Apple and Samsung’s trial is well under way folks, and we’re seeing plenty of juicy information come out of it. We’ve seen iPhone and iPad prototype from Apple, plans for an upcoming higher-than-Full-HD resolution tablet from Samsung, and now one of Apple’s design team members has discussed the design process that Apple goes through for new products.
The news comes from TheVerge in form of a report in which they discuss industrial designer Christopher Stringer’s statements as an Apple witness for the Apple vs. Samsung case.
Christopher Stringer has been working at Apple for more than 17 years now, and has been involved with the design of every single product released since 1995. This includes big name products like the MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPad to the earphones and chargers that come as accessories with the statement “Designed by Apple in California” printed on their back.
Stringer states that the designers at Apple “work as a team.” They meet up every week, gathering around a kitchen table to discuss new and “trade” ideas and sketches. Everyone’s opinion is taken under consideration in a “brutally honest circle of debate.”
Once the team agrees on a certain design or designs, it is modeled using CAD software. Prototypes are manufactured to be played around physically. Then, every single detail is “obsess[ed] over” until perfection is met. Stringer says the team is a “pretty maniacal group of people”; a single or button can go through as many as fifty iterations before its design is made final.
The original iPhone designed was codenamed N68. In making prototypes and finalizing the design, Stringer stated that the team’s objective was to create a “new, original, and beautiful object”; an object “so wonderful that you couldn’t imagine how you’d follow it.”
As we mentioned before, the original iPhone faced many fundamental problems that at one point almost saw the project being completely axed. Stringer confirms this by stating that the iPhone faced many production problems and challenges. Steve Jobs too wasn’t particularly content with the phone’s design. Engineering problems were later solved, of course.
Stringer’s opinion on Samsung’s designs? “We’ve been ripped off.”
Phil Schiller is next in line for the witness stand, and we’re confident that whatever he’ll say will be something to write about, so stay tuned to Redmond Pie, folks!
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