Jony Ive is back, and this time he doesn’t want to redesign an iPhone, but rather completely break with everything we understand as a mobile device and, consequently, an iPhone. The legendary Apple designer, responsible for the iconic look of the iMac, the iPhone, and the Apple Watch, is working on a project that could be a game-changer in the world of technology.
The idea is something that had never been discussed at Apple’s offices before, and it’s an iPhone without a screen.
Device based on artificial intelligence
The startup is called IO Products, and it’s the result of a collaboration between Ive and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. The two have been developing AI-powered devices with a radically different approach for over a year. It wouldn’t be a typical phone, but it wouldn’t be a smart speaker either. According to sources close to the project, it would focus on voice interaction, without the need for a screen, and with artificial intelligence at its core. Literally, it’s like talking to the future.
Most striking is that OpenAI is considering buying the startup for a figure that would exceed $500 million. A huge amount for a company that has yet to present a product to the public, but which demonstrates the market’s interest in the convergence of hardware and advanced AI models. The agreement, as revealed by The Information, would involve OpenAI contributing its technology, IO Products handling hardware development, and the design studio LoveFrom, founded by Ive after leaving Apple in 2019, shaping the final product.
Although many insist it’s “not a phone,” the truth is that it does aim to replace functions that we’ve so far associated exclusively with smartphones. And therein lies its potential. Instead of a screen, notifications, and apps, this new device would rely on a conversational interface, similar to what OpenAI has already implemented in ChatGPT with its voice mode. But taken to another level, with a minimalist, intuitive, and possibly portable design.
The team behind the project also includes former Apple designers such as Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, key players in the development of iconic products during the Ive era. Emerson Collective, the organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, is also involved and acts as one of the main investors.
I wouldn’t have Apple Intelligence
All of this is taking place in a context of intense competition. Big tech companies, such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Anthropic, and xAI (owned by Elon Musk), are racing to dominate the next generation of smart assistants, capable of holding natural conversations, performing complex tasks, and learning from every interaction. But none have yet proposed such a leap: designing a new type of device, from scratch, for this conversational AI.
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the smartphone as we know it? It’s too early to say, but if anyone can shape that transition, it’s Jony Ive. He’s already done his part to turn the phone into an extension of our bodies.
The idea may seem utopian, and it certainly is, but so did the iPhone in 2007 when it introduced a device without a physical keyboard.
