In 1997, Apple was struggling financially and needed a hit product to restore profitability. Upon returning to the company, Steve Jobs turned to designer Jony Ive to help save the company from bankruptcy.
In 1997, Apple was struggling financially and needed a hit product to restore profitability. Upon returning to the company, Steve Jobs turned to designer Jony Ive to help save the company from bankruptcy.
As Jony Ive told a BBC podcast, Jobs asked him to design an Internet-connected computer «literally days» before the company was set to go bankrupt.
At the time, Apple was in dire straits, needing a $150 billion investment from rival Microsoft to help the company become profitable again. Apple needed a hit product, and Jobs enlisted the young Ive to do «an impossible task.»
«We started working from the first day we met on what became the iMac», — Ive recalled.
According to him, at that time, personal computers did not yet play a big role in most people’s lives, and many did not understand them. The company’s mission — to focus on creating a product «for people» — became a philosophy that gave Apple an advantage over its competitors.
Ive thought through every detail of the now-famous line of computers to make them more accessible to consumers. For example, the pen was a deliberate design decision to give the iMac a recognizable characteristic for those unfamiliar with the power of computers.
«It immediately and unambiguously refers to your hand, and you understand something about the object», — Ive said. The iMac’s appearance, like the handle and the translucent colors, were better talking points than gigahertz and hard drive capacity, he noted, and he was right. The company sold 800,000 iMacs in the five months after its launch in 1999.
«It felt alive; it wasn’t static; it didn’t feel stuck», — Jony Ive told me.
The iMac has undergone significant changes since its introduction. In the mid-2000s, Apple abandoned its bright design in favor of minimalist grays and whites, but in 2021 it brought color back to its desktops.
Following the success of the iMac, Ive went on to design some of Apple’s most iconic products as his friendship with Jobs grew. He oversaw the design of the iPhone, iPad, and other products, eventually becoming chief designer. Ive announced his departure from Apple in 2019 after 27 years at the company.
He later founded his own design company, LoveFrom, which he recruited to join current iPhone and Apple Watch design chief Tang Tan. In 2023, it was reported that it already employed more than 20 former Apple employees.
Last fall, reports were confirmed that OpenAI CEOSam Altman and Jony Ive were creating an AI-based startup. The startup received funding from Steve Jobs' widow.
Ive and Altman met over dinner several times to discuss the potential of launching a new AI-based computing device, and eventually agreed to build it together.
