The uniqueness of Jonathan Ive

Most of the international press welcomed the announcement of Jonathan Ive's farewell to Apple as the end of an era. An era that, thanks to Steve Jobs's visions and his dear designer friend’s ideas, has seen the Cupertino-based company become a synonym for excellence, not only because Apple is one of the best tech companies, but also because it was the first to win the race to $1 trillion in market capitalization. Steve Jobs may have been the mind that paved the way to innovation, but Ive made it possible to explore and develop it at a steady pace.   

After endless talks, morning meetings and shared lunches, Apple’s co-founder had always believed that Jony Ive is a truly unique person. As a child, he was passionate about cars and industrial design. As an adult, he became the man that designed the devices that transformed technology and its traditional perception. Thanks to him, to perform a task we no longer use the usual and boring tools we have always used, but beautiful and effective objects, designed and cured in every aspect to be something not only to use but also to show off.

While always staying faithful to the two mottos that have permeated his philosophy - "Less is more" and "Form follows function" - Ive created the products that have redesigned the experience of many services, thus transforming our daily lives. iPhone, iMac, iPod, and iPad are the result of Ive’s revolutionary thinking and of his ability to give shape to the often too avant-garde ideas of the much-feared (by others) and trusted companion Steve.

And to think that all the technical and economic greatness of Apple is partly due to chance. Steve Jobs rejoined Apple just in time to get Ive to change his mind: after the initial difficulties and the Apple Newton flop, Ive just wanted to move on, but Jobs instead made him Head of Design. Together, they revolutionized the concept of cause and effect on which the production of rival companies was based: the main goal had always been to create a product that people wanted to have, but it was the ability to turn this product into a status symbol that allowed Apple to dominate the market and dictate the rules of the game.

After Jobs' death and Tim Cook's rise, Apple gradually has embarked on a new path. Jony Ive (who became Sir in 2012) will continue to unleash his creativity in several directions, focusing his attention mainly on the first new product after Jobs’s death, the Watch: an object of strategic importance in the medium- and long-term future for Apple. For now, with your Apple Watch you can control your heart rate and take an electrocardiogram, but later it will also become a remote control (like other similar devices) to monitor your state of health and to revolutionize (through an appropriate software) the relationship between patient and doctor; In a nutshell, thanks to the Apple Watch, the company will be able to guarantee health insurance to its clients-customers.

Ive, in collaboration with Marc Newson, has recently opened a new design studio called LoveFrom, and will focus on the development of products related to the healthcare world, since Healthcare Technology is considered to be one of the next most profitable industries. Speaking of the future, last March, with the announcement of Apple Arcade, Card, News+ and Apple Tv+, Apple has confirmed that the priority is to expand its ecosystem by introducing different services that can attract the vast audience of iPhone/iPad/Mac owners. This overshadows, at least temporarily, the need to develop new devices - also because, despite the decline in sales, the iPhone is always a certainty.

So, Jony Ive's departure from Apple is not surprising, considering that during the past years the English designer has been working on Apple Park, the new company spaceship-like headquarters. By the end of the year, Ive will leave his famous and mysterious office (where even his family was not allowed).  Apple will be LoveFrom's main customer, but it will no longer be the only one to enjoy the visions and insights of the man who designed and created the most imitated and best-selling products of the world.