iPhone Duo is a true human interface device that bridges the gap between hyper-realistic skeuomorphism and digital authenticity. And it’s the first time Apple has created something so monumental without Jony Ive.
Hitting the reset button
When Jony Ive left Apple in 2019 after nearly 3 decades, it sent a shockwave through the industry. While it had been years since his heyday with the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, Ive was still the creative force behind Apple’s recent devices, including the Apple Watch, iPhone X, and AirPods. His departure was bigger than Tim Cook stepping down.
In his place, Apple named two design team leaders: Evans Hankey (hardware) and Alan Dye (software), neither of whom lasted very long. Hankey went to Ive’s io company in 2023, now part of OpenAI, and Dye jumped ship to Meta in 2025.
The tumult and turnover were palpable. iOS releases were buggy and missed deadlines, and the hardware released during the time was basic iterations with little innovation to speak of. Devices got thinner, screens got bigger, corners got rounder, but for the most part, Apple didn’t break any new ground in the design department.
At the time of Dye’s departure, it seemed like a reset was in order. The person taking his spot, Stephen Lemay, was relatively unknown in the Apple world. A few months later, Molly Anderson was named head of Industrial Design, another unfamiliar face. While both had worked at Apple during Ive’s tenure, the moves made it clear that Apple was shifting away from his protégés.
And now, the first product developed outside of Ive’s shadow is here. To drive the point home, the iPhone Duo announcement featured both Anderson and Lemay talking about the phone’s “fluid and completely intuitive” and “thoughtful” design with “breakthrough engineering,” but without Ive’s white-room pretension. The Duo feels like a labor of love between teams, the first from Apple in a long while.
