Apple removed Jony Ive from Leadership page

Apple has removed Sir Jony Ive from its website’s Leadership page, signalling that the former design chief is moving on to greener pastures. In June, Cupertino announced that Ive, would be leaving the company to start his own design firm, LoveFrom. And that, Apple would still seek Ive’s counsel through his newly formed design house.

Ive started his career with Apple in 1998 and has spent the last 30 years creating or perfecting the company’s product line, which include the iMac and iPhone. His perpetual obsession with creating sleeker design profiles, led to the creation of some remarkable devices. Admittedly, this same school of thought also led Apple to commit several gaffes.

An example of this, is the placement of the charging port of Apple’s wireless mouse. It was located at the base, rendering the device unusable when a charging cable was plugged in. The same can be said of the Apple Pencil. Also, many critics attribute the iPhone’s less than stellar battery life to Ive’s incessant need and to an extension that of Apple’s, to create ever slimmer designs.

Since his departure, Apple’s design philosophy seems to have reversed course. The new range of iPhones and the 16-inch Macbook Pro feature thicker side profiles, bigger batteries and improved thermal properties. These attributes run counter to what we’ve seen from the company when Ive was in-charge.

Ive’s position at Apple will be filled by Evans Hankey, vice president of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye, vice president of Human Interface Design. Both Dye and Hankey have played key leadership roles on Apple’s design team for many years. They will report directly to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer.

Sources:
Apple
9 to 5 Mac