Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Apple's decision not to name its former design chief Jony Ive in its trade-secret lawsuit against OpenAI was likely a deliberate one, shaped in part by the company's relationship with Laurene Powell Jobs.


Apple's roughly 40-page complaint refers only to unnamed "former Apple leaders" rather than calling out Ive, even though he leads design on OpenAI's hardware lineup through his firm LoveFrom, built on the back of OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of his startup io Products. The allegations instead center on former iPhone executive Tang Tan, now OpenAI's chief hardware officer, whom Apple accuses of coaching recruits to bypass security measures and bring Apple hardware into interviews for "show-and-tell" sessions.

In the latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman notes that Apple's decision likely reflects, at least in part, a genuine absence of evidence against Ive, who is reportedly not closely involved in OpenAI's day-to-day recruiting or engineering. He argues, however, that the relationship between Powell Jobs and Ive was also a significant factor. The two are described as close friends, with Ive having delivered a tribute at Steve Jobs' memorial service in 2011. Powell Jobs was an investor in io Products and remains a supporter of LoveFrom. According to Gurman, naming Ive in the complaint risked straining Apple's relationship with a figure who continues to carry considerable influence within the company.

Gurman cites Apple's June Worldwide Developers Conference as an illustration of that influence, noting that Powell Jobs sat in the front row alongside CEO Tim Cook and his successor John Ternus. He characterizes her placement as a visible show of support for Apple's leadership transition.

Gurman further suggests that the optics of naming Ive directly would have worked against Apple. Tan, he notes, is not widely known outside the industry, whereas Ive spent decades as one of Apple's most recognizable figures. Naming him could have generated public sympathy for Ive and invited criticism that Apple's lawsuit was motivated as much by past grievances as by trade-secret concerns. The lawsuit comes as more than 400 former Apple employees are now reported to work at OpenAI, whose first hardware product is expected to be a portable smart speaker aimed at competing with the iPhone in the long term.
This article, "Apple Likely Left Jony Ive Out of Its OpenAI Lawsuit on Purpose" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple developed two Mac Pro models in recent years that never made it to market, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman revealed that Apple internally developed two unreleased Mac Pro projects codenamed J170 and J190 before ultimately discontinuing the machine altogether.

As for new Mac Pro hardware, there were two additional models developed by Apple that never saw the light of day: J170 and J190. The former was a new Intel Corp. Mac Pro (yes, even when Apple was making its own silicon) to address certain uses. The latter was an M3 Ultra version that was supposed to launch alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio in early 2025.

J170 was apparently a new Intel-based Mac Pro, which is notable because Apple had already completed its transition to Apple silicon by the time the project was in active development. Gurman did not specify what "certain uses" the Intel model was meant to address, but its existence suggests Apple explored keeping an x86 option alive for specific professional workflows even years into the Apple silicon era.

J190, meanwhile, was said to be an M3 Ultra-equipped Mac Pro that was supposed to launch alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio in early 2025, but Apple shelved it before release. It would have paired the same chip found in that ‌Mac Studio‌ with the Mac Pro's unique-to-the-lineup PCIe expansion slots.

Neither model shipped, and Apple discontinued the Mac Pro entirely this year, ending its 20-year run. The Mac Pro had been left on the aging M2 Ultra chip from 2023 while the ‌Mac Studio‌ continued to receive refreshes, and it was priced roughly double that of a similarly configured ‌Mac Studio‌ despite offering essentially the same performance.

The J170 and J190 cancellations add to a growing list of shelved Mac Pro plans. Apple had also developed "Extreme" chip variants, processors with twice the CPU and GPU cores of Apple's Ultra chips, for a future Mac Pro before winding down those projects over cost and demand concerns.

Gurman said he does not expect Apple to bring back the Mac Pro "anytime soon — if ever." Apple is instead expected to refresh the ‌Mac Studio‌ with M5 Ultra chips as early as this fall.
This article, "Apple Shelved Two Mac Pro Models, Including an Intel-Based One" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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