Following a few quotes from a Jony Ive interview with The New York Times appearing in a longer piece about Tim Cook over the weekend, the publication has now published a longer transcript from the interview. In the interview, Ive was asked about working with Cook, how things have changed post Steve Jobs, and he also gave some insight into his daily work routine. “We meet on average three times a week. Sometimes those meetings are over in his space, sometimes here in the design studio. We all see the same physical object. Something happens between what we objectively see and what we perceive it to be.”
Ive described his new role leading software design at the company as “some leadership and direction in terms of user interface – a subset of software,” and most interestingly seemed to hint at using new materials for products that the company hasn’t worked with before. Naturally, Ive would have loved to say more but couldn’t: “I would love to talk about future stuff – they’re materials we haven’t worked in before. I’ve been working on this stuff for a few years now. Tim is fundamentally involved in pushing into these new areas and into these materials.”
It is hard for us all to be patient. It was hard for Steve. It is hard for Tim. At any point in time, working on something, it’s always hard to just keep focusing on the product. One of the things different between us and some of our competitors is we just focus on the product, developing good products.
The full interview with Ive available on The New York Times is an interesting read.
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Liquid Metal, please.
But aren’t two parts of the iPhone already liquid metal? (sim ejection tool and a minor internal part too).
But he said: they’re materials we haven’t worked in before.
He means larger liquid metal incorporation, such is in the frame work, perhaps?
I read somewhere by someone tieing recent Apple patents in aggregate and pondering how all of the mock-up we are seeing are not actual parts from apple, but accurate “depictions” based on leaked schematics. And that the reason we are seeing “mock-ups” is because the actual material Apple is planning on using is not in the hands of anyone just yet. Hinting that Apple may be in the process of using liquidmetal fused with sapphire screens for their next iPhone,
We’ll see if it happens in this iteration, but it is coming.
2016 will be the year for liquid metal to debut.
You seem to know a liquid metal iPhone is coming, but you can’t know that.
Look at this patent and tell me what you think. http://1.usa.gov/1lNACcE
@ 1sugomac: Except they have been working on that process (metal moulded around radio-transparent crystal inserts) for quite a few years with nothing public to show yet.
Also, one of the big drawbacks of liquid metal is that any moulded product is never going to be as accurate in terms of size and shape and especially fitting as the products they carve out of the metal/plastic blocks. Liquid Metal is especially good in this area of being able to mould fine detail, but it’s still not as accurate as the carving process is, and Liquid Metal cannot really be carved as aluminium can.
We have all gotten used to the incredible fit and finish of the iPhone. A moulded iPhone is simply not going to be as nicely finished at the edges. They would probably even need a gasket around the screen to fit it to the irregular form of the back.
liquid metal, sapphire, graphene, areogel, carbon fiber, transparent aluminum?
Graphene? So many patents out there on uses for and ways of manufacturing structered objects in the material. I can only imagine the court cases if that happened. And that thought I’d indeed sad
They actually have the rights to a special form of zirconia crystal that’s radio-transparent and very durable that’s more likely in the number three spot behind sapphire and liquid metal. They have a world-wide exclusive arrangement in regards it’s use in mobile devices just like the Liquid Metal.
Aerogel would seem to have no benefit for mobile electronic devices at all, carbon fibre has been used to death, and “transparent aluminium” (sic) is of course a fantasy product that doesn’t actually exist.
a bamboo Macbook Air.
Cardboard iPhones… Wait no… Solid Gold iPods… Wait… CARBON FIBER MacBooks!
Ok… I don’t know.
A hologram.
OH.. I would so be on that.. except… Bamboo insulates.. and.. agh.. would be bad.. lol
Did you say Carbon Fiber? I thought I read carbon fiber and was immediately interested….
Jony shouldn’t speak. It’s like listening to paint dry.
Eat shit!
Is that how you’ve lost so much weight? Only 380 pounds to go! Keep it up!
and yet, you fail to take your own advice..
I’m sure you’d be so much more exciting to listen to.
Never said I would be, fanboy, but I can call a spade a spade.
Agreed. I love the products his team produces, but if I fast forward through the parts where he speaks at their events. So terribly annoying he is. And he says the exact same things and uses the exact same adjectives for each and every product year after year.
God, so many changes.
Scott’s out.
Ron’s out.
Angles in.
Beats.
Johny and the guys speaks more to media.
Is this all for the better?
Too much changing. I cant take it anymore.
Good grief. You’re speaking as if this impacts you personally. What does it matter to you?
Note date on this patent: http://1.usa.gov/1lNACcE
Nice find! That patent seems to imply that the liquid metal and sapphire would be cast into a unibody shell. The electronics would then slid into the unibody shell and then capped off at the ends. Wow! technically impressive and I’m sure the actual device will look amazing too.
No. The screen would still be a separate part on the front.
The “transparent members” are more likely to be zirconia crystal inserts than sapphire also and constitute the radio transparent windows on the back of the phone. This is because they have been working on this process for several years already, and sapphire only became cost effective last year.
Also the zirconia material is itself a moulded product and thus easier to integrate into an assembly line making moulded products, and it is lighter. Sapphire, being currently a machined product is still more likely to be used for the flat, front screen only.
GASP! He’s not wearing a grey shirt!