Rebecca Naden/Getty
Jony Ive and designer Mark Newson following an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 2012.
Ive called him "one of the most influential designers of this generation," in a statement to Vanity Fair's Kia Makarechi.
Other than co-designing some Apple products, there's another good reason why the two are buddies and a natural fit to work together: they share the same world view when it comes to design.
In an interview with CBS This Morning last year, when they teamed up for a charity auction for U2's Bono, they discuss their similarities.
"Tell me about the kinship in ideas, kinship in approach, kinship in appreciation, kinship in a sense of design and beauty and function," interviewer Charlie Rose says.
"Well, I think in some ways that's why we're the close friends that we are," Ive explains. "That we share the same view of the world and the same taste and we'll relate to the same attributes and aspects of an object."
Then Newson interjects: "But most importantly, we really hate the same things," he jokes.
That plays right into the way Apple designs products. Last year, Apple famously showed a video at its developers conference about its creative process. The key line: "There are a thousand no's for every yes."
It sounds like Newson will help Ive continue that strict level of scrutiny when making new products.
Watch the entire clip below: