NEWS ANALYSISEven so, those products will need to maintain that
synthesis of function and beauty that Ive was often able
to achieve. For everything that’s commendable about
Apple’s recent push into services, the fact remains
that its hardware is still the company’s most ‘magical’
aspect. Other companies may have better features in
their devices or more power, or rarely if ever to they
evoke the same admiration, envy – or even spite.
New beginnings
This could turn out to be a tragedy, but it needn’t be.
Apple has a real opportunity here. As much as there is
to love about Ive’s work, it’s not a stretch to say that we
saw his best work while Steve Jobs was still head of the
company. Jobs and Ive, I often like to say, had a bit of
a John LennonandPaulMcCartney-styleprofessional
relationshipgoingon.Theywereimportantfigures
on their own, no doubt, but they were at their best
when they worked together. We see that legacy in the
way the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and MacBook today retain
recognizable elements from when Jobs was still around
and when these emerged as game-changing products.
Those designs remain in part because of their relative
timelessness,butit’salsohardtoshakethefeeling
that thelackofchangerevealsthatsomekeyingredient
is missing from Ive’s work.
That’s not to say that Ive hasn’t produced some
memorable work since Jobs passed. There’s the Apple
Watch, the charging case for the AirPods, and heck,
I’ll even throw in the HomePod. This decade, though,
we tend to hear more complaints than awe when it
comes to new designs. This, after all, is the decade of