So Jony Ive is now responsible for everything that a user see… and touch. So rumors are saying that he now sit on iOS design meetings in order to offer and give advices.

Design is one example of the increased “collaboration across hardware, software and services” that Apple said it was aiming for when Cook pushed senior vice president and mobile software chief Scott Forstall out of the company last year.

So we could expect Apple to take a very global approach with how they design not only their hardware but the software that runs on it. I find it so much surprising for a company where integration is such a big mantra that they didn’t up to now really care to blend the hardware with software in order to perfect this notion of complete integration.

parislemon:

Rene Ritchie of iMore:

The “iPhone 5S” problem is the idea that Apple has become predictable coupled with the perception that the next big thing might just come from somewhere else.

Agreed. But it’s also important to remember that the lack of huge, sweeping changes every year is a strength in some ways as well. Ritchie hits on the economies of scale aspect. Another: consumers (and to some extent, developers) already know and understand what they’re going to get with the iPhone. With some of these other new devices, it’s a total crapshoot. It’s “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” versus “new”.

Of course, not changing things or adapting is a recipe for disaster long term. But it’s not really that Apple isn’t changing things, they’re just doing so methodically and sweating out the details as ticks lead to tocks.

I do definitely agree that it hurts Apple in some ways to be too predictable with release cycles. But I also think it would be a mistake to get too cute there. Release things when they’re done. Not too soon, not too late. Product perfection will always trumps timing.

This is only one side of the medal. iOS is another story. They have to move faster because that have to, because they can too.

And this is why CES is becoming less and less relevant. It is the software, stupid, not the hardware!

This is why we rush to buy faster iPhones with bigger screen. This is why the iPad is so obvious. They better express the software running in them.

This is why running an app on the iPad takes the whole screen. The device disappears and becomes the app itself.