According to The New York Times, Apple and Jony Ive are separating for good this time. The industry veteran left Apple in 2019 after working there for more than 20 years. Ive started his own business, LoveFrom, which had Apple as its first and primary customer. Now, the two splitting ties.
According to the article, both parties stopped cooperating for the first time since the 1990s and forwent contract extensions in the weeks preceding its renewal.
Ive, who worked closely with Steve Jobs, is credited with creating the transparent, candy-coloured plastic covers that were a signature look of earlier Mac computers.
Conflicting priorities
It has been said that Ive contributed ideas for Apple’s future mixed reality headset. He was appointed Apple’s first Chief Design Officer in 2015, yet his position changed once again throughout time.
Ive reportedly felt “dispirited” by Tim Cook’s lack of interest in design and the CEO’s choice to concentrate on selling software and services, according to claims that surfaced after Ive left Apple. Cook himself called those rumours “absurd.”
The absolute end?
According to The Times, LoveFrom signed a multi-year deal for $100 million with Apple that forbade the company from working on any projects that the tech giant deemed to be in direct competition with its products.
Executives at the corporation were reportedly upset that staff members were leaving to work for his design firm instead. They were also questioning how much Apple was paying him.
Cook expressed his desire to work with Ive far into the future back when Ive departed Apple and LoveFrom agreed to a contract with the corporation. It will be interesting to see whether this means that they could collaborate once more.