Jony Ive’s LoveFrom labored on this restricted version $60,000 turntable

LoveFrom, the design agency shaped by Apple’s former design head Jony Ive, has collaborated with British audio model Linn on a fiftieth anniversary version of its Sondek LP12 turntable. Simply 250 fashions of the Linn Sondek LP12-50 will likely be produced and delivered between August 2023 and March 2024, with the restricted version turntable obtainable to order now for an eye-watering $60,000 (£50,000). 

Based on a weblog submit from Linn CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun, the collaboration dates again to early 2022 when Tiefenbrun was provided a gathering with Ive out of the blue over LinkedIn. Finally, the 2 firms determined to collaborate on the upcoming turntable, which Quick Firm calls Ive’s “first {hardware} venture post-Apple.”

Linn has centered on the sonic components of the Sondek LP12-50 like a so-called “Bedrok” plinth comprised of a dense wooden designed to attenuate vibrations. In the meantime, LoveFrom centered extra on its industrial design. “We noticed numerous areas the place there may very well be small enhancements and mild evolutions of the present design,” Ive tells Quick Firm. Beforehand squared-off elements have been given smoother edges, a plastic rocker energy button has been swapped out for an aluminum circle, and new hinges had been developed for the machine’s mud cowl that may maintain it open at any angle.

Curiously, Quick Firm reviews LoveFrom’s work on Linn’s Sondek LP12-50 was professional bono, and there’s “no contract or different monetary association” between the 2 companies. “There’s a considerable share of our work which we do purely for the love of doing it,” Ive mentioned, noting that the design agency makes cash from its longer-term contracts with the likes of Airbnb and Ferrari.