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Jony Ive: the iPhone X is function before form and will evolve to 'do things it can’t do now'

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Nov 10, 2017, 5:33 AM

Jony Ive doesn't look back, so next year there might only be an iPhone XI and XI Plus

As is becoming customary after the unveiling of a major new Apple product, chief designer Jony Ive sat down for a low-key interview with a design-centric publication, revealing details about the thought process that went into making the iPhone X. The biggest part of the interview actually goes to Apple's new "space ship" headquarter, the Ring, but there Jony Ive goes about the philosophy of Apple as creators of physical objects.

This has seemingly been the goal with the creation of Apple's first all-screen handset, the iPhone X, too. The whole point of its design has been to be a first iteration, as if a work in progress whose outer appearance doesn't define what it can do, but rather becomes an afterthought after you've perused it for a while:

I’ve always been fascinated by these products that are more general purpose. What I think is remarkable about the iPhone X is that its functionality is so determined by software. And because of the fluid nature of software, this product is going to change and evolve. In 12 months’ time, this object will be able to do things that it can’t now. I think that is extraordinary. I think we will look back on it and see it as a very significant point in terms of the products we have been developing.

So while I’m completely seduced by the coherence and simplicity and how easy it is to comprehend something like the first iPod, I am quite honestly more fascinated and intrigued by an object that changes its function profoundly and evolves. That is rare. That didn’t happen 50 years ago.

In a nutshell, once Jony Ive decides that it is time that Apple disposes of staples like the clicky wheel or the home button (and Touch ID), there is seemingly no turning back, so next year we might see a larger iPhone X successor, but not heirs to the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus.

As for the future, the rumors that Apple is working on something big in augmented reality are reaching a crescendo mode, and the interview does convey that Jony Ive is now focused on products with less fixed functions, and more fluid approach to their abilities that will change and evolve over time. Needless to say, he remained mum on those, but left it with the following wise words:

I always think that there are two products at the end of a programme; there is the physical product or the service, the thing that you have managed to make, and then there is all that you have learned. The power of what you have learned enables you to do the next thing and it enables you to do the next thing better.

source: Wallpaper

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.