Jonathan Ive considering a move back to UK?

By chrisoldroyd
last updated

UK news paper, The Sunday Times is reporting that Jonathan Ive, the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, wants to return to the UK to live! Ive is the principal designer of the iMac, MacBook, unibody MacBook Pro, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Ive supposedly wishes to commute to Cupertino from his home, which is based in Somerset, England, and the Apple board is not exactly thrilled by the idea. A friend of Ive’s family has allegedly confirmed the dispute and told The Sunday Times:

“Unfortunately he is just too valuable to Apple and they told him in no uncertain terms that if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them.”

Ive’s has reportedly just received a $30 million payment from Apple on completion of his latest deal, which is now up for re-negotiation. The problem appears to be that his wife Heather would like their two children educated in their own country.

[Cult of Mac]

chrisoldroyd
chrisoldroyd

UK editor at iMore, mobile technology lover and air conditioning design engineer.

30 Comments
  • He wants to commute to Cupertino from England???... Woww...
  • perfect time to advertise for Facetime!!!
  • Apple would be foolish to let Ive go from Apple. I would still let him work for the company. What's the big deal if he's on the other side of the planet as long as he continues to do a good job?
  • Personally I don't find Ive all that got but meh. Issue with the proposition is that long distance always causes problems and especially so seeing as he's a designer and not something like a stock analyst or something that could easily report back through fax, email, video conference, etc. Having him close by is a neccesity. Also interesting uncommented bit at the end, they want their kids education coming from the U.K. Can't blame them. Americans aren't stupid, but facts are the U.K's education is better and tougher. We're pretty easy peasy. Of coarse the question is- Public or private school? If their going to a private school in the first place might aswell stay in the States. I'd expect they can, for the lack of a better term, afford good school nearby.
  • I'm with him.
    If I had to choose between US education and UK education.
    I would've packed my bags ages ago and never look back.
  • Considering I'm sure they send their kids to a private school I doubt the problem is with US schools. Probably just wants her kids to have an English accent or something..
  • Err...technically, since "english" is the language of those who live in England, those living in the US have an American accent, and not the other way around.
  • No there are very different education systems in england and america and being english there mum probably wants them to go through the english system and learn to speak english properly as American isn't a language its spell-it-how-it's-said variation of english with few different words and an accent chucked in just to distinguish. BOTTOM LINE American is a derivative of english IT IS NOT A LANGUAGE
  • Jobs has left, now Ive is leaving...
    We're screwed. :|
  • In the chain of the "Who Is Making Apple Great" line...I actually put Ives at the top.
    Yes, Jobs had the control, strategy, and so on and so forth.
    But it's Ives who actually made the consumer want a product. His design and vision is what made people stop and look at an Apple product and go "ooh".
    We all know there are other designers there...but to replace Ives would be as silly as thinking you could fully replace Jobs. I just don't see it happening.
  • Come to uk Ives!
  • Nobody can stay with a company 4ever. Maybe the real reason hes considering moving bak 2 the uk besides his kids education is he needs a new challenge like wrkn for htc cuz they sure can use his design expertise
  • Speaking of education, you should perhaps try to achieve an education higher than your current 5th grade level academic achievement. Your entire post was painful to read. You're posting on a public forum, not writing a text message.
  • How much do you get paid to be the grammar police on TIPB?
  • He gets paid very little cuz hes little omar :)
  • i really hope he doesn't betray us and go to the other side........
  • With $30 Million you would think he could import an entire English school to make his wife happy. If this is not a salary negotiating tactic then the board should start thinking about a replacement, everyone is replaceable even Jobs. More than likely there is someone on his team that could take over, after all Apple products are a result of a team not an individual. He's made his money and wants to take it easy more power to him.
  • who would/could replace jobs and Ive?!?!?!?
  • Ive is as important to Apple as Jobs is.
  • It's not like he built every device in his basement. While his ideas and input are invaluable, I have to believe there are a number of people in the design department that can handle the day to day stuff. Besides, we live in a world of telepresence, international overnight shipping and regular flights between the US and UK (and yes, FaceTime HD) so no one has to be "down the hall" 24/7. The real impact would be minimal.
  • I'm fearful if Ives leaves Apple Products will never be the same
  • If Apple wants to keep him, they'll find a way.
    We live in an age of telecommunications and have dozens of ways to communicate. Apple is at the height of that industry. And as someone else said, perfect way to advertise FaceTime! haha
    If Apple wants something, they'll most likely get it. If they want Ive bad enough, they'll work with him. I'm assuming commuting from England wouldn't be that bad considering they probably aren't talking a normal 40 hour work week. He will have to commute when it's essential for him to be there for meetings and key functions. Other than that, I'd ask for a Batcave with a super secret lab!
  • "..he's too valuable to Apple..." "...if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them."
    Yep, that sounds about right?
  • Now everyone knows who wears the pants in their relationship.
  • Doesn't sound to me like it's an issue of quality of education, obviously they could afford the finest private schools. More like his wife prefers the kid(s) to be raised as Brits instead of Americans. I can certainly understand that, since that is the culture the parents come from. Not that there's anything wrong with being raised an American. I was, and I turned out ok :)
  • Commute!! Look out for the Apple relaunch of Concorde 
  • He wants to live in England. Life is short. He is rich. Talking about the reasons seems immaterial.
    Sounds like he will live in England. What Apple does is its choice. I'm sure there are any number of competitors blowing up his iPhone right now ready to put the private jet at his disposal for the commute between England and their headquarters.
    Your move Apple.
  • this just great first jobs takes a misty medical leave now Ive wants to come back to england i mean im british but if it continues like this apple's going to go from being the apple we know to just another nearly anonymous company scrapping for money and on the edge of closure (just like before but with no happy ending with jibs saving the day)
  • how could he not contiinue his position like allyzon says we live in an age of incredible telecommunications and i'm sure that apple producing some of the most wanted of these devices could find a way like the joke goes perfect for facetime!! :)