iPhone X
Apple's chief designer Jony Ive said that in 12 months time the iPhone X will be able to do things that it can't now. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Apple’s chief designer Jony Ive recently talked about Apple Park, Apple’s new campus in Cupertino, and, of course, the new iPhone X. Ive revealed some intriguing new info about the iPhone X, saying that it will have some new features in the future.

“I’ve always been fascinated by these products that are more general purpose,” Ive told Wallpaper. “What I think is remarkable about the iPhone X is that its functionality is so determined by software. And because of the fluid nature of software, this product is going to change and evolve. In 12 months’ time, this object will be able to do things that it can’t now. I think that is extraordinary. I think we will look back on it and see it as a very significant point in terms of the products we have been developing.”

Ive declined to say what his design team are working on next, but he did say that they are “absurdly curious” and looking for “alternatives” on what to do next. The Apple design chief also said that some of the technologies that they’re currently working on can be understood right now, while some of them are “beyond the technology at the moment.” “They exist as ideas, they exist to galvanize the development of technology. And some will bear fruit and others won’t,” Ive said.

Even though the iPhone X is the 10th anniversary iPhone, it’s very much like a first-generation product. It’s the latest iPhone to have plenty of “firsts,” which is comparable to the original iPhone from 2007. Apple’s iPhone X introduces a whole new way of using an iPhone by completely removing the home button and replacing its functions with touch-based gestures.

The iPhone X also removed Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor and replaced it with the new Face ID facial recognition technology. Face ID was made possible with the new TrueDepth camera system that populates the iPhone X’s distinctive notch. That TrueDepth camera system also introduced Animoji, where emojis can now be animated based on the user’s own facial expressions.

Most importantly and crucially, the iPhone X is the very first iPhone model to come with an edgeless display. This opens up new opportunities for Apple and third-party developers to create new experiences and apps that have never been seen on an iPhone. With Ive confirming that Apple will introduce new features to the iPhone X throughout the next 12 months, it looks like users still have a lot to look forward to when it comes to what the flagship smartphone is capable of.

“When I look back over the last 25 years, in some ways what seems most precious is not what we have made but how we have made it and what we have learned as a consequence of that,” Ive said. “I always think that there are two products at the end of a program; there is the physical product or the service, the thing that you have managed to make, and then there is all that you have learned. The power of what you have learned enables you to do the next thing and it enables you to do the next thing better.”