“OUR GOAL IS NOT TO BE MOST BUT TO BE THE BEST”
Interviewing tech company executives is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can expect them to be right on message with the company line. On the other, you can expect some insights that those further down the chain would feel beyond their station.
And so when I was invited to meet Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, I went to the London apartment where our meeting was due to take place with some excitement about our discussion, which spanned some 40 minutes and a whole host of topics. Among other things, we talked about the new iMac Pro, Apple’s move into AR, the delay to HomePod and the process to get to iPhone X.
It’s on that latter topic that we begin, with Schiller characteristically enthused. “It’s probably the boldest of the things we’ve done – thinking back to the start when the teams started working on [the device] and made proposals of some of the things we would ultimately do with the technology.
“At the time, at the beginning, it seemed almost impossible. Not just almost. It seemed impossible. And to pull off what feels impossible and make it possible – and not only that, but just something we love using – is just a great achievement.
“Clearly there was a point in the process where we had to commit to the fact that it would be a full top-to-bottom screen on the front with no home button, which means you’re counting on Face ID working as we’d hope, and being as good.
“That’s an exciting moment, when you have to sort of… the old saying: ‘Burn the boats. Leave the past behind, and commit.’ Knowing that the team was willing to make that gamble was a key point early enough in the process.”
We mention that we were surprised the learning curve for the iPhone X gestures was unexpectedly short. “One of the things I find
