The rumor is that Jonathan Ive is being groomed to take over AAPL when Jobs leaves.
The power multiplier that Jobs brings to the company comes from two things: his uncompromising sense of good taste and his idealism for the role of technology in our lives.
The things that Jonathan Ive builds are reflections of his own deep commitment to those values. He gets it.
I'd have to think that letting the design guy worry about design would probably be the better route, rather than clouding with all of the other business decisions and realities in a major way
Indeed, the story of Jony Ive reflects this: toiling in relative obscurity before Jobs' return, Steve immediately recognizes his talent and promotes him aggressively.