New book looks at Jony Ive's exit from Apple, leadership under Tim Cook


A new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Tripp Mickle offers a look inside since Steve Jobs' passing. The title is After Steve. The subtitle How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul doesn't leave much to the imagination.

Mickle published a feature in the New York Times adapted from the book. The article focuses on the time leading up to Jony Ive's exit in 2019. Ive continues to work for Apple in the role of an outside consultant.

An example of the friction is the launch of the Apple Watch. Ive was proposing an elaborate outdoor tent that involved relocating trees. Believing the watch needed a glamorous fashion show feel, the splashy add-on showcase just for a product launch would cost $25 million.

Mr. Cook rocked in his chair as the group discussed Mr. Ive's idea. It had been nearly three years since Steve Jobs died at the age of 56, and as C.E.O., Mr. Cook had looked to Mr. Ive -- the man Mr. Jobs called his "spiritual partner" -- to lead product development. The designer's value to the company was so great that Mr. Cook feared that investors would sell shares if Mr. Ive left. Former company executives estimated that an Ive departure would erase more than $50 billion from Apple's market value, or as much as 10 percent. Mr. Cook stopped rocking. "We should just do it," he said.

To many present, Mr. Cook's approval seemed like a win for Mr. Ive. But the designer would later recast it as a Pyrrhic victory. He would tell colleagues that the debate over the event and the larger struggle over the watch's marketing were among the first moments that he felt unsupported at Apple.