Jony Ive’s 20-year run at Apple may have ended five years ago, but there’s still interest in what the iconic designer is working on these days.The latest Jony Ive project appears to be a commercial of some sort, according to some eagle-eyed Redditors around San Francisco.“Seems like a pretty large crew and they are using a drone to film a shot of a man walking down the hill,” someone wrote on the forum.
“My husband and I were somehow waved across an intersection and allowed to walk down a sidewalk where several actors were on their marks ready for “Action!” We just weaved around them and kept going.They were lovely, not at all perturbed by our unintentional disruption,” another user responded.Upon leaving Apple, Ive founded design studio LoveFrom, which has an interesting assortment of clients.
While Apple was the first disclosed client for Jony’s design firm, Airbnb joined the client list early on before sharpening its software design chops.LoveFrom is largely staffed by former Apple designers, and Airbnb is increasingly becoming home to talent with ex-Apple in their bio — more on that another day, perhaps.Software aside, it’s the OpenAI relationship with Jony Ive that intrigues the most.
That’s because LoveFrom is said to be designing AI hardware of some kind for the firm behind ChatGPT.Post-Apple technology hardware designed by Jony Ive and team is sure to garner attention if and when it materializes.Back in San Francisco, OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman was unveiling hardware for a different company under his wing.
World Network, previously Worldcoin, brought out its human-verifying Orb this week at an event with Altman.The Orb hardware ships this year, but the more interesting product that was revealed this week is the Orb Mini.While the Orb has a design that explains its name, the Orb Mini is shaped like a smartphone with a neutral expression-shaped face across the back.
Is that a LoveFrom design? Don’t know, but it certainly seems possible that it’s Jony Ive-designed AI hardware — just not from OpenAI.(Orb curious? This week’s Hard Fork podcast includes an Orb Report.) Back over to Telegraph Hill.Jony was apparently involved in a commercial film shoot of some sort, it’s a quiet Friday in May, and I thought the random mystery was at least slightly interesting.
Hopefully, we’ll learn what this was all about in the near future.Meanwhile, another set of investigative Redditors is on the trail of another mystery: what’s going on behind this guarded door in a space that LoveFrom is said to occupy? My guess? Design stuff, but it’s just a hunch.Do more with your iPhone USB-C charger MagSafe battery Wireless CarPlay adapter Craft for iPhone, iPad, Mac Fantastical + Cardhop Follow Zac Hall: X | Threads | Instagram | Mastodon You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.
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