The new products just revealed by Apple at a special event in Brooklyn this week have several things in common. But most notable is the input of Apple’s Chief of Design, Sir Jonathan Ive, universally referred to as Jony.
He is involved in new products across Apple, including radical upgrades of favourites such as the MacBook Air and the iPad Pro.
Ive has been at Apple since 1992 and his keen eye has been part of the iMac, the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. He has just been awarded the 2018 Professor Hawking Fellowship because of what the committee felt included a “remarkable role in championing elegant and innovative design”. He’ll deliver the Professor Hawking Lecture in Cambridge later this month.
I caught up with him soon after the excitement of the product launch event.
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Designed by Pierpaolo Lazzarini from Italian company Jet Capsule. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.
Jet Capsule/Cover Images
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A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore
Getty Images
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A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore
Getty Images
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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie ‘Avatar’ and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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Waseda University’s saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi
Rex
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Waseda University’s saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session
Rex
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A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Reuters
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A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Reuters
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A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China
Rex
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A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China
Reuters
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A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China
Reuters
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A man looks at an exhibit entitled ‘Mimus’ a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London
Getty
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A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv
Getty
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Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S
Reuters
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The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar. This is a production preview of the Jaguar I-PACE, which will be revealed next year and on the road in 2018
AP
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Japan’s On-Art Corp’s CEO Kazuya Kanemaru poses with his company’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’ and other robots during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
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Japan’s On-Art Corp’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’
Reuters
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Japan’s On-Art Corp’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’ performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
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Singulato Motors co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin poses in his company’s concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China
Reuters
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The interior of Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China
Reuters
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Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0
Reuters
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A picture shows Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China
Reuters
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Connected company president Shigeki Tomoyama addresses a press briefing as he elaborates on Toyota’s “connected strategy” in Tokyo.
The Connected company is a part of seven Toyota in-house companies that was created in April 2016
Getty
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A Toyota Motors employee demonstrates a smartphone app with the company’s pocket plug-in hybrid (PHV) service on the cockpit of the latest Prius hybrid vehicle during Toyota’s “connected strategy” press briefing in Tokyo
Getty
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An exhibitor charges the battery cells of AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to move in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
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A robot with a touch-screen information apps stroll down the pavillon at the Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
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An exhibitor demonstrates the AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to move in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
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Robotic fishes swim in a water glass tank displayed at the Korea pavillon during Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
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An employee shows a Samsung Electronics’ Gear S3 Classic during Korea Electronics Show 2016 in Seoul, South Korea
Reuters
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Visitors experience Samsung Electronics’ Gear VR during the Korea Electronics Grand Fair at an exhibition hall in Seoul, South Korea
Getty
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Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer’s Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
PA wire
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Chris Burbridge, Autonomous Driving Software Engineer for Tata Motors European Technical Centre, demonstrates the car manufacturer’s GLOSA V2X functionality, which is connected to the traffic lights and shares information with the driver, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
PA wire
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Ford EEBL Emergency Electronic Brake Lights is demonstrated during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
PA
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Full-scale model of ‘Kibo’ on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan
EPA
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Miniatures on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan.
In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module ‘Kibo’ of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles
EPA
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The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight. At this biennial event, the participating companies exhibit their latest service robotic technologies and components
Getty
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The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight
Getty
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Government and industry are working together on a robot-like autopilot system that could eliminate the need for a second human pilot in the cockpit
AP
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Aurora Flight Sciences’ technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the firm’s Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.
AP
43/43 Flight Simulator
Stefan Schwart and Udo Klingenberg preparing a self-built flight simulator to land at Hong Kong airport, from Rostock, Germany
EPA
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Designed by Pierpaolo Lazzarini from Italian company Jet Capsule. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.
Jet Capsule/Cover Images
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A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore
Getty Images
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A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore
Getty Images
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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie ‘Avatar’ and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
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Waseda University’s saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi
Rex
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Waseda University’s saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session
Rex
10/43
A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Reuters
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A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Reuters
12/43
A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China
Rex
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A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China
Reuters
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A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China
Reuters
15/43
A man looks at an exhibit entitled ‘Mimus’ a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London
Getty
16/43
A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv
Getty
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Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S
Reuters
18/43
The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar. This is a production preview of the Jaguar I-PACE, which will be revealed next year and on the road in 2018
AP
19/43
Japan’s On-Art Corp’s CEO Kazuya Kanemaru poses with his company’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’ and other robots during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
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Japan’s On-Art Corp’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’
Reuters
21/43
Japan’s On-Art Corp’s eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot ‘TRX03’ performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
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Singulato Motors co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin poses in his company’s concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China
Reuters
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The interior of Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China
Reuters
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Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0
Reuters
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A picture shows Singulato Motors’ concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China
Reuters
26/43
Connected company president Shigeki Tomoyama addresses a press briefing as he elaborates on Toyota’s “connected strategy” in Tokyo.
The Connected company is a part of seven Toyota in-house companies that was created in April 2016
Getty
27/43
A Toyota Motors employee demonstrates a smartphone app with the company’s pocket plug-in hybrid (PHV) service on the cockpit of the latest Prius hybrid vehicle during Toyota’s “connected strategy” press briefing in Tokyo
Getty
28/43
An exhibitor charges the battery cells of AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to move in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
29/43
A robot with a touch-screen information apps stroll down the pavillon at the Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
30/43
An exhibitor demonstrates the AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to move in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
31/43
Robotic fishes swim in a water glass tank displayed at the Korea pavillon during Singapore International Robo Expo
Getty
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An employee shows a Samsung Electronics’ Gear S3 Classic during Korea Electronics Show 2016 in Seoul, South Korea
Reuters
33/43
Visitors experience Samsung Electronics’ Gear VR during the Korea Electronics Grand Fair at an exhibition hall in Seoul, South Korea
Getty
34/43
Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer’s Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
PA wire
35/43
Chris Burbridge, Autonomous Driving Software Engineer for Tata Motors European Technical Centre, demonstrates the car manufacturer’s GLOSA V2X functionality, which is connected to the traffic lights and shares information with the driver, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
PA wire
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Ford EEBL Emergency Electronic Brake Lights is demonstrated during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
PA
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Full-scale model of ‘Kibo’ on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan
EPA
38/43
Miniatures on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan.
In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module ‘Kibo’ of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles
EPA
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The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight. At this biennial event, the participating companies exhibit their latest service robotic technologies and components
Getty
40/43
The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight
Getty
41/43
Government and industry are working together on a robot-like autopilot system that could eliminate the need for a second human pilot in the cockpit
AP
42/43
Aurora Flight Sciences’ technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the firm’s Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.
AP
43/43 Flight Simulator
Stefan Schwart and Udo Klingenberg preparing a self-built flight simulator to land at Hong Kong airport, from Rostock, Germany
EPA
Throughout our interview, Ive shows a humility that puts him as part of a team at Apple. Like his boss, Apple CEO Tim Cook, he thinks deeply about each reply. The rhythm of each answer begins slow, a careful start that builds to a solid, imaginative thesis of firm beliefs. It is powerful to listen to.
He has just revealed the brand new iPad: a radical re-design that does away with some of the product’s most familiar features, such as the home button. So I begin by asking him whether he feels a special responsibility when a well-loved and commercially successful product is being changed drastically.
“I think your responsibility actually goes further back than that,” he says. “It starts with the determination not to fall into the trap of just making things different. Because when a product has been highly regarded there is often a desire from people to see it redesigned. I think one of the most important things is that you change something not to make it different but to make it better.
“If you are making changes that are in the service of making something better, then you don’t need to convince people to fall in love with it again. Our sense of habit and familiarity with something is so developed, there is always that initial reaction that is more of a comment on something being different rather than necessarily better or worse. In my experience, if we try very hard to make material improvements, people quickly recognise those and make the sort of connection they had before with the product.”
When it was first launched in 2010, the iPad was described as a magical product. How hard is it to create elements which people consider to be magical – do they come through painstaking work, or eureka moments?
“Oh dear, I loathe the thought of being predictable, but it’s a combination. Some of these capabilities and features are enabled by extraordinary technology that takes so many years to develop, so those are decisions that we’ve made often many years in advance. Face ID, for instance, is such a remarkably complex and sophisticated set of technologies, it’s not just one that was developed to a singular goal.”
Ive pauses to consider what makes something appear magical. “I think what puts a product in the place where it’s described as magical is often about those attributes which are less easy to describe. You can’t quite put your finger on what it is.
“So, in the new iPad Pro, one of the things we’ve been wanting to get to for a long time is a sense that the product is not oriented in a primary and then, therefore, in a secondary way.
“The first iPad had a very clear orientation which was portrait. It had the ability to be used in landscape, I think very well, but it was pretty clear how the product was designed. And I think with the first iPad you had the sense that it was a product made up of distinct and somewhat separate components.
“What I think marks the new iPad Pro as particularly special is it doesn’t have an orientation. It has speakers all the way around the perimeter. By getting rid of the Home Button and developing Face ID, the tablet is able to work in all of these different orientations.”
One of the other changes on the newly announced iPad Pro comes in a detail at the very corners of the screen. It is the kind of change you might not spot – but which can fundamentally change your experience of the product.
“Traditional displays are absolutely rectilinear so when you get to the corners they are essentially square,” he says. “Now, what I’ve always found disappointing is the way that the display is a distinct and discrete component with square corners, assembled into a design that seldom has a square corner.
“If you look at the iPad Pro, though, you can see how the radius, the curve in the corner of the display, is concentric with and sympathetic to the actual enclosure. You feel it’s authentic, and you have the sense that it’s not an assembly of a whole bag of different components: it’s a single, clear product.
“Many of us wouldn’t consciously say ‘this is the reason I’m fond of this’ but I do think as a species we are capable of sensing much more than we are capable of articulating. I think the new iPad Pro is something so singular and integrated that it appears different from 99 per cent of other complex technology products.”
Apple products are known for a purity of design, a simplicity and avoidance of clutter. The new iPad Pro tricks you into thinking that it’s just a screen, in which you can become immersed, but making something appear that simple is anything but, Ive says.
“That is the most difficult thing to do. These are such complex products. They’re complex just in terms of their conception and then when you get into the implementation, I think what we’re most proud of is all those things which by rights should be there but they’re not. It’s an odd thing when you’re most proud of those things which aren’t there.”
On the iPad Pro, Ive says he’s thinking about the tablet’s edge, which is now flat where on previous iPads it’s been curved. “We managed to change the form so that the section at the edge has a simple vertical face instead of a curved edge. The reason we could do that was the product had reached the point where the fabulous engineering teams have been able to make it so very thin that it meant we could have a very simple straightforward edge detail. We couldn’t have done that before when the products weren’t as thin as this.”
This has an effect on the way the iPad Pro’s accessories are integrated. These include a sumptuously usable keyboard cover and a stylus, called the Apple Pencil.
“The Pencil functions in a number of ways. The writing and drawing are extraordinary but the way it is carried with the product and the way it charges are also important.”
The new Pencil feels very natural in the hand and has one flat side which provides a neat way of carrying it with the tablet: when you hold it near the side of the tablet, it practically jumps out of your hand to sit precisely in place thanks to hidden magnets. As it connects, it pairs with the iPad and a message appears on screen to show that it’s charging (wirelessly, no less).
Ive picks up on the neatness of this: “I think the way it just snaps onto the side, well, that’s a nice example of a sort of that magical feeling. It’s unexpected, we don’t quite understand how it’s working and even more incomprehensible is the fact that it’s also charging. You can see how that’s aligned with this idea that you can just pick the product up and use it without thought.
“Actually, you’re using it with tremendous thought, but it’s based on what you want to be doing rather than wondering if you’re holding the tablet the right way up.”
The new Pencil is a clear improvement and is a surprise. When you see it, you realise it’s the Pencil you wanted all along. Is this sense of a product we didn’t even know we wanted until Apple shows it to us it part of Ive’s task?
“I think that is a huge part, a fundamental part, of my job. When you’re talking about the future, and as a designer that’s where my head is, then it’s extremely rare that I feel that I’m working in response to an articulated problem.
“I could count the occasions that I’ve done that in the last 25 years on the fingers of one hand. It’s extremely rare that what we do is a response to somebody articulating a problem. By definition, you didn’t know it was a problem until you were aware of a better way of doing it. The tremendous challenge here is that when you have been solving a problem a certain way for a long time, so many things convince you that, of course, that’s the best way of doing it, not least habit.
“When you have been solving a problem a certain way for a long time, the very idea that there could be a better way of doing it, can seem almost sacrilegious. It can seem extremely unlikely, so what you have to do is work by taking a leap of faith. That faith is based on the thought, ‘I’ve been here many times before and many times before we have found a better way of doing this’. And you just have to believe that’s the case and you keep on.
“Sometimes, the vast majority of times, we are able to find a better way of solving a problem.”
The Apple keynote event on Tuesday included one moment which drew an audience reaction bigger than anything else. It wasn’t a new product as such, it was the announcement that the new MacBook Air was being made entirely from recycled aluminium. When I mention this, Ive also becomes animated.
“This fits with what we’re just talking about, new ways to solve problems.
“We have a team of material scientists that we work very closely with. The materials we use are extremely important to us for many different reasons. We are constantly trying to find better alloys and material types to design with. Aluminium has remained a primary material we’ve used because it is so utterly, utterly compelling.
“We have found it hard to find a better material. I measure that in lots of different ways, but we’ve refined the particular alloy that we use and changed the ways we can process and machine the material. This was a wonderful example of how we can solve problems, not to be different in an artificial way but to be genuinely better.
“We have stayed focused on aluminium because it’s such an amazing material, and a team-wide effort has figured out a way to develop a material so that we can use 100 per cent recycled aluminium. We all think this is as big as the reaction at the keynote suggested. I was surprised by the reaction, but very happily so.”
We’ve gone way over our allotted interview time. Perhaps Ive is too polite to have stopped me (well, he is British, after all). But he’s also sharply engaged with his subject, from the minutiae to the big picture. “I could talk about this one topic all day,” he says, returning to the new aluminium alloy. It’s this passion, edged with reason, which has made him the product designer of our age.