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At post-Steve Jobs Apple, Tim Cook is the meticulous CEO keeping time, but Jonathan Ive is the watchmaker.
Ive is little known to the masses of consumers, but he is the master designer behind Apple’s streak of hit gadgets, ranging from the iPod to the iPad, that are regarded as works of industrial art.
The British-born craftsman was Jobs’ creative partner during the past decade as Apple continually refined and revolutionized tech gadgets.
Both men adhered to a similar minimalist aesthetic that could almost be defined as the absence of design — a stripping away of unnecessary components until what was left was simple and stunning.
Jobs’ war on buttons, resulting in the sleek touch screen, was a prime example of a shared design ethos that set Apple apart from rivals.
“Perhaps the decisive factor is fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff: the obsessive attention to details that are often overlooked, like cables and power adaptors,” Ive said in a 2007 interview with the Design Museum in Britain.
Ive started working for Apple in 1992, after Jobs had been ousted from the company he founded. Ive took charge of the design team in 1996, and Jobs returned to the company in 1997.
Ive once said he felt marginalized at Apple before Jobs returned, bringing with him his passion for design.
“By re-establishing the core values he had established at the beginning, Apple again pursued a direction which was clear and different from any other companies,” Ive said.
“Design and innovation formed an important part of this new direction.”
After the two teamed up, Apple began a run of technological innovation from the iPod to the iPad.
Ive, known within the company as Jony, was behind the iMac, PowerBook and the iPhone.
“Jony is of course invaluable to Apple,” a former Apple designer told The Post. “He is and always has been a true craftsman interested in building great, perfect products.”
Without Jobs, who died Wednesday after an eight-year battle with cancer, there are concerns Apple will lose its footing as the tech world’s most innovative company.
“The challenge to Jony will be operating without Steve,” said the former designer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Steve drove Jony and his team but also enabled them to do great things,” the designer said.
“If the support for design at Apple withers in any way it will affect the design team greatly.”
Jobs’ absence will not be immediately felt, according to most Apple watchers.
“He set out a product timeline for the next two or three years,” said Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies & Co.
The iPhone 5 is likely already in advanced development, said Misek, who also expects that the company designed a TV before Jobs left the company. He resigned in August.
“We will still feel Steve’s impact in the second half of next year when that [TV] launches,” Misek said.
Still, the company is counting on keeping Ive in the fold.
“He is a key industrial design guy and Apple will make sure he’s not going anywhere,” he said.
Apple had no immediate worries yesterday as the company maintained its position as the world’s most valuable company.
There was no major sell-off of the stock despite the loss of its iconic leader. Apple shares finished relatively flat at $377.37, down just 0.23 percent.