Jony Ive brings hardware & software teams together for iOS 7

The Wall Street Journal has profiled some of the design work going on at Apple for iOS 7. In October, Tim Cook added to Jony Ive’s responsibilities by tasking him with heading up both the hardware and software design teams. With iOS 7 expected to be announced this summer, the Journal have spoken to people involved in the project, who have described Ive’s influence on the upcoming release:

“Some suggested that in Apple’s next mobile operating system, Ive is pushing a more “flat design” that is starker and simpler, according to developers who have spoken to Apple employees but didn’t have further details. Overall, they expect any changes to be pretty conservative.”

It seems that Ive wants hardware and software design to come closer together, with the two working more dynamically. In fact, the report also mentions that while there are still hardware and software teams shrouded in secrecy, there is now much more collaboration between the two, with software teams seeing the hardware much earlier in the design process.

We expect to get our first look at iOS 7 in June this year, when WWDC kicks off.