Jony Ive Left Apple After Feeling ‘Dispirited’ by CEO Tim Cook

At the end of last month, Apple’s iconic designer Jony Ive announced his departure from the company, bringing an end to his journey of 27 years at the company. The move was a shock to almost everyone, as Ive has been involved in many of Apple’s popular products for years.

Following the announcement, there have been multiple reports of Ive slowly moving away from his job at Cupertino. Bloomberg reported last week that Ive was cutting down on his responsibilities as early as 2015, coming into the Apple HQ as little as twice a week. And now, a new report from WSJ is shedding some light on the reason behind Ive’s departure.

According to the WSJ, Ive was apparently “dispirited” by CEO Tim Cook. Sources told the publication that Cook showed “little interest in the product development” process, frustrating Ive. Cook was more focused on the operations side of things, and showed little interest in the design process of products. Ive even had different plans for the Apple Watch, and he wanted to position it as a fashion accessory rather than an accessory for the iPhone. That lead to him clashing with Apple executives, and he was increasingly frustrated with the Apple board being filled with directions with no background in Apple’s business or culture.

WSJ also noted that the Apple design team “craved” to be around him, but Ive slowly cutting down his responsibilities and showing up less was “disappointing” for Apple designers.

Apple will, obviously, continue to work with Ive through his new independent design firm LoveFrom. The company is reportedly going to be paying “millions of dollars” every year to work with Ive’s LoveFrom, and Ive will likely continue to play a huge role in Apple’s future products.