Jony Ive, the longtime Chief Design Officer at Apple, shaped some of the most iconic products in tech history—from the iMac and iPhone to the Apple Watch. At Stripe Sessions 2025, he joined Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison for a rare, hour-long conversation focused not on product launches, but on the values and cultural discipline behind Apple’s design legacy.
Speaking to a packed audience, Ive described how the original Macintosh first inspired him as a student in England. He called it a “bicycle for the mind,” a product that revealed the intentions and humanity of its creators. That experience led him to California in the early 1990s, drawn to Apple by the idea that what you make says something about who you are.
Throughout the session, he returned to a core belief: design is about people, not just things.
Inside Apple: Culture, Care, and Simplicity
Ive said Apple’s approach to design was rooted in team culture and a shared sense of responsibility. He recalled weekly rituals like cooking breakfasts for one another and working together in each other’s homes. These practices, he explained, built trust, encouraged vulnerability, and shaped a team that cared deeply for users.
He rejected the idea of minimalism for its own sake. Instead, he defined simplicity as clarity—a way to express the essential purpose of a product. Ive pointed out that even the way a charging cable is unwrapped reflects the care, or lack of it, baked into a design. Steve Jobs, he said, believed that crafting something well was a way to show gratitude to humanity. That mindset shaped the smallest product details.
As discussed during the event, he reminded the audience that Apple’s design values were not about visual style, but about serving people through intentional choices. “Make things for each other,” he said. “You’ll make them better.”
Responsibility and Design After Apple
Ive also addressed the wider responsibility designers and technologists now face. He criticized the tech industry’s habit of celebrating disruption without considering consequences. True innovation, he argued, means taking ownership—even when the impact is unintended. “Good intentions aren’t enough,” he said. “If you’re involved in something that causes harm, you need to own it.”
Since leaving Apple, Ive has led LoveFrom, a design collective working across software, hardware, architecture, and branding. The group’s recent work includes designing the coronation identity for King Charles. Despite shifting projects, Ive said his values haven’t changed. Design, he believes, should aim to “sincerely elevate the species”—a phrase he used to describe the spiritual responsibility of thoughtful work.
While the conversation offered no updates on Apple’s 2025 roadmap or rumored hardware developments, it gave a clear look into the principles that still shape Apple and continue to define Ive’s work.