Is Apple's design really soulless?

Is Apple's design really soulless?

Apple's place at the top of the design pecking order goes without saying. And Jony Ive is at the heart of Apple's design neutrality.

Jony Ive, the man behind Apple's landmark products such as the iPod, iPhone and iMac, has ended his partnership with Apple, according to the New York Times.

He officially stepped down from Apple in 2019, but works as a consultant for the company through his design firm, LoveFrom. This is the second time he has parted ways with Apple, and perhaps the most completely.

For 30 years, he helped design most of Apple's products and set the tone for its most brilliant products. Mr. Jobs once said that many people at Apple were replaceable, but Mr. Ive was not one of them.

When Ive joined Apple in 1992, it was going through its darkest years. Jobs's departure, product direction confusion, market failure. Mr. Ive's first assignment was to design the second Apple Newton, which would fix many of the shortcomings of its predecessor.

Unfortunately, the Apple Newton, the original iPad, was not a commercial success, and Ive almost left Apple in 1996.

Fortunately, Rubenstein convinced Ive to stay at Apple. Jobs then returned to save the company he founded at a critical moment. For Jobs's appreciation of Ivy, the face of the crisis was ordered to work on Apple product design.

In 1998, the Apple iMac, designed by Ive, was released. Its blue, translucent design made it stand out in the market and helped bring Apple back to life.

Since then, Ive has created several versions of Apple's translucent shell design that blend in with the company's old rainbow logo.

In 2001, the iPod was released. Ms. Ivey ditched the multicoloured translucent design in favor of a minimalist white.

It's not just the colors, but the iPod's design as a whole: the simple wheel design, the simple interface, even the on-off button and the replaceable battery have been streamlined. Eventually, the iPod took the world by storm, accounting for half of Apple's revenue at its peak.

The iPod was the foundation of Apple's minimalist design. The next iPhone, with its full touch screen, single Home button and black body, once again trumped simplicity.