“After nearly 30 years and countless projects, I am most proud of the lasting work we have done to create a design team, process and culture at Apple that is without peer. Today it is stronger, more vibrant and more talented than at any point in Apple’s history,” said Ive. “The team will certainly thrive under the excellent leadership of Evans, Alan and Jeff, who have been among my closest collaborators. I have the utmost confidence in my designer colleagues at Apple, who remain my closest friends, and I look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

Throughout the time, two names in particular have been credited with driving Apple’s success, Steve Jobs and Jon Ive. Jobs returned to lead Apple in 1997, bringing along his right-hand man, Ive, who is known for minimalistic, sleek designs.
That partnership helped turn Apple from near bankruptcy into a behemoth of industry, even before Jobs passed away in 2011.

Ive's departure signals that he'll continue working with Apple for years to come. His new design firm will have Apple as a primary client. And not to worry, we will still Apple products on store shelves with Ive’s fingerprints all over even if he no longer has an Apple employee badge.

Sir Jonathan Paul "Jony" Ive, KBE, HonFREng, RDI (born 27 February 1967) is a British industrial designer who was the outgoing Chief Design Officer (CDO) of Apple and served as the Chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London. He joined Apple in 1992. Following ten years of service designing Apple products, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of design; Ive has designed the iMac, Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and parts of Apple's user interface, iOS.