i'm Mr iPhone

A FEW years ago he was scratching a living designing toilets.

Now he's the brains behind the iPhone - the hottest gadget on the market today and the must have gift this Christmas.

Meet Jonathan Ive, the creative genius from Chingford, Essex, behind Apple's revolutionary new mobile phone which has already sold in its hundreds of thousands and has seen fans queuing for hours to get hold of one.

Nicknamed the Armani of Apple, ultra-secretive Jonathan, 40, is now paid over pounds 3million a year as the computer giant's vice- president of industrial design.

He is the man credited with saving Apple's computer business in 1998 with his first iconic design - the all-in-one TV-shaped iMac.

He also designed the sleek PowerBook laptop - as used by Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City - and he's the brains behind the world- conquering iPod.

Jonathan once confessed he was "terrified at being crap". And when complimented about the new iPhone, he said modestly: "It's not too shabby, is it?" He now lives with his writer wife Heather and twin baby boys in a mansion in San Francisco. And although he hangs out with pals including U2 singer Bono, and his last "toy" was a pounds 210,000 Aston Martin, he misses simple pleasures like having a curry in East London's Brick Lane.

He grew up in a semi with his silversmith father Michael and mother Pamela. He says: "As a kid, I took apart whatever I could get my hands on. This developed into an interest in how they were made. By the age of 13 I was pretty certain I wanted to draw and make stuff too."

Jonathan's first job was with London firm Tangerine - as part of a team designing toilets.

He was poached by Apple boss Steve Jobs after the firm was chosen by then-struggling Apple to come up with ideas for the computer market.

Former colleague Peter Phillips recalls: "It was a fantastic break."

sharon.vangeuns@sundaymirror.co.uk

Copyright 2007 MGN LTD
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