Jony Ive Discusses the Design of the New iPad Pro and Apple Pencil

The newly announced iPad Pro and second-generation Apple Pencil are redesigned to be better, not just in looks but also in features, and of course Jony Ive has some thoughts on that.

I've sat down with The Independent recently to discuss the newest products coming to the Apple lineup. The lion’s share of the conversation is focused on the biggest of the refreshes, with the two new iPads welcoming smaller bezels just like the iPhone’s X series. But Ive has some thoughts on the Apple Pencil, too, which saw its own unique upgrades in the design and features departments.

Ive starts by talking about change, because the company is aware that when a certain product hits a certain point, people start talking about redesigning it. And while Ive believes that changing design is important, it has to be for a reason. As a result, Apple has focused on “material improvements” so that the owners can fall in love with their product all over again, even if it has been redesigned in some major, or minor, way.

“If you are making changes that are in the service of making something better, then you don’t need to convince people to fall in love with it again. Our sense of habit and familiarity with something is so developed, there is always that initial reaction that is more of a comment on something being different rather than necessarily better or worse. In my experience, if we try very hard to make material improvements, people quickly recognise those and make the sort of connection they had before with the product.”

Orientation for the iPad has been a sticking point for the company, because the goal has always been to let the owner use their device as they see fit, in any orientation they want. And while the display would always rotate to match specific orientation demands from the user, there has always been an “up” or “down”, thanks in part to the physical Home button. But that button is gone, and the inclusion of the Face ID feature and the TrueDepth camera system makes the new iPad Pro capable of being used in any orientation, which Apple is very happy about:

“The first iPad had a very clear orientation which was portrait. It had the ability to be used in landscape, I think very well, but it was pretty clear how the product was designed. And I think with the first iPad you had the sense that it was a product made up of distinct and somewhat separate components.

“What I think marks the new iPad Pro as particularly special is it doesn’t have an orientation. It has speakers all the way around the perimeter. By getting rid of the Home Button and developing Face ID, the tablet is able to work in all of these different orientations.”

Moving on to the Apple Pencil, which now features a flat edge that not only facilitates the ability to connect the stylus to the side of the iPad magnetically to charge, but also supports gesture controls for specific in-app actions, Ive talks about the small details that can make the accessory feel “magical” (a descriptor that Apple is certainly no stranger to). Specifically, Ive points to that satisfying “click” when the Apple Pencil snaps into place on the side of the iPad Pro:

“I think the way it just snaps onto the side, well, that’s a nice example of a sort of that magical feeling. It’s unexpected, we don’t quite understand how it’s working and even more incomprehensible is the fact that it’s also charging. You can see how that’s aligned with this idea that you can just pick the product up and use it without thought.

Actually, you’re using it with tremendous thought, but it’s based on what you want to be doing rather than wondering if you’re holding the tablet the right way up.”

The full interview is definitely worth a read, and you can find it through the source link below.

Did you preorder the new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil? If so, what about the new devices convinced you to purchase?

[via The Independent]

Like this post? Share it!