Jony Ive, Apple’s design guru, departs

Jony Ive, the designer of the iMac and iPhone is leaving Apple. The news comes at a difficult time. Matthew Partridge reports.

Apple chief design officer Jony Ive (L) and Apple CEO Tim Cook © Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Is Jony Ive's (left) exit Tim Cook's fault?
(Image credit: Apple chief design officer Jony Ive (L) and Apple CEO Tim Cook © Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

With the departure of design guru Jony Ive Apple is "getting a taste of luxury's less lustrous side", says Tom Buerkle on Breakingviews. Ive and his "sleek" designs have "defined the marriage of style and function" at Apple, starting with his iconic design for the Apple iMac in 1998, which was credited with helping turning around the company's fortunes. Ive then "repeated the trick" with the iPhone, which "ushered in the smartphone age and enabled Apple to charge ever-higher premium prices, much like a Paris fashion label". However, just as many fashion houses have struggled after losing their chief designer, replacing Ive might be a "painful process".

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri