The Apple rumor mills are churning after a Sunday Times story suggested that Jonathan Ive, the design wizard who's masterminded the look of every major Apple product since 1996, might be leaving the company and returning to his native England, where he'd prefer to send his kids to school. Reportedly, an option grant Ive received in 2008 is now worth $30 million. But Apple executives apparently don't like the idea of Ive working remotely, and according to one source, have told him "he would not be able to sustain his position with them." Apple has no comment, leaving chroniclers of the company to wonder: Would losing Ive be a catastrophe? (Meet Jonathan Ive)
No need to panic: This story is pure rumor, says Giles Turnbull at Time. But an Ives departure would "not necessarily" be such a bad thing. It's worth remembering that "Ive is not the entire Apple design department." He's spent a decade influencing and directing a design team. When Steve Jobs recently departed Apple for health reasons, "Tim Cook was there" to continue his legacy. Similarly, Ive must have groomed successors.
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