Wired:
Apple calls that shade Jet Black. We call it Batmobile black. Anish Kapoor black. None more black.
Whatever you call it, the glassy, murdered-out colorway is hands down the most eye-catching feature of the new, souped-up iPhone 7. In one of his signature process videos, chief design officer Jony Ive said Wednesday that Apple developed a whole new nine-step process to achieve the Jet Black iPhone 7’s high-gloss finish. That’s par for the course with Apple. The company’s manufacturing processes rely on no shortage of proprietary technologies, and finishing—the stage at which a product is polished up, literally and figuratively—is certainly one of them.
I don’t think Apple gets enough notice or credit for that last sentence. They’ve mentioned it several times – the idea that, if they need a particular process done and it’s not available, they don’t give up. They invent the process.
“I don’t think Apple gets enough notice or credit for that last sentence. They’ve mentioned it several times – the idea that, if they need a particular process done and it’s not available, they don’t give up. They invent the process.”
Exactly. When detractors mock Apple for lack of innovation, they never look at process and details. Apple’s innovation on finish, display and interface is unrelenting.
I wouldn’t have it any other way!
I would go one step further… What amazes me every time is that even the tools Apple uses to make products look better than the products of others.
They are called designers, not tools. :p
I dunno, man, designers can be real tools at times. 😉