In a new interview with style magazine Hodinkee, chief design officer at Apple, Jony Ive, has revealed some surprises about the development of the Apple Watch, including the fact that he never spoke to the late Steve Jobs about making a watch.
Ive says he didn't talk to Jobs about watches, let alone making a smartwatch. He also doesn't remember Jobs wearing a watch.
"The first discussion took place in early 2012, a few months after Steve's passing," Ive said.
"It caused us to take time, pausing to think about where we wanted to go, what trajectory we were on as a company, and what motivated us. Also, what concisely was our contribution to our users.
"And I think, incontrovertibly, that Apple since the 1970s has made difficult-to-comprehend and inaccessible technology easy to understand and accessible."
First product since Jobs
Ive revealed that the company spoke to traditional watch experts to understand what he calls the "physical nature" of wristwear while working on the first generation Apple Watch.
Apple intended to use the watch to make technology "more personal and more accessible", according to Ive. That's something the company seems to have done by fusing a fashionable item with a device that offers tons of functionality on your wrist.
Each passing generation of the Apple Watch has put a bigger focus on health and fitness, but Ive claims it was already an important part of the original device.
"An early and significant focus was developing both the hardware and software to form the foundation for all of the health-based capabilities", Ive said.
"One of the primary applications deeply embedded in the very first watch was to track, communicate, and encourage you in three important areas: move, exercise, and stand. "
Ive didn't share any design details on the latest generation of watches but instead spoke about the device in general, so there weren't any hints to the Apple Watch 4 buried in the interview.
Yesterday we saw a patent for a circular Apple Watch, so it may be the company is looking to change the design of the device entirely on future iterations, but we don't think this will be ready in time for the Apple Watch 4.
