Apple VP: New project is 'most important,' 'best work we've done'

Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design, said that despite the iMac, iPhone, iPod or iPad, Apple's current project is its best.

Ive, who was in England this week for his knighting Wednesday, told that to The Telegraph after being asked which project he would like to be remembered for if he could only pick one.

"It's a really tough one. A lot does seem to come back to the fact that what we're working on now feels like the most important and the best work we've done, and so it would be what we're working on right now, which of course I can't tell you about," he said.

Apple is known for its secrecy -- the article notes that Ive's studio at the company has tinted windows and that he allows only select employees inside -- so his reluctance to share details comes as no surprise. But the fact that he thinks the world has yet to see Apple's best work is a major statement.

Ive has been head of design for many lauded Apple products, including the iPad, iPhone, numerous iPods and computers as well. So if his best work is really still to come, the bar has just been raised considerably.

As far as what project Ive could be talking about, there are a couple of possibilities.

Next month, Apple is expected to reveal the latest redesign of its MacBook Pro laptops. The new Pros are expected to be pretty thin and adopt Apple's Retina Display that is used on the iPhone and iPad, so that could be what Ive is talking about.

Of course, Ive could also be referring to the next iPhone, which is expected in October. Recently, rumors that the sixth iPhone will have a bigger screen and see its first major redesign since the iPhone 4 have been picking up, so that's another likely option.

Another possibility is Apple TV. That product has been rumored for a while, and in his biography released last year, Steve Jobs said he had finally cracked the TV market.

But of course Ive -- who did not deny that even Her Majesty herself would be denied the information should she ask -- could be talking about something else entirely.

(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
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