Over a year ago, OpenAI bought Jony Ive's IO and turned the former Apple design chief's LoveFrom into its own in-house design studio. The remit was to create a revolutionary piece of hardware that would redefine how we interact with AI.
For an unprofitable company looking to go public, it needs the product to be nothing less than AI hardware's iPod or iPhone moment. It goes without saying that it has to be a lot more usable than AI gadgets like the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin.
Alas, we'll have to wait a little longer to discover what Jony is cooking up following his controversial Ferrari Luce design. Rather than enter the space the new category of device the market was expecting, OpenAI's first piece of hardware will be a variation on existing developer-oriented peripherals aimed at speeding up commands for vibe coding.
pic.twitter.com/PkU0NLxuZVJune 30, 2026
The Codex Micro is a collaboration with the tech accessory brand Work Louder. It appears to be an adaptation of the existing Creator Micro 2, presumably with specific shortcuts for OpenAI's AI coding agent.
OpenAI wrote on its developer account on X that Codex's favorite shortcuts “are getting an upgrade”, announcing a 15 July release date.
The existing Creator Micro 2 has 13 mechanical keys that can be mapped to shortcuts, an analog joystick and a rotary encoder dial. There's also a touch sensor designed to allow users to switch between layers.
Devices like this have already been part of other industry partnerships. Figma, the user interface design platform, previously collaborated with Work Louder to launch a macro pad with pre-configured shortcuts.
OpenAI's device may be intended to boost Codex's appeal amid the intense competition from Anthropic's Claude Code. It hasn't detailed how the Codex Micro will work in practice or what specific options it will offer programmers. Nor has it revealed what the price tag will be – the standard version of the Creator Micro 2 sells for $199 in the United States.
Whatever Jony Ive's working on for OpenAI is still expected to be revealed by the end of the year ahead of shipping in February 2027. In the meantime, if you're hunting for peripherals check out our favourite mechanical keyboards. and our pick of the best iPad accessories.
