The Man Who Designed Apple’s Most Iconic Devices Reveals Which One Might Be His Favorite

• Former Apple design chief Jony Ive has revealed a piece of work that left a “profound” impression on him.

• I said that Apple’s first portable product reflects the evolution of our intimacy with technology.

• A decade later, the Apple Watch is one of the most popular wearable devices in history.

If you’re not familiar with Jony Ive, there’s a good chance you’re reading this article on a device he designed.

The legendary former Apple design chief helped develop some of the company’s most iconic products, including the iPhone, iPad and MacBook.

The device that may be his favorite, however, is not in your hand, but it may be on your wrist — it’s the Apple Watch.

When Ive was recently asked which Apple product had made a “deep impression” on him, he mentioned the device.

“I’m proud of what we did with the watch because it’s something I started doing after Steve passed away,” Ive said on an episode of the “Life in Seven Songs” podcast, referring to the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Three years after Jobs’ death, Apple introduced the Apple Watch, its first wearable device and main product line since the iPad. The company officially released the watch the following year, and it has since gone through nine generations.

I have described this watch as “one of the most personal products” in the evolution of Apple devices.

Apple products started out “sitting on your desk, then they went into your bag, then they went into your pocket,” he said. “And then they’re on your wrist and they’re something you wear.”

The designer noted that people “have a different kind of relationship” with the things they wear and that “they’re so intimate” — an observation that likely explains why wearable tech remains a fickle, unbuildable commodity (just look at the mixed reviews for Apple’s latest major product, the Vision Pro headset).

“And I’ve always loved watches anyway,” he said. “So as a category, I think it’s an interesting category.”

Ive, who left Apple in 2019 after more than two decades at the company, later founded his own design firm, LoveFrom.

Apple Watch has become one of Apple’s main brand assets, helping to grow the company’s revenue from the wearable devices industry to $7.9 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider