Apple revolutionised the mobile phone with the original iPhone, the first mass-market device with a touchscreen, freeing us from pesky physical controls.
It didn’t take long for that technology to find its way into vehicles, with knobs and buttons replaced by touch-sensing controls on increasingly large infotainment screens.
Now, screens dominate car cabins, with cars such as the Cadillac Celestiq featuring huge 55-inch displays which stretch across the dashboard, becoming the pinnacle of excess.
While you might think this would be seen as the perfect future from those who came up with the original iPhone, its designer, Jony Ive, says touchscreen technology never would’ve been integrated into cars the way it has been if he was in control.
“The reason we developed touch [for the iPhone] was that we were developing an idea to solve a problem,” Ive told UK magazine Autocar.
“The big idea was to develop a general-purpose interface that could be a calculator, could be a typewriter, could be a camera, rather than having physical buttons.
“I never would have used touch in a car [for the main controls]. It is something I would never have dreamed of doing because it requires you to look [away from the road]. So that’s just the wrong technology to be the primary interface.
“I think what happened was touch was seen almost like fashion,” he added on the popularity of touchscreens in cars.
“It was the most current technology, so [companies thought] ‘we need a bit of touch’, then the next year ‘we’re going to have an even bigger one’, and it will get bigger and bigger.
“I think the way that we design [car interiors] isn’t that we’re trying to solve problems [like we did with the iPhone].”
Ive’s design consultancy firm LoveFrom was tapped to help Ferrari with the interior of the Luce, the prancing horse’s first ever EV.
Revealed this week, there are unmistakable design cues from Ive’s previous projects in the cabin, though it’s also got a large number of buttons and switches for essential controls, even under the touchscreen.
“So much of what we did was so that you could use it intuitively, enjoy it and use it safely,” Ive said when asked about the Luce’s interior.
“We use some touch in the central [screen], but it’s very thoughtful, and the vast majority of the interfaces are physical. Every single switch feels different, so you don’t need to look.”
The Luce isn’t Ferrari’s only car to be more thoughtful about how controls are integrated, with the new Amalfi – the successor to the Roma – also moving to include more physical controls in the cabin.
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