- Former Apple design chief Jonathan Ive has revealed the piece that left a “profound” impression on him.
- Ive said Apple’s first wearable device reflects the evolution of our intimacy with technology.
- A decade later, the Apple Watch has become one of the most popular wearable devices of all time.
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If you’re not familiar with Jonathan Ive, you’re probably reading this on a device he designed.
Apple’s legendary former design chief helped create some of the company’s most iconic products, including the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.
But the device that might become his favorite might not be in your hand, but on your wrist: the Apple Watch.
Ive mentioned that device recently when asked which Apple product had left a “profound impression” on him.
“I’m proud of the watchmaking that we started after Steve passed away,” Ive said. Podcast Episode He wrote a song called “Life in Seven Songs” in honor of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Three years after Jobs’ death, Apple unveiled the Apple Watch, its first major product line and wearable device since the iPad. The company officially launched the watch the following year and has since evolved through nine generations.
Ive described the watch as “one of the most personal products” in the trajectory of Apple devices.
Apple products “started on your desk, then in your bag, then in your pocket,” he said, “then on your wrist, then on your body.”
The designer noted that people “have a different kind of relationship” to “things they wear” and “things they’re intimate with,” an observation that perhaps explains why wearable technology has been a floundering product to date (just look at the mixed reviews of Apple’s latest flagship Vision Pro headset).
“Plus, I’ve always loved watches,” he says, “so I think as a category it’s an interesting one.”
After more than 20 years at Apple, Ive left the company in 2019 and later founded his own design firm, LoveFrom.
The Apple Watch has become Apple’s flagship product, helping boost the company’s wearables division’s quarterly revenue to $7.9 billion in the first three months of 2024.