Design legend Jony Ive once considered consolidating Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro into a single product line.
The Vision: Ive, known for shaping Apple Inc.’s AAPL product designs, aimed to simplify the MacBook lineup. This revelation was shared by journalist Walt Mossberg on The Vergecast, as reported by Apple Insider.
Mossberg, citing a “high-level source” familiar with the company’s products, recounted how due to the different management styles of co-founders Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, there was a period where the MacBook lineup could have been streamlined from two ranges to just one.
Cook’s acknowledgment of his limited product knowledge led to Ive being granted more authority over hardware and software decisions – a departure from Jobs, who acted as Ive’s “editor.”
Ive’s ambition was to make the Pro model as sleek and lightweight as the MacBook Air, albeit with a higher price tag. However, this concept led to internal conflict – a “big war” – between Ive’s design team and the engineering and product manager side of the company.
Implications: Jony Ive’s influence on Apple’s product design is well-documented. His departure from Apple led him to establish his design firm LoveFrom, which has since collaborated with British audio brand Linn to launch a $60,000 record player. In September 2023, Ive’s firm was reportedly in advanced talks with OpenAI’s chief Sam Altman and SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son to build the “iPhone of AI”.
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