10 secrets of Apple: Inside Apple's product design studio

If we were to add an adjective to Apple, there would be many possibilities, such as the world's most well-known mobile phone company, the company with the highest market value in the world, and the company that people around the world want to know the most but know very little about except for its products.

Apple has always been very cautious about the media, but sometimes they are willing to open up to well-known media for the sake of company publicity. Recently, the well-known American news program "60 Minutes" did a program about Apple, and they were allowed to enter places in Apple that other media have never been allowed to enter.

At the same time, they also interviewed a large number of Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook, chief designer Jonathan Ive, new chief operating officer Jeff Williams, and senior vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts.

In this episode of "60 Minutes", we can see Apple's highest-level meetings, the most private design studio, the latest progress of the headquarters building, and Cook's views on privacy, tax avoidance, and Chinese manufacturing. Here are the highlights of this episode:

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1. Every Monday at 9 a.m., Apple's top management meets in this conference room. If you want to understand how Apple works, this conference room is the best place. But even "60 Minutes" failed to film the meeting.

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2. This is Jonathan Ive's design studio. The 60 Minutes crew was the first media allowed to film here, but there were still several tables covered with cloth, and under the cloth were likely Apple's next-generation products. Jonathan Ive's core design team has 22 designers, and only two have left in the past 15 years.

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3. An iPhone camera has more than 200 different components, and making this camera well is the sole job of more than 800 Apple engineers.

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4. All Apple products are first made into models - Apple's retail stores are no exception. This "model room" is located near Apple's headquarters, and the design of the model room will be constantly updated to ensure that Apple's 469 retail stores around the world can make consumers feel "WOW" when they enter the door.

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5. Apple has a series of products, and there is fierce competition among them. Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, said: The iPhone must be so good that you can't find a reason to buy an iPad, the iPad must be so good that you can't find a reason to buy a laptop, and the Macbook must be so good that you can't find a reason to buy a computer - in terms of sales, Apple has really achieved this, and the total sales of iPhone may exceed 1 billion by next year.

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6. As to whether Apple will make cars, Cook did not give a direct answer. He just said that Apple's confidentiality work is better than that of the CIA. In addition to keeping its products confidential, Apple insists on encrypting its own data and leaving no backdoors. Cook believes that people should have privacy and feel safe at the same time.

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7. Apple has a lot of cash overseas, and Cook said this is because Apple has a lot of business overseas. When talking about the US tax system, Cook burst into swear words (political crap), and also believed that this tax rate system is too old and does not adapt to the current digital age at all.

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8. The exterior wall of Apple's new headquarters uses more than 3,000 curved glass sheets to ensure an excellent view. At the same time, the new headquarters is not connected to the national power grid, but mainly uses its own solar power generation system for power. However, because of the design of the natural ventilation system, there is no need for air conditioning to regulate the temperature in this "spaceship" for 9 months a year.

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9. Cook attaches great importance to privacy, so he did not reveal his homosexuality until last year. He said that because he is a minority, he can often see things from different perspectives. He hopes that after he reveals his identity, he can have a positive impact on other minority groups, such as being able to succeed even if he is a minority.

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10. Most of Apple's products are manufactured in China. People outside the country naturally think that this is because China has a large number of cheap labor. But Cook believes that the main reason is that China has enough skilled workers, which is related to China's emphasis on manufacturing and China's education system.