A Ferrari Is Not An iPhone
https://www.motor1.com/features/797351/ferrari-luce-not-an-iphone-design-opinion/
Publish Date: 2026-06-01 09:03:00
Source Domain: www.motor1.com
Ferrari set expectations sky high for its first electric vehicle. The company promised to revolutionize the industry, setting a new standard for electric performance cars that all of its rivals would follow. Instead, the Ferrari Luce was lambasted on social media for its controversial looks and confusing positioning—it wasn’t the immediate smash hit the company had hoped.
The design is what got people talking. Penned by Jony Ive and his team at LoveFrom, Ferrari partnered with the iconic designer in hopes that he would be able to usher in a daring new era for Ferrari’s first EV. Something the world had never seen.
Photo by: Ferrari
On paper, that made sense; Ive’s accolades are hugely impressive. His masterpiece—his Mona Lisa—is the original iPhone, a design that remains the standard for smartphones nearly 20 years later. And he’s credited for hundreds of other recognizable projects beyond that.
But a quick dive into Ive’s history will tell you that he might not have been the right man for the job. By his own words, Ive’s focus has always been on minimal, functional, and largely safe design. In a 2012 interview discussing Apple’s search for simplicity, he said:
‘Our products are tools, and we don’t want design to get in the way. We’re trying to bring simplicity and clarity; we’re trying to order the products… The quest for simplicity has to pervade every part of the process.’
Photo by: Jony Ive
That philosophy works for phones and laptops, technology meant to blend into the background, but it doesn’t exactly translate to Ferrari—a brand known for sports cars that stand out. A Ferrari is not simply a “tool.”
The result of that thinking is yet another generic blob plopped atop…
