Sources indicate that Jony Ive started moving away from Apple in 2015, when he was promoted to design director

News like the departure of Sir Jony Ive of Apple does not happen in just one post, of course. Just yesterday, we had to interrupt the recording of our podcast # 328 to publish this bomb here on the site and with that, fortunately, we were able to include the agenda in the episode that will be published today; but the subject will still give cloth to the sleeve.

Mark Gurman, who is known to have numerous sources of information within Apple, wasted no time and uncovered a number of details about this unexpected movement in the company’s executive body. He published today a new report on Bloomberg which basically says Ive started moving away from Apple in May 2015, when he was promoted to design director.

Yes, it is paradoxical, but at the same time it makes sense. The position of CDO (Chief Design Officer) never existed at Apple; since that time, it was said to have been created especially for Ive – and yes, there were those at that time who realized that this was not a common movement, but the “beginning of a farewell”.

In fact, according to sources consulted by Gurman, Apple’s departure from Ive started four years ago. Since then, he only appears at the company a couple of times a week, spending a lot of time in his own studio in San Francisco, sometimes holding meetings in hotels and also going a lot to his homeland, London.

Apple executivesFrom left to right: Phil Schiller, Tony Fadell, Jony Ive, Steve Jobs, Scott Forstall and Eddy Cue – only the first and the last remain at Apple.

“That [a saída de Ive] has been around for a long time, ”said one of the anonymous sources, associating the beginning of the movement with the launch of the first Apple Watch in 2015.

Another curious piece of information in the report is the fact that Evans Hankey, the person who is basically taking Ive’s place as an industrial design leader, is not a real designer – but an excellent leader / team manager. According to Gurman, since Richard Howarth “lost” the position of VP (in fact, he himself does not have the profile of a leader), the entire team has responded directly to her – and she to Ive.

Although the news of Ive’s departure has dropped like a bomb to the “outside world”, those working at Apple say that the ad is only putting into effect something that happened years ago – that is, that nothing (or very little) will change there. . The idea that Apple went from being more connected to the company’s design team than ever before, when it was promoted, “it was never true” – they said.

Book

Even the photo book “Designed by Apple in California”, launched in late 2016, is now seen as yet another anticipated move from Ive’s departure. Steve Troughton-Smith nailed it at the time:

The fact that it’s just the past 20 years says a lot – this is a portfolio of Ive, not Apple. My impression is that his career is heading towards closure.

I would never bet that, when leaving Apple, Ive would start a new company like the one he is doing with his partner Marc Newson. At the same time, it is quite possible that LoveFrom is not a conventional design firm – that is, that the two really only get involved in super-special, unique and rare projects. Things that really give pleasure and recognition to both.

If we consider that Ive been at Apple since 1992 and leading his design team since 1996, it is natural to imagine that, sooner or later, he would want to take that weight off his back. Its mark in history has already been made.

Jonathan (Jony) Ive

The last grandiose project that had Ive’s deep involvement was not a product. It was, of course, Apple Park. The creation is now handed over to people who will continue to write the company’s history, in a new phase.