New 2021 MacBook Pro supposedly illustrates that Apple's product designs prioritize function over form since Jony Ive has left the company

Over the last decade or so, Apple's product designs have proven to be pivotal for the entire tech industry. Remember the controversial decision to release the iPhone 7 without a 3.5mm headphone jack, but to instead ship it with an according Lightning adaptor. After an initial outcry, most smartphone brands have since followed the Cupertino-based role model in this regard. But here have been more highly criticized design choices, like the Apple Magic Mouse which has to be charged via a Lightning port placed on the bottom side of the device.

Since 2016, Apple has been selling its flagship line of laptops, the MacBook Pro, with severely limited native connectivity which had been reduced to USB-C Thunderbolt ports and, ironically, a 3.5mm headphone jack. Practicability has certainly played second fiddle at Apple for many years, but according to a column by Bloomberg writer Alex Webb, this has changed since Jony Ive left the company in 2019, which is when Apple decided to prioritize function over form. Webb says that the redesigned remote of the Apple TV for example is more intuitive than the previous generation.

The new design of the recently launched 2021 MacBook Pro 14 (preorder from US$1,999 on Amazon) and MacBook Pro 16 with a full SD card slot, a MagSafe connector and an HDMI 2.0 port may also be indicative of Apple's decision to make its products usable instead of just beautiful to look at. In comparison to the sexy round curves of previous iPhones generations that were designed under Ive, even the angular design of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 makes the latest Apple smartphones less susceptible to cracking when the device is dropped. Do you agree with Webb's notion that new Apple products which have been designed after Jony Ive's departure seem to put function over form?