Jony Ive and Designer Marc Newson Interviewed on Charlie Rose Show [Updated]

Following a discussion about the duo's design vision and obsession with perfection in a Vanity Fair article last month, Apple's senior vice president of design Jonathan Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson appeared on the Charlie Rose show last night, with airings of the interview occurring last night on PBS and again tonight on Bloomberg TV.

Simplicity is refining and being able to define the very essence of what something does, and therefore you understand what it is and you understand what it does....but simplicity for us, it's not just the absence of clutter, it's not just stuff that's not there, it's this tremendous gravity to trying to find that very simple solution.

ive_newson_rose Left to right: Marc Newson, Jony Ive, and Charlie Rose (Source: @charlierose)

Ive and Newson have collaborated numerous times throughout the past few months to select and customize products for Sotheby's charity auction to benefit Product (RED), including a one-of-a-kind Leica camera, an aluminum desk, solid gold Apple EarPods, and a one-of-a-kind red Mac Pro. Product (RED) has been a longtime Apple partner, with the company raising more than $65 million for the charity since 2006. The two had previously appeared in a video discussing the auction and their role in it.

(Note: Video contains one use of profanity near the end)

Update: The full video of the duo's interview on the show has been posted above.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red Green

The 30+ Best Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 6:46 am PST by
Black Friday is just a few hours away, and as always this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Crease-Free iPhone Fold on Track for 2026 Launch as Development Advances

Monday November 24, 2025 10:25 am PST by
Apple is making progress on the development of the book-style foldable iPhone expected in 2026, according to a report from Chinese site UDN. The device has reportedly entered the engineering validation stage, and Apple is gearing up for mass production. Citing supply chain sources, UDN says that Apple has solved "the crease problem" that has plagued most foldable smartphones, and the...

Top Rated Comments

NachoGrande Avatar
157 months ago
sorry iOS 7 is not perfection.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0815 Avatar
157 months ago
Ive is a fantastic designer - at least for hardware and (industrial) objects. Almost every object he designs, I love .... but that does not seem to translate well into software/UX design - I'm still very disappointed in the iOS UX.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
marf1million Avatar
157 months ago
He really does talk a load of *****.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
157 months ago
I'm getting a bit Iverwhelmed by all this.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gugy Avatar
157 months ago
Jony needs to design some shaving blades to Gillette and use on him. The guy always look like he just got out of his bed.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
o0smoothies0o Avatar
157 months ago
So...it looks "very well" or it's only his first crack at it and it needs improvement. It can't be both.

iOS 7 is a step backward. It wasn't just simplified. The usability was altered.
iOS 7 is literally a rare piece of art compared to iOS 6. When I look at iOS 6 after having used iOS 7 I am amazed at how truly awful iOS 6 looked. Just to point out one thing that was particularly embarrassing about iOS 6: the menu bar colors, dear god that was awful, and it completely distracted from the ability to read anything in the menu bar because it was all the same color except very minute fading of the same color to display the menu bar icons and time. It was an abomination as soon as I saw it I was disgusted.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)