Apple recently announced that its lead designer, Jony Ive, would be leaving the company. Almost immediately after that, independent reports aimed to shed more light on the departure.
One such report came from The Wall Street Journal, in which it was reported that Ive had become “dispirited” with the company since the launch of the Apple Watch, as it wasn’t as successful as a fashion accessory as expected. The report went on, saying that Ive had started relinquishing duties at Apple back in 2015.
Now, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has weighed in the report, calling it “absurd”. Cook added that the conclusions made within the report don’t line up with “reality”, and that there is a general misunderstanding across the board regarding the design team at apple and how “Apple works”.
Exclusive: In scathing email, Apple CEO Tim Cook tells me the @WSJ report about Jony Ive’s departure — and his frustration with Cook’s alleged lack of interest in design — is “absurd.” Says reporting and conclusions "don’t match with reality.”
Full story coming soon @NBCNews … pic.twitter.com/QX9L4MvjFs
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) July 1, 2019
That report from the WSJ said that Ive’s disconnect from Apple caused riffs internally, going so far as to miss meetings and disrupt the work going on internally.
The story is absurd. A lot of the reporting, and certainly the conclusions, just don’t match with reality. At a base level, it shows a lack of understanding about how the design team works and how Apple works. It distorts relationships, decisions and events to the point that we just don’t recognize the company it claims to describe.
The design team is phenomenally talented. As Jony has said, they’re stronger than ever, and I have complete confidence that they will thrive under Jeff, Evans, and Alan’s leadership. We know the truth and we know the incredible things they’re capable of doing. The projects they’re working on will blow you away.
Whatever happened behind-the-scenes, that may remain a secret, even with independent reporting trying to shed light. At this point, Ive is moving ahead with launching his own design firm along with Marc Newsom, which will be called LoveFrom and will apparently be keeping Apple as a client.
What do you make of Ive’s departure from Apple?