Jony Ive is no longer on Apple's leadership page

GOING, GOING, GONE? We've known that Jony Ive has been planning his exit from Apple since the summer, but it looks like his feet are officially out the door, as his name and likeness have been officially removed from the Apple executive leadership page. 

That probably means that Ive's new business isn't far from officially opening its doors, unless he's quitting now to get some Christmas shopping in without his Apple employee discount. 

His new firm is called LoveForm, which sounds an awful lot like LoveFilm - right down to the fact that both will score you 16 in a Scrabble match, assuming you're competing without someone that plays fast and loose with the ‘no brand names' rule. That's where the similarities end though: it's more focused on design than posting DVDs to people.

Unlike most people starting their own business, Ive won't have to hustle for new clients right away. Apple led the press release announcing Ive's exit by saying it would be one of LoveForm's clients, which is kind of like writing a blank cheque. But, hey, if anybody can write a blank cheque and not worry about the consequences then it's Cook & Co.   

For Ive, it'll reportedly be a bit of a relief. Not long after he handed in his notice in the summer, reports emerged that he was "dispirited" by life at Apple as Tim Cook "showed little interest in the product development process."

Not that you'd know that from the slightly cloying quote he gave the Apple newsroom at the time, where he described the company as "stronger, more vibrant and more talented than at any point in Apple's history." 

Ive's design chops have been mythologised over his 27 years at the company, so we'll now see just how influential he really was. Basically, if the next iMac Pro has a neon green keyboard and "extreme" go-faster stripes, you'll know whose magic touch is missing… µ

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