Why Great Design Is Timeless — Om Malik

December 26, 2020
1 min read

If there are two things I like in the world, those definitely would be iPhone and design of Porsche 911.

More than a decade ago, Apple introduced the iPhone 4, with its new boxy rectangular design. It was the first time we got to experience the Retina display. Fast-forward to today, and the new iPhone 12 is slowly making its way into the hands of iPhone buyers. To the joy of many, it has the same design language as the iPhone 4.

iPhone 4 was my first iPhone. It was not a good device in a hindsight — the processor was too slow for the Retina display and in just a year and a half it would take a minute to open the app. But it was beautiful. I always considered it the best-looking iPhone. And this is one of the reasons I love my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Not even using it, I just like looking at it, enjoying its beauty as an object.

You can easily tell a Porsche from another carmaker, even when zipping past you over the speed limit.

Notches and doing it right

June 19, 2018
2 min read

When the iPhone X was announced, I was among those criticising the notch, it looked stupid in photos. I hoped apps would hide the notch by making black status bar and feared they would all “embrace the notch” (they’ve had a powerful incentive – those apps would be featured everywhere, from blogs to magazines, to Apple itself). Regardless, I’ve ordered the X the second pre-orders went live and then begged my carrier to deliver it for my birthday (they did and this is one of the reasons I don’t change it for something cheaper).

So why all of this 8 months after the release? I was sitting on the roof, reading some articles and it dawned on me – the power of the iPhone notch – no chin, it feels like you don’t have a phone, but you are holding the information itself in your hand. It’s truly amazing. I don’t see the notch, because mostly I look at the lower half of the screen and all I can see is this beautiful peace of glass in my hand with the text going from edge to edge and all the way down.

That is what Android manufacturers can’t get right – they copy the notch, so that the phone looks similar to iPhone, but all of them have this chin, so it looks like cheap copy and not as something that was inspired by the Apple desing.

Oh, and also, one of my favorite apps – Halide, did embrace the notch and that’s one of the reasons I like it so much. That’s another reminder that I should more thoroughly consider everything before judging the product.

In the loop: Jony Ive on Apple’s new HQ and the disappearing iPhone

November 14, 2017
2 min read

In the loop: Jony Ive on Apple’s new HQ and the disappearing iPhone

Great article in the Wallpaper* magazine. Stunning photos of the Apple Park, you should really see them on the best screen you have. 

I’ve always been fascinated by these products that are more general purpose. What I think is remarkable about the iPhone X is that its functionality is so determined by software. And because of the fluid nature of software, this product is going to change and evolve. In 12 months’ time, this object will be able to do things that it can’t now. I think that is extraordinary. I think we will look back on it and see it as a very significant point in terms of the products we have been developing.

This quote by Jony Ive could be very promising or completely uninteresting – it could probably mean that Apple is working on the new design in iOS 12 which takes into the consideration the OLED screen of the iPhone X, for example, Dark Mode. It could also mean, Apple is just working on the new iOS 12 which will add features to the old phones like it always does.

I hope it is the former.