More than half a decade after leaving Apple, two of the tech giant’s former designers could be working on just about anything they want. Instead, they both seem to have luxury vehicles stuck on their minds. Could it be that Apple’s shelved EV project is still haunting them? Coincidentally, Waymo acquired that project’s former proving grounds this month. The two designers who worked on industry-changing consumer products like the iPod, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro have gone down very different roads after Apple’s car project was killed. Jony Ive and his creative collective LoveFrom went on to collaborate with Ferrari on the luxury sports car company’s first EV. The Ferrari Luce was unveiled last month to a largely negative response. And just this week, the company announced the sudden departure of its longtime marketing chief.
In a pretty stark contrast, Apple design veteran Julian Hoenig today publicly launched a new electric buggy company called Amble. The company’s first product is the Amble One, a minimalist, street-legal electric buggy with a top speed of about 40 miles per hour and a range of about 60 miles on a single charge. Amble is calling it part of a new category of lightweight EVs purpose-built for short trips. The word “amble” itself means a relaxed stroll.
