A new report says incoming Apple CEO John Ternes thinks “a major change in design is needed,” heralding a change that could bring a design boldness not seen since or before Jony Ive’s 2019 departure.
Not so long ago, electronic devices were collectible toys for adults. People found Apple’s products attractive for their visual and tactile aesthetics as well as their usefulness – and they did so with complete shamelessness. It was British actor/author/commentator Stephen Fry who wrote about the iPhone in the Guardian in 2007, months after its release:
“As fiendishly, astonishingly, jaw-droppingly clever as our world can now offer us, they are no good in any way if they don’t also bring a smile to our faces, if they don’t make us caress, touch, caress, tease, purr, purr and coo. Interacting with a digital device should be like interacting with a baby.”
Nowadays this feeling has almost disappeared. Sure we can literally look at our devices more than our kids now, but because of the addictive content they serve and the daily tasks they allow us to do, not because we like them. After the week-long honeymoon period after acquiring new smartphones, most of us find them no more interesting in themselves than the traditional utensils we use to eat delicious food.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the restructuring that took place within Apple following the departure of veteran Jony Ive was, in retrospect, a design disaster. Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer at the time, stepped into the gap previously filled by Ive. Gurman summarizes, “Apple replaced one of the most influential designers in history with the company’s top supply chain executive.”
In 2019, as Apple bled designers, Gizmodo’s Adam Clark Estes wrote:
“Are these veteran Apple designers leaving because they’re bored? It’s not clear. Are they leaving because they don’t see much future for industrial design at Apple? Hard to know. Was his role at the spacecraft complex the last major accomplishment for Jony Ive? Time will tell.”
Seven years later, Jony Ive is a distant memory at Apple. Despite some interruptions in the overall monotony – notably the Vision Pro and the iPhone Air – eye-catching design is less of a profit-driver than plain old efficiency as well as consumer inertia.
John Ternes is currently Head of Hardware, and before that he was an engineer focusing on monitors. First and foremost he may not be an aesthete, but his acquisition of Design last year was a signal of intent to Apple watchers – clearly he was priming himself for a major promotion.
When Turnus became CEO in September, Gurman said that after the Cook era, Turnus needed to “prioritize making Apple products cool again,” with a focus on mastering a world-beating supply chain.
Gurman apparently took a look at the proceedings of a meeting in which Turnus addressed staff about the design, and it’s actually not clear that Turnus is planning to revolutionize anything. In fact, his emphasis was on continuity. “The company will continue to focus on design, because design is core to what we do at Apple,” Turnus said bluntly. He further stated that “Apple has brought truly incredible design to more people than any company in history” and “is going to make sure that remains the case.”
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