While I can't disagree with your idea of aesthetics, I would argue that Apple's entire product line is not about an aesthetic sense as much as a design imperative. In promotional interviews for products (iPad, recent iMacs) you'll find Ives repeatedly mentioning how many unnecessary elements he and his team have _removed_ from products. This seems to be the ideal from which their industrial design team works. Cf. Steve Jobs quote:
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
That quote was curated by Gruber: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/03/20/design-is-how-it...