One of the many legacies left behind by Steve Jobs is that he helped transform Apple into a well-oiled machine capable of succeeding without him. Even more impressive, arguably, is that Apple appears well-positioned to survive the departure of Jony Ive, the legendary designer responsible for a large number of Apple’s most iconic products. From the original iMac all the way to the iPhone release in 2007, Jony Ive has perhaps had more of an impact on the products we use than anybody else. And yet, Ive’s initial announcement that he was set to leave Apple to form his own design company didn’t have as much of an impact on Apple’s share price as many would have thought.
Ive’s plan to leave Apple was first made public in June, though specific details were a bit hard to come by. At the time, Apple’s press release simply stated that Ive would “depart the company as an employee later this year.” Now, about five months later, it appears that Ive is officially gone in light of the fact that he no longer appears on Apple’s Leadership page.
Though Ive’s tenure as an Apple employee has come to an end, Apple is still planning to rely on Ive’s talents via a partnership with Ive’s new design company which is called LoveFrom.
“Apple will continue to benefit from Jony’s talents by working directly with him on exclusive projects, and through the ongoing work of the brilliant and passionate design team he has built,” Tim Cook said a few months back. “After so many years working closely together, I’m happy that our relationship continues to evolve and I look forward to working with Jony long into the future.”
Interestingly enough, there are some who believe that Apple products have become decidedly better with Ive out of the picture. Though the timing may be coincidental, Apple finally got around to fixing its butterfly keyboard design shortly after Ive left the company. Recall, Ive is notoriously obsessed with product thinness, which can sometimes come at the expense of usability.
