express interest in designing products outside
of the tech industry.
In 2013 he partnered with Marc Newson to help design various products for a (RED) charity
auction, including a Leica camera and aluminum desk.
In 2018 they teamed up again to create a diamond ring.
And keep in mind Jonathan Ive’s passion for design started with cars, and he admitted
designing computers was something he never thought he’d do as a young adult.
So it isn’t hard to imagine that Jonathan Ive would like to branch out and get involved
with a variety of industrial design projects, rather than being limited to the scope of
Apple products.
But what is perhaps more concerning for Apple fans is what might happen to the company after
Jonathan Ive’s departure.
And this takes me back to the Steve Jobs situation back in 2011.
When Tim Cook was appointed CEO, Apple’s stock tanked and article after article was
written signaling doom and gloom for the company since it no longer had the leadership of its
iconic founder.
But those doomsday predictions aged quite poorly as Apple went on to become the world’s
first trillion dollar company thanks to the success of new products like the iPhone X,
which were released under Cook.
And I suspect history will repeat itself when it comes to Jonathan Ive.
You see, the ethos of Apple is much bigger than one person.
It didn’t go away when Jobs left in 2011, and it won’t go away when Ive leaves later
this year.
In fact, I think Jonathan Ive had much more time to prepare for his departure than Jobs,
and the team he’s leaving behind is not only well trained and talented, but it’s
organized in a way that fosters great design.
Also, the woman taking over for Jonathan Ive, Evans Hankey, has worked alongside I’ve
on products like the iPhone and iMac, and has over 300 patents to her name.
She has an incredible reputation within Apple and she will certainly be a fantastic Vice
President of Industrial Design.
It’s also worth mentioning that Jonathan Ive will still be involved with Apple’s
design team since they’ll be his firm’s first client.
So while it can be scary to see iconic figures like Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive leave the
Apple, it’s important to understand that the company doesn’t die simply from their
absence.
As long as Apple continues to make incredible products that surprise and delight users,
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Alright guys thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.