- Steve Jobs tasked Jony Ive with designing a new computer to save Apple.
- Apple was struggling financially in 1997 and needed a hit product to regain profitability.
- The colorful iMac's design helped Apple sell 800,000 units in 1999.
After Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he looked to designer Jony Ive to help save it from going under.
The first time they met, the late cofounder asked Ive to create a network computer with internet connectivity "literally days" before the company was set to go bankrupt, Ive said on BBC's "Desert Island Discs" podcast.
At the time, Apple was struggling — it took a $150 million investment from rival Microsoft to help the company become profitable again. Apple needed a hit product, and Jobs enlisted a young Ive for the "impossible task." It was the world's first glimpse into Ive's vision for tech design.
"We started work from the first day that we met on what became the iMac," Ive said.
Personal computers didn't yet have a role in most people's lives back then, and many were intimidated by them, he said. Their mission, to focus on making a product "for people," became the philosophy that gave Apple an edge over competitors.
Ive put thought into each detail of the colorful lineup of PCs to make it more approachable for consumers. The handle, for example, was an intentional design choice to give the iMac a recognizable characteristic for those unfamiliar with the power of computing.
"It references immediately and unambiguously your hand, and you understand, therefore, something about this object," Ive said.
The iMac's appearance, like the handle and translucent colors, were better talking points than gigahertz and hard drive capacity, Ive said. The candy-colored PCs were the home run Apple needed. It sold 800,000 iMacs in the five months of its launch in 1999.
"It felt alive; it didn't static; it didn't feel stuck," Ive said.
It debuted with the tagline, "Collect all five."
The iMac has had some major revamps in the decades since it first debuted. Apple moved away from the colorful design in the mid-2000s in favor of minimalist grays and whites, but in 2021, it brought color back to its desktops.
After the success of the iMac, Ive went on to design more of Apple's most iconic products as his friendship with Jobs grew. He led design on the iPhone, iPad, and other products and eventually became the chief design officer. Ive announced his departure from Apple in 2019 after 27 years at the company.
