NYT: Apple Ends Deal with Jony Ive’s LoveFrom

13 JULY 2022 - In what appears to be the actual end of an era, a piece from the New York Times says Apple has ended its consulting agreement with the design firm LoveFrom. That means Jony Ive, the industrial designer behind such iconic Apple products as iMac, iPhone, and even Apple Park has left the building. While he has been gone for a while, the Times piece says:

When Mr. Ive left Apple in 2019 to start his own design firm, LoveFrom, the iPhone maker signed a multiyear contract with him valued at more than $100 million. That made Apple his firm’s primary client, people with knowledge of the agreement said.

That deal did a few things. For one, it gave Ive a guiding hand on then upcoming Apple products. For another, it kept “Ive from taking on work that Apple found competitive,” according to the piece.

And now the deal is done, according to secret people said to know something about something. Both Apple and Ive declined to comment for the New York Times report.