August 2019 • Macworld 31NEWS ANALYSISdifferent Apple and approved by a different mind.
Almost by necessity, they’ll probably look a little
different, lest Apple fall into further stagnation in
misguided attempts to riff off of Ive’s design.
Even 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 Lennon and Paul
McCartney-style professional relationship going
on. They were important figures 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, but it’s also hard to shake the feeling
that the lack of change reveals that some key
ingredient is missing from Ive’s work.