7 ms·

Apple ends consulting agreement with Jony Ive

61 points by carlycue 4y ago

subtract-smiles 4y ago
While I doubt this will happen, I am interested to see if any of Apples products (recent MacBook Pros excluded) will get a drastic design overhaul.
- throwaway5959 4y ago
  Could you imagine if they finally made the Magic Mouse a decent mouse? Recharge from the front, more ergonomic, great pairing/switching.
  - CodeWriter23 4y ago
    Or, just wired. I don't care if they call it the Bottom Feeders Mouse for N00bs I'd buy it.
  - SSLy 4y ago
    I can, other companies are making that.
  - solardev 4y ago
    I hope they don't change the ergonomics. In 30 years of using a mouse, trying out dozens of different ones, this is the only one that I've ever been able to use the whole day without discomfort. It's magic.
  - joseda-hg 4y ago
    The whole point of it not charging from the front is so people don't just always leave it plugged in Maybe make it chime so you have to unplug it and they keep their annoying "we know better than you" while leaving users to their own literal devices
unixhero 4y ago
Can we have kick ass laptops again?
- maxxam 4y ago
  We already started getting them imo. Look at the 14in MacBook Pro for example.
  - kitsunesoba 4y ago
    I’ve been just as happy or happier with my company provided M1 Pro 16” than I was with the much vaunted pre-touchbar 2015 15”. I can’t think of too much more that I’d want from a laptop.
    - Dracophoenix 4y ago
      HDMI 2.1, DP 2.0, ECC RAM, replaceable SSDs, non-adhesive batteries, and, ideally, a cellular modem. In my case, it's likely I'll be waiting a long time. What's your company's policy on data safety? I would hope there's something in place should your Mac's motherboard fry.
      - kitsunesoba 4y ago
        My use case at least would benefit little from any of those listed features. Not that I wouldn’t take them if they were available without sacrifices elsewhere, but they’re cherries on top, not dealbreakers. Data safety isn’t a concern because changes are pushed regularly. The amount of work lost would be at most two or three hours’ worth.
      - nomel 4y ago
        > ideally, a cellular modem Does this make sense, these days? My phone's connection is a click away, in my Mac's WiFi menu. What does an integrated modem solve?
        termau 4y ago
lttlrck 4y ago
The man has skills but this past due. Apple devices have become sterile, utilitarian, no passion. Sony set a very high watermark practicality and desirability - subjective of course, but just look at what they've done over the years: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/gallery/ https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/gallery/ I hope Apple can inject some creativity.
- booi 4y ago
  sony minidisc player is the epitome of design... or I'm just stuck in the 90's
  - gandalfff 4y ago
    I'm not stuck in the 90s ... which model of Sony Minidisc?
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    I had that growing up and loved it, it was a big upgrade over my discman, but for me the iPod 5th generation is the best personal music device ever created. I recently bought one (my original got stolen a decade ago) and upgraded it to use a 512gb SD card. It's still the king. Got a pair of planar headphones and I'm hearing things in Beatles songs I've listened to ten thousand times that I've never heard before. When I use it in the car, I don't have to take my eyes off the road to change the track, the subtle audio feedback let's you use the menu without looking at it. It fits well in the hand, I wouldn't want it any smaller or lighter (it's a little too light due to my SD card mod). No touchscreen, no internet connection and it holds my entire collection and then some. I don't even like Apple laptops or phones, but that thing is a work of art. Edit: The best part is I can service it. You could buy almost an entire iPod worth of replacement parts on eBay.
  - iancmceachern 4y ago
    Not only the epitome of design, but the pinnacle of Mechanical sound playing objects. After this it's all flash memory and lcd screens.
- mgh2 4y ago
gjvc 4y ago
Snow Leopard was the peak!
- mekster 4y ago
  And iOS 6.
solardev 4y ago
Is this the guy responsible for the Intel Macbook Pros becoming a useless single-port monstrosity with unusable keyboards? I think his personal motto was "Make it as thin as possible without sacrificing usability, then forget the second half and make it thinner just because I said so." If so, good riddance! I wish Apple would go back to being an engineering company instead of a boutique advertiser.
- sealeck 4y ago
  Apple was originally an arts-based company, and much more concerned with design over engineering. As for what Jony Ive came up with, his Wikipedia page has a lot of detail: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive
  - goosedragons 4y ago
    I wouldn't say that's true. The Apple II was actually the more flexible and engineering focused of the 1977 Trinity with it's multiple expansion slots and built in assembly monitor. It was very much a computer for hobbiests because that's what Woz personally wanted.
  - solardev 4y ago
    I dunno, their designs for the last decade or so, before the most recent years, have been entirely unimpressive. Yeah, they're supposed to be known for it, but IMHO their outputs were pretty ordinary and caused a lot of usability issues. Disposable trash-can desktops? Pro laptops with no ports? iPads that bend every which way? iPhones that didn't have working antennas? Whoever was responsible for those, whether it's Ive or anyone else... I just hope Apple is using this separation to turn a new leaf. So much of design is subjective, but my particular problem with them is that they emphasized form over function so much that their products were unusable in the end. I remember needing a new laptop for a few years, and kept looking at the Mac ones year after year but unable to type on them. Then, whatever happened in the last 2-3 years has been AMAZING. I thought Ive had already left in some capacity and that was why. Finally, usable pro machines again (still wish they had a USB-A port). I look forward to what they will produce without being under a bad design dictator anymore.
peter303 4y ago
I am hoping Ive contributed to development of Apples forthcoming Reality Glasses. Existing VR/AR spectacles are so clunky. I am hoping for something almost light are regular vision glasses.
- BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
  This isn't the result of existing makers not understanding that thinner/lighter would be ideal; it's the result of current technical/physical limitations. New tech like pancake lenses[1] isn't out the door yet, but advancements like these will be the next step. [1] https://old.reddit.com/r/AR_MR_XR/comments/utxvkg/3m_pancake_lens_for_vr_received_display_component/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AR_MR_XR/comments/utxvkg/3m_pancake...
crmd 4y ago
A healthy ego is helpful in design, but he lost me around the time he started being chauffeured to and from work in a Maybach, like some head of state.
- bvoq 4y ago
  Apple is more powerful monetarily than most states though.

61 points by carlycue 4y ago

While I doubt this will happen, I am interested to see if any of Apples products (recent MacBook Pros excluded) will get a drastic design overhaul.

throwaway5959 4y ago
Could you imagine if they finally made the Magic Mouse a decent mouse? Recharge from the front, more ergonomic, great pairing/switching.
- CodeWriter23 4y ago
  Or, just wired. I don't care if they call it the Bottom Feeders Mouse for N00bs I'd buy it.
- SSLy 4y ago
  I can, other companies are making that.
- solardev 4y ago
  I hope they don't change the ergonomics. In 30 years of using a mouse, trying out dozens of different ones, this is the only one that I've ever been able to use the whole day without discomfort. It's magic.
- joseda-hg 4y ago
  The whole point of it not charging from the front is so people don't just always leave it plugged in Maybe make it chime so you have to unplug it and they keep their annoying "we know better than you" while leaving users to their own literal devices

unixhero 4y ago

Can we have kick ass laptops again?

maxxam 4y ago
We already started getting them imo. Look at the 14in MacBook Pro for example.
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  I’ve been just as happy or happier with my company provided M1 Pro 16” than I was with the much vaunted pre-touchbar 2015 15”. I can’t think of too much more that I’d want from a laptop.
  - Dracophoenix 4y ago
    HDMI 2.1, DP 2.0, ECC RAM, replaceable SSDs, non-adhesive batteries, and, ideally, a cellular modem. In my case, it's likely I'll be waiting a long time. What's your company's policy on data safety? I would hope there's something in place should your Mac's motherboard fry.
    - kitsunesoba 4y ago
      My use case at least would benefit little from any of those listed features. Not that I wouldn’t take them if they were available without sacrifices elsewhere, but they’re cherries on top, not dealbreakers. Data safety isn’t a concern because changes are pushed regularly. The amount of work lost would be at most two or three hours’ worth.
    - nomel 4y ago
      > ideally, a cellular modem Does this make sense, these days? My phone's connection is a click away, in my Mac's WiFi menu. What does an integrated modem solve?
      - termau 4y ago

lttlrck 4y ago

The man has skills but this past due. Apple devices have become sterile, utilitarian, no passion. Sony set a very high watermark practicality and desirability - subjective of course, but just look at what they've done over the years: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/gallery/ https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/gallery/ I hope Apple can inject some creativity.

booi 4y ago
sony minidisc player is the epitome of design... or I'm just stuck in the 90's
- gandalfff 4y ago
  I'm not stuck in the 90s ... which model of Sony Minidisc?
- willcipriano 4y ago
  I had that growing up and loved it, it was a big upgrade over my discman, but for me the iPod 5th generation is the best personal music device ever created. I recently bought one (my original got stolen a decade ago) and upgraded it to use a 512gb SD card. It's still the king. Got a pair of planar headphones and I'm hearing things in Beatles songs I've listened to ten thousand times that I've never heard before. When I use it in the car, I don't have to take my eyes off the road to change the track, the subtle audio feedback let's you use the menu without looking at it. It fits well in the hand, I wouldn't want it any smaller or lighter (it's a little too light due to my SD card mod). No touchscreen, no internet connection and it holds my entire collection and then some. I don't even like Apple laptops or phones, but that thing is a work of art. Edit: The best part is I can service it. You could buy almost an entire iPod worth of replacement parts on eBay.
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  Not only the epitome of design, but the pinnacle of Mechanical sound playing objects. After this it's all flash memory and lcd screens.
mgh2 4y ago

gjvc 4y ago

Snow Leopard was the peak!

mekster 4y ago
And iOS 6.

solardev 4y ago

Is this the guy responsible for the Intel Macbook Pros becoming a useless single-port monstrosity with unusable keyboards? I think his personal motto was "Make it as thin as possible without sacrificing usability, then forget the second half and make it thinner just because I said so." If so, good riddance! I wish Apple would go back to being an engineering company instead of a boutique advertiser.

sealeck 4y ago
Apple was originally an arts-based company, and much more concerned with design over engineering. As for what Jony Ive came up with, his Wikipedia page has a lot of detail: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive
- goosedragons 4y ago
  I wouldn't say that's true. The Apple II was actually the more flexible and engineering focused of the 1977 Trinity with it's multiple expansion slots and built in assembly monitor. It was very much a computer for hobbiests because that's what Woz personally wanted.
- solardev 4y ago
  I dunno, their designs for the last decade or so, before the most recent years, have been entirely unimpressive. Yeah, they're supposed to be known for it, but IMHO their outputs were pretty ordinary and caused a lot of usability issues. Disposable trash-can desktops? Pro laptops with no ports? iPads that bend every which way? iPhones that didn't have working antennas? Whoever was responsible for those, whether it's Ive or anyone else... I just hope Apple is using this separation to turn a new leaf. So much of design is subjective, but my particular problem with them is that they emphasized form over function so much that their products were unusable in the end. I remember needing a new laptop for a few years, and kept looking at the Mac ones year after year but unable to type on them. Then, whatever happened in the last 2-3 years has been AMAZING. I thought Ive had already left in some capacity and that was why. Finally, usable pro machines again (still wish they had a USB-A port). I look forward to what they will produce without being under a bad design dictator anymore.

peter303 4y ago

I am hoping Ive contributed to development of Apples forthcoming Reality Glasses. Existing VR/AR spectacles are so clunky. I am hoping for something almost light are regular vision glasses.

BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
This isn't the result of existing makers not understanding that thinner/lighter would be ideal; it's the result of current technical/physical limitations. New tech like pancake lenses[1] isn't out the door yet, but advancements like these will be the next step. [1] https://old.reddit.com/r/AR_MR_XR/comments/utxvkg/3m_pancake_lens_for_vr_received_display_component/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AR_MR_XR/comments/utxvkg/3m_pancake...

crmd 4y ago

A healthy ego is helpful in design, but he lost me around the time he started being chauffeured to and from work in a Maybach, like some head of state.

bvoq 4y ago
Apple is more powerful monetarily than most states though.