Why did Jony Ive leave Apple?
The article adapts one anecdote from the book that is exemplary of Mr. Ive’s increasing frustration with the company’s new, more penny-pinching and technocratic direction. For the introduction of the Apple Watch, the chief designer wanted to set a lavish event featuring a tent and involving the displacement of a dozen trees on campus that would cost about $25 million to organize.
At the time, both Wall Street and customers were questioning whether Apple could deliver a new product without Mr. Jobs. Mr. Ive rallied the company to silence skeptics with the watch. Because it was the first Apple product that people would wear, he wanted customers to feel that they could personalize it. He championed an array of leather and silicone watchbands. He also brought on staff with fashion expertise.
Mr. Cook seldom visited the studio during the process. On one of the few occasions he did, it was to see a Leica camera Mr. Ive had helped design for a charity auction. Mr. Ive glowed as he detailed the designers’ work on the camera for Mr. Cook, who nodded expressionlessly. People watching across the studio would later joke that they caught Mr. Cook’s eyes straying from the charity camera to the nearby design tables topped with iPhones, iPads and Macs that the company sold for tremendous profit. He stayed only a few minutes.
By 2011, Ive was the most powerful Apple executive after Steve Jobs and was paid accordingly. That year he reportedly earned $30 million and received a $25 million stock bonus. Eventually, a new position was created for Ive in 2015 when he was named Chief Design Officer. Around that time, Ive helped design the new Apple Park campus in Cupertino.
When he announced his departure from Apple, Ive said, “After nearly 30 years and countless projects, I am most proud of the lasting work we have done to create a design team, process and culture at Apple that is without peer. Today it is stronger, more vibrant and more talented than at any point in Apple’s history. The team will certainly thrive under the excellent leadership of Evans, Alan, and Jeff, who have been among my closest collaborators. I have the utmost confidence in my designer colleagues at Apple, who remain my closest friends, and I look forward to working with them for many years to come.”
