Scathing Book On Apple Details Real Reasons Jony Ive May Have Left The Company

Image via Marco Paköeningrat / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

When Jony Ive separated ways with Apple after almost 30 years to open his own design studio LoveFrom, the picture painted for the outside world was a rosy one. In hindsight, it couldn’t have been that perfect—and a new book purportedly explains the final straw that drove Ive’s decision to leave.

Former Wall Street Journal reporter Tripp Mickle outlines eye-opening details from his new book, After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul, in a New York Times op-ed. In it, he describes that Ive became burnt out from Apple’s shift in culture—moving from one steeped in design to one of utility—that began after his close friend and business partner Steve Jobs passed away.

Ive—credited for having a primary role in the development of Apple marvels like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch—apparently grew frustrated over the years as the new CEO, Tim Cook, focused less on design and awarded more credence to the finance department for product development decisions. As a result, the jaded Apple designer became far less involved in reviewing products.

It also wasn’t Ive’s idea to propel fitness as the core of the Apple Watch, according to the report. In his mind, it was more of a fashion statement.

This whole time, employees weren’t privy to the signs of Ive’s burnout, Mickle elaborates. Those were more apparent to executives, as Ive had complained about being stretched out from managing hundreds of staffers, as opposed to only about 20 designers.

The report describes that Cook promoted Ive to the position of chief design officer, as well as streamlined his duties, over concerns that an impending departure would dramatically affect investors’ interest in the company’s stock.

Ive poetically announced his exit by gathering his design teams for a private screening of Yesterday in June 2019, a visual metaphor for the struggles between art and commerce, Mickle writes.

[via AppleInsider and New York Times, cover image via Marco Paköeningrat / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)]