Author: calobianco

More details on the Jony Ive designed OpenAI device

According to the Wall St. Journal: “The product will be capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life, will be unobtrusive, able to rest in one’s pocket or on one’s desk, and will be a third core device a person would put on a desk after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone.” Like I said in yesterday’s post. No issues for Apple short term. But I’m curious to see if they actually take this seriously and pivot accordingly. But who knows. I haven’t seen many pivots from them lately.

OpenAI/io & WWDC

Just a quick observation on the Jony Ive/io announcement from earlier today. I think the timing was on purpose. WWDC is less than 3 weeks away. That WHITE ELEPHANT is definitely going to be walking around Apple Park.

LoveFrom, io & OpenAI

We all knew this was coming. What we didn’t know and still don’t is what the product is. But we now have an idea on the structure of what the people building it will look like. Jony Ive’s io will merge with OpenAI. That’s a separate company from LoveFrom. Evans Hankey and Tang Tan previously at Apple with Jony are also cofounders of io. LoveFrom is handling the design and I assume materials design. I believe the software is under io. You can watch the announcement here. I absolutely love Jony, I still think the biggest mistake Apple made was letting him leave. I don’t think we will ever know the real story of what transpired. However I don’t like Sam. Never have and I don’t think I ever will. Maybe I’m too old for AI. I really don’t use it for anything important. I use mostly Grok for search and information, nothing more than that. The big WHITE ELEPHANT in the room is how this will ultimately affect Apple. Short term not so much. But I will go out on a limb and say that the fuse is lit and long term this might be what starts the end for Apple. Yes I know that’s a big statement. But aside from the whiny Apple pundits who bitched and complained about Jony’s later designs. He is still the best designer of the last 20 years. Maybe of all time. Bet against him at your own peril.

UPDATE: according to Bloomberg LoveFrom will “take over design for all of OpenAI, including its software,”

Bring back Jony!

At this point I truly believe that Jony Ive needs to return to Apple. Either Apple re-ups LoveFrom‘s original consultant/customer gig or Apple purchases LoveFrom outright, like they did Beats and let Jony do what he does best. Plus it turns out from the most recent court docs that Tim is a hypocrite and cares more for the almighty dollar than he does about doing what’s right.

Apple & Porsche

Macan Turbo , 2024, Porsche AG

I kind of figured there was something a little more going on when Porsche appeared in 2 Apple videos with Tim Cook himself appearing last spring in the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT reveal(see previous post below this one). According to German language publication Derstandard(translation from Safari web translate below), 

 “In fact, Porsche strives for an even closer cooperation with Apple to enable its customers to seamlessly connect to their usual digital environment such as iPhones and iPads. This initially makes Porsche a particularly important customer for Apple’s new car software Carplay Plus, which should enable a deeper interlocking of Apple devices with the vehicle software and thus promises to significantly improve the user experience.”

Also from the same Derstandard article a link to another German language article from Manager Magazin(full article behind paywall, also translated via Safari web translate) that the electric Cayenne planned for 2026 will be the first such collaboration.

Porsche and Apple have been partners in various apps and Apple services for some time now. It seems that this is the next natural progression for both companies. Apple Fellow Phil Schiller and SVP Eddie Cue are notable car enthusiasts and this is probably the next best thing moving on from the cancelled Project Titan Apple car project. 

If this all does come to fruition I’m sure we will see some unique marketing strategies, maybe the 2026 iPhone colors matching with the available Porsche paint colors, interior upgrades etc. Honestly they could go very deep.  Seems like a brilliant opportunity to bring back Jony Ive in some capacity. His material design skills are top notch. I’m sure it will come in white!