My favorite bit from the new one-hour Jony Ive interview is an anecdote about team breakfasts, where Apple designers took turns cooking for each other

Jony Ive shared the weekly team breakfast ritual from his tenure at Apple, where designers on the team took turns cooking for each other.

Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief and one of the world’s most influential designers, was interviewed at the annual Stripe Sessions 2025 conference by Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. He discussed a wide range of topics, from his days at Apple and the creative partnership with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to starting his design collective, LoveFrom, after leaving Apple nearly six years ago, to future projects and beyond.

The one-hour YouTube video also talked about the camaraderie and a little managerial trick that had helped him and his fellow designers bond during their decades together at Apple, where every week one person on the design team would make breakfast for everyone.

Jony Ive interview at the Stripe Sessions 2025 conference

“One of the things I thought was great was that every Friday morning, I asked that one person on the design team would make breakfast for the whole team and we took it in turns,” he said.

Ive reflected on his early days as a design student in the United Kingdom, where he was first exposed with the original Macintosh. He was so impressed by the machine’s design that reflected the values of its creators that he would eventually wind up consulting for Apple for some time until the company recognized his contributions and offered him a permanent design role, so he moved to Silicon Valley.

I consulted for Apple for a couple of years, and then they persuaded me to move to San Francisco—to move to Apple here. What I saw, I think, was—or what I felt was a sort of an innocent euphoria, I think, of like-minded people driven by values clearly in service of humanity gathering together in some small groups, in some huge groups. But I do believe there was a very strong sense of purpose. And that purpose was we are here to serve the species.

Ive isn’t happy with the state of the technology industry today and the fact that, despite all the advancements, products seem harder to use.

I actually think that something that I feel conscious of is that I think generally in the valley and generally in our industry, I think joy in humans has been missing. And that’s something that sort of weighed on me a bit. And the products that we’re all developing, they’re complicated, aren’t they? And sometimes joy gets confused with being trivial.

Ive briefly express his concern about the state of social media today and the pace of innovation in AI. The iconic designer was “extremely concerned about social media, and there was no discussion whatsoever.” He is optimistic about AI, saying that “it’s very rare for there to be a discussion about AI, and there not to be the appropriate concerns about safety.”

Through LoveFrom, Ive is currently said to be working on a new AI hardware project with OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, the details of which remain shrouded in secrecy.

I think even if you’re innocent in your intention, I think if you’re involved in something that has poor consequences, you need to own it. That ownership, personally, has driven a lot of what I’ve been working on that I can’t talk about the moment, but look forward to being able to talk about at some point in the future.

The New York Times reported that former Apple designers Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, who helped design the iPhone, are leading the OpenAI design project. Ive was recently spotted filming something in San Francisco, perhaps a product introduction video or a commercial, with reports on Reddit claiming a large film crew was present and uasing a drone to shoot a man walking down the hill.

The whole interview is well worth a watch, a lot of good gems in there—especially if you’re interested in Apple and industrial design, especially knowing how rarely Ive gives interviews.

Here are some specific chapter markers from the video:

02:43 – Understanding design’s history shapes our values and creative outputs.
07:47 – Corporate agendas have shifted focus from purpose to profit in design and innovation.
10:30 – Progress requires conviction and vision, not just inevitability.
15:55 – Jony Ive emphasizes the importance of simplicity and joy in design.
18:26 – Design must prioritize the user’s evolving nature as a person.
23:09 – Jony Ive discusses balancing quality, speed, and cost in design.
25:26 – Jony Ive discusses the evolution of design principles and team dynamics.
30:41 – Creating an authentic team culture through personal connections.
32:48 – Team collaboration thrives through personal connections and informal settings.
37:50 – Choosing objects that embody care over mere beauty is essential in design.
40:10 – Personal integrity in design reflects our true selves, beyond superficial appearances.
44:39 – Jony Ive discusses his evolving design philosophy post-Apple.
47:06 – Discussing the dual effects of design on users and society.
52:20 – Jony Ive expresses concerns about unaddressed social media issues and emphasizes responsible design.
54:50 – Design influences civic responsibility and innovation in urban development.

One of my favorite quotes from the video: “What kills an idea is people’s urge to express their opinion.” I could listen to Ive’s soothing voice and his immaculate pronunciation of “aluminum” all day long. He is so very British.

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