Pure And Simple

Apple is world famous for its dedication to minimalism and simplicity – but has it gone too far?

- Alex Blake

There are few things in life as divisive and polarising as an Apple product. While many people laud the latest iGadgets as revolutionary must-haves that will change your life for good, there is an equal number who condemn them as overpriced wallet gougers made to milk the ‘sheeple’ dry.

The focus of this consumer ire is often Apple’s near-obsession with minimalism. Every product refresh seems to see iPhones, MacBooks and more getting thinner and lighter (so much so that the Air range, once the definition of laptop lightness, now looks almost obsolete), and if that means ports and standards have to be ditched, or certain tech has to be foregone – well, so be it, says Apple. Got a peripheral device that uses a legacy connection? There’s an adaptor for that.

Minimalist tendency

Understanding why Apple is so trigger happy when it comes to abandoning connectivity and utility in the name of sleek style goes deeper than mere appearances. It’s at the core of the design philosophy of Jony Ive and, prior to his death, Steve Jobs as well.

Speaking to Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs’ official biographer, Ive put it this way: “Simplicity isn’t just a visual style. It’s not just minimalism or the absence of clutter. It involves digging through the depth of the complexity… You have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential.” In other words, simplicity is not just a simple process of throwing away various features in a product, but informs what the product itself is and means. That’s the level of dedication to simplicity among Apple’s designers that we’re talking about here.