Jony Ive to step down from Apple later this year

Having spent the past few decades engineering the company’s stupendous, stratospheric ascendency, Jony Ive is to leave Apple.

Ive’s departure from the tech giant was announced in an interview with The Financial Times. He will be stepping down from his position at the trillion dollar company later this year.

Rather than having a few months off to play a bit of solitaire or declutter the garage, the most famous chief design officer in the world will be putting all his energy into launching a brand new creative firm, LoveFrom. Handily enough, LoveFrom’s first client will be… Apple.

Details are still scarce as to what exactly LoveFrom will be doing, but the BBC reports that “one area of focus will be wearable technology.”

Talking to the FT Ive says: “This just seems like a natural and gentle time to make this change,” and stresses that his decision to step down from the role he’s so capably made his own since he first rocked up at Apple in 1992 isn’t the end of the story, saying “While I will not be an employee, I will still be very involved – I hope for many, many years to come.”

In a statement released by Apple, Ive says: “After nearly 30 years and countless projects, I am most proud of the lasting work we have done to create a design team, process and culture at Apple that is without peer. Today it is stronger, more vibrant and more talented than at any point in Apple’s history.”