After serving as Apple’s chief design officer for 22 years, Jony Ive parted ways with the company in 2019. Known for his contributions to Apple’s sleek, minimalist designs, Ive founded the design firm LoveFrom shortly after his departure.
LoveFrom has since taken on several projects, both for Apple and otherwise, and the firm’s latest venture was a passion project: updating the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable for a special 50th anniversary edition. In a conversation with Fast Company, Ive described the project as “very gentle and modest,” and decided to take on the endeavor free of charge. As a matter of fact, Ive approached Linn with the idea initially. “There are many things that I’ve always wanted to be able to do purely for the love of doing them,” he explained.
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LoveFrom’s changes to the original are modest, with Ive admitting that not too much could be altered, for fear of affecting the sound quality of the device. In the end, however, Ive said that the firm “saw a number of areas where there could be small improvements and gentle evolutions of the current design.” These included replacing the plastic rocker that starts the device with an aluminum power button, adding a hinge to the dust cover, and softening the appearance of the device by rounding off some corners of the turntable.
Limited to only 250 units, the 50th anniversary edition Sondek LP12-50 costs an extraordinary $60,000, and is currently open for reservation.
