Apparently the senior vice president of industrial design for Apple, Jonathan Ive, who worked on Apple’s iconic iPhone, iPod and Apple iPad is a Brit and he wishes to return to the good ole UK, but apparently Apple isn’t too happy about it.

According to an article over on The Brisbane Times by way of Mashable, Ive wants to come home, but Apple my have warned the designer that if he returns to England he can’t work for them any longer.

According to articles in The Daily Mail and The Times, Ive has been at loggerheads with the iOS company over the amount of time he spends back in the UK, where apparently the father wants his kids to go to school.

Apparently a close friend of Ive has stated, “unfortunately he is just too valuable to Apple and they told him in no uncertain terms that if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them.”

Ive is the top guy of Apple’s industrial design team, which was behind most of Apple’s iconic gear such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac, Macbooks and the upcoming Apple iPad 2.

So the big question is will Ive throw in the towel and head home or will Apple be able to convince the 44-year-old designer to stay, and if not, what will it mean for the future of Apple design?