Another Designer Leaves Apple

[MacRumors]

The designer who introduced the iPhone Air at Apple's September event left the company, reports Bloomberg. Abidur Chowdhury recently departed Apple to join an AI startup, a move that apparently "made waves" internally because he was a rising star on the design team.

Chowdhury worked on the iPhone Air, and he described its feature set in a two-minute presentation in September. His departure was not related to the iPhone Air or the disappointing sales of the device.

Chowdhury joined Apple's industrial design team in 2019, the same year that Jony Ive left the company to create a new design firm. After Ive departed, several other members of the design team left, either joining him or moving on to other companies.

There are very few designers remaining at Apple who worked under Ive, and Apple has lost several high-profile designers over the last six years.

Former Apple operations chief Jeff Williams had been overseeing the product design team since 2023, but he retired from Apple last week. Apple's design team will now report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Article Link: Another Designer Leaves Apple

 

[jz0309]

recently departed Apple to join an AI startup

probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...

 

[dannys1]

There are very few designers remaining at Apple who worked under Ive, and Apple has lost several high-profile designers over the last six years.

Honestly it's starting to show and not in a good way. We need some of the brutal Apple design ethos, stubbornness and ruthless attention to detail back from Jobs mind. We need a bit more form over function again, it's what made Apple unique.

 

[Happy_John]

probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...

… and will more than likely be out of business before 2027. Investment in companies which don’t provide an RoI isn’t sustainable.

 

[smulji]

… ans will more then likely be out of business before 2027. Investment in companies which don’t provide an RoI isn’t sustainable.

Maybe, maybe not. Amazon made zero profit for at least a decade before it got to where it is today.

 

[UliBaer]

The rats abandon the sinking ship?

 

[dypeterc]

probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...

Until it folds

 

[sherwinzadeh]

Good riddance. He couldn't add a second camera? Any idiot could tell you a "premium" phone with only one camera won't sell.

Edit: for the people down grading this comment, you really don't know what you're talking about. The Air Bombed. I warned about this during the rumor cycle. And mark my words, if the Fold has the same stupid camera limitations, it's not going to sell well either.

 

[Tozovac]

Honestly it's starting to show and not in a good way. We need some of the brutal Apple design ethos, stubbornness and ruthless attention to detail back from Jobs mind. We need a bit more form over function again, it's what made Apple unique.

It’s starting to show in a GOOD WAY too.

MacBooks have the right amount (and types) of ports again.

And I actually like iOS26/iPadOS26/etc. With a few Accessibility tweaks, my phone and IPad are more like pre-iOS7 and I’m super glad. Less flat design, less vagueness, more interesting icons.

Form over Function is a bad way to go…I’m surprised to read someone prefers that.

Unless youre being tongue in cheek and I completely missed it.

I would take more Jobs less Jony any day.

 

[The_Auryn]

There are very few designers remaining at Apple who worked under Ive, and Apple has lost several high-profile designers over the last six years.

We really need Jony Ive to come back. It's not like he's doing much of anything. Since leaving Apple for his new design team, I've only heard of one thing he released: King Charles Coronation Logo.

 

[dannys1]

MacBooks have the right amount (and types) of ports again.

Couldn't disagree more - losing a Thunderbolt 4/5 port for a single use HDMI port that most users will never touch is a step backwards. I now can't charge from the right side of my MacBook Pro and use a USB port on that side at the same time. Ironically for all the moaning about dongles when we had 4 USB-C ports for my life setup I now NEED a dongle and USB adapter because there's not enough USB ports!

I like design first, I like something that is brutally different. If I just wanted a device that did a bit of everything badly there's any other tech company in the world for that.

 

[Happy_John]

Maybe, maybe not. Amazon made zero profit for at least a decade before it got to where it is today.

Amazon has physical infrastructure to sell physical goods and hosting.

AI burns a significant amount of investment on compute costs. That’s just burning money, not capital expenditure.

For AI companies to be profitable, the charges they would have to put on the consumer would be astronomical.

AI is where designers and engineers go to make a quick buck before it bursts.

 

[Abazigal]

MacBooks have the right amount (and types) of ports again.

I dunno, I kinda liked the idea of MacBooks having 4 usb-c ports, and in an ideal world, Apple would have been able to pull everyone over to adopt usb-c peripherals. Classic case of short-term pain for long-term gain?

 

[BigDO]

I absolutely love the image for the article, it really contextually enhances it.

 

[BigDO]

It’s starting to show in a GOOD WAY too.

MacBooks have the right amount (and types) of ports again.

And I actually like iOS26/iPadOS26/etc. With a few Accessibility tweaks, my phone and IPad are more like pre-iOS7 and I’m super glad. Less flat design, less vagueness, more interesting icons.

Form over Function is a bad way to go…I’m surprised to read someone prefers that.

Unless youre being tongue in cheek and I completely missed it.

I would take more Jobs less Jony any day.

There is no Jobs without Jony. That’s the point.

 

[wlossw]

they made margin, they just plowed the profits back into the business to grow.

ai doesnt even cover marginal costs.

 

[Happy_John]

There is no Jobs without Jony. That’s the point.

Um, 68k Macintoshes?

 

[hieranonymous]

I used to think these departures were a harbinger of Apple’s inability to woo the next generation of talent, but given the AI bubble and the insane and unsustainable compensation these execs are being offered to jump ship, Apple’s refusal to participate in the stampede actually just feels like common sense. A lot of these startups are going to implode.

 

[jz0309]

Honestly it's starting to show and not in a good way. We need some of the brutal Apple design ethos, stubbornness and ruthless attention to detail back from Jobs mind. We need a bit more form over function again, it's what made Apple unique.

Yea, and the record sales show proof of that...

But you're right, Apple is doomed

 

[chineseguy38]

Whoever design 17 Pro and Pro Max should be fired instead.

 

[gnipgnop]

Everyone saw Jonny Ive become a billionaire by throwing together a half-baked AI product and then selling it to a knucklehead AI exec. They all want their shot at the easy $$.

 

[Art Mark]

because AI hardware - is so important....???

 

[Art Mark]

Everyone saw Jonny Ive become a billionaire by throwing together a half-baked AI product and then selling it to a knucklehead AI exec. They all want their shot at the easy $$.

No kidding. What a scam. All the AI hardware companies are right next to being cons.

 

[DocMultimedia]

probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...

And giant risk. Dot com v3.

 

[Happy_John]

because AI hardware - is so important....???

Only if you are called Nivida.