Ferrari Interior Design by Jony Ive, the Closest Look at the Apple Car That Never Was

Jakarta - If the Apple Car ever really comes to life, its appearance will probably be very similar to the interior of the Ferrari Luce. Ferrari's first electric car features Jony Ive's design touches that are familiar to anyone who has ever held an iPhone, Mac, or just admired Apple's design philosophy.

After leaving Apple in 2019 and founding LoveFrom with legendary designer Marc Newson, Jony Ive was immediately eyed by Ferrari. The initial contact occurred shortly after his departure from Cupertino, although the official agreement was only reached in 2021. Now, the results of the collaboration are beginning to be shown to the public through Ferrari Luce, although it is still in a limited disclosure phase ahead of the full launch, which is expected to take place in May.

According to Engadget's report, Ferrari has not announced the price or availability of Luce. However, Ive has already showcased the interior he designed, revealing the great challenges behind it.

"It's very difficult. I've never worked in an area with such strict regulations," said Ive. He admitted that some of the rules made sense because they concerned safety, but some others felt like they were limiting the space for design exploration.

Ive's obsession with detail is once again evident. In the Ferrari Luce, which is also Ferrari's first pure electric car, attention to design even touches on something as small as the car keys. The keys are equipped with an e-ink screen that lights up yellow. When inserted into the car, the yellow light seems to "move" to the dashboard, a small visual trick that feels very Apple.

The interior of the Luce is filled with details that users may not immediately realize. The almost invisible seat rail is precision-formed and anodized. Corning Gorilla Glass material is used in more than 40 parts in the driver's area. All of them reflect Ive's old philosophy, that no detail is too small to think about.

Interestingly, Ive doesn't want the screen to be the center of attention. Even though the Ferrari Luce has a 10.2-inch OLED screen in the middle that can be rotated with a touch, he emphasizes the importance of physical controls.

"Cars now lose some of the things we loved about the old Ferraris," said Ive. "We want to find as many ways as possible for the driver to connect viscerally and physically with the interface."

The result is a blend of modern technology and tactile elements. There are prominent air vents, large physical buttons around the steering wheel, solid switches, to glass volume controls. The digital display behind the steering wheel even makes it difficult to tell which is the screen and which is the physical instrument, with an aesthetic reminiscent of CarPlay Ultra.

Marc Newson emphasized that this approach was born out of their love of the automotive world. "Jony and I have a very deep interest in vehicles. You could say, this is our hobby," he said.

Although Ferrari was the first manufacturer to adopt the first generation of CarPlay, the company has not yet made an official commitment to CarPlay Ultra. However, from the interior design of Luce that has been shown so far, the Apple feel is so strong.

Ferrari itself has not confirmed the technical details of Luce or the hotly discussed May launch date. Whether Luce will be the start of Ferrari's next EV line is also still a question mark.

For Jony Ive, this project left two results. "At the end of the project, there are always two products. What you make, and what you learn," he said. "I'm always fascinated by what we learn, and frankly, we learned a lot."

The Ferrari Luce may not be the Apple Car. But from inside the cabin, this is the closest version of a dream that never really made it onto the road.