Apple's Hardware Engineering Group Faces Restructuring as iPhone Product Design VP Departs

[Zest28]

And so far no-one has been able to articulate what such an advancement would be - especially for iPhone. It's just another form of, "Wah... Apple doesn't innovate anymore. Wah..." Which has been the reflexive go-to chant here for at least 20 years.

As long as Apple is manufacturing and selling 600,000+ iPhones per day, there's nothing to worry about. High level staff changes have been occuring at Apple for close to the last four decades.

To which people will reflexively reply with, "The past doesn't predict the future." Another crowd-pleaser going back a couple decades.

With respect to iPhone, I'm super stoked with my 15 PM. An outstanding device. And am enjoying using the Blackmagic Camera app for making videos to an attached SSD or SD card.

Apple is selling so much iPhones is because it is a “status symbol“.

This is all due to Steve Jobs and Jony Ive who created the Apple cult and made it a status symbol.

This has nothing to do with the current design team who have been releasing the same damn iPhone every year.

 

[Surf Monkey]

And so far no-one has been able to articulate what such an advancement would be - especially for iPhone. It's just another form of, "Wah... Apple doesn't innovate anymore. Wah..." Which has been the reflexive go-to chant here for at least 20 years.

As long as Apple is manufacturing and selling 600,000+ iPhones per day, there's nothing to worry about. High level staff changes have been occuring at Apple for close to the last four decades.

To which people will reflexively reply with, "The past doesn't predict the future." Another crowd-pleaser going back a couple decades.

With respect to iPhone, I'm super stoked with my 15 PM. An outstanding device. And am enjoying using the Blackmagic Camera app for making videos to an attached SSD or SD card.

Volume of sales proves nothing regarding the point several others and I are making.

And you again countered a claim that no one made. Of course Apple has had turnover in their executive team. That isn’t the issue we’re discussing. The issue is that this is a key design position that could (and should) have someone with fresh eyes and fresh ideas in it.

I mean, really. What exactly are you arguing for or against? Apple is going to fill that role. We’re just talking about what sort of candidate might be appropriate given the excessively repetitive designs coming out of Cupertino for the last decade +.

 

[Chuckeee]

What is happening to MR? Almost 80 messages and no long thread about a new iPhone mini? 🤪

 

[ggx12]

It must have been an insane amount of pressure to be in this position. I can understand why someone would want to leave after a good run.

For those who complain about the lack of innovation, I just want to remind that:
1) the smartphone is just a mature product by now, just like laptops
2) The OG iPhone did not even ship 1M unit in the first year, must be pretty difficult - and a different job - to change things on a product that needs to be shipped by the 100´s of millions each year

 

[steve09090]

Apple is selling so much iPhones is because it is a “status symbol“.

This is all due to Steve Jobs and Jony Ive who created the Apple cult and made it a status symbol.

This has nothing to do with the current design team who have been releasing the same damn iPhone every year.

Other than making an incredibly good smartphones, what are Apple guilty of doing? Making an incredibly good smartphone that doesn’t shake the industry every year? If it were needed, like you think it is, why is every other phone only just matching them, or producing prototypes and saying they are the next best thing at stupid prices?

Having an iPhone is no longer a status symbol; having one is recognising the best hardware and software combination on the market. In my opinion.

 

[Zest28]

Other than making an incredibly good smartphones, what are Apple guilty of doing? Making an incredibly good smartphone that doesn’t shake the industry every year? If it were needed, like you think it is, why is every other phone only just matching them, or producing prototypes and saying they are the next best thing at stupid prices?

Having an iPhone is no longer a status symbol; having one is recognising the best hardware and software combination on the market. In my opinion.

With Jony Ive, Apple didn’t sell the same phone all the time.

These designers really didn’t do anything since Jony Ive left so if someone leaves, nothing is missed.

 

[citysnaps]

Apple is selling so much iPhones is because it is a “status symbol“.

This is all due to Steve Jobs and Jony Ive who created the Apple cult and made it a status symbol.

This has nothing to do with the current design team who have been releasing the same damn iPhone every year.

A status symbol! Now that's a real knee-slapper.

It may be a status symbol to high school students needing to impress others, but to mature adults it's simply a phone that does an outstanding job of giving customers what they want with a great feature set and reliability.


"This has nothing to do with the current design team who have been releasing the same damn iPhone every year."

The good news is.... you have a huge array of choices. Simply step-up and purchase a phone from one of the many Apple competitors that gives you the innovation you're looking for.

And find true happiness! Easy.

 

[citysnaps]

Volume of sales proves nothing regarding the point several others and I are making.

And you again countered a claim that no one made. Of course Apple has had turnover in their executive team. That isn’t the issue we’re discussing. The issue is that this is a key design position that could (and should) have someone with fresh eyes and fresh ideas in it.

I mean, really. What exactly are you arguing for or against? Apple is going to fill that role. We’re just talking about what sort of candidate might be appropriate given the excessively repetitive designs coming out of Cupertino for the last decade +.

As predicted.

 

[SIGSEGV1]

employees come and go, at every level. Change can be a good thing ...

A good thing like bringing back AirPower?

 

[imtoretto]

i think consumers leaving apple should be the breaking news...

 

[PowerMacBook]

Love from...

charging port will be on the back (Magic Mouse)​

round (puck-mouse)​

etc​

 

[Carrotcruncher]

Pretty sure I'd be able to handle this role.
My ideas for next years iPhone are a slightly better camera, might throw on another button, and I'll tweak the internals so they are 3% faster in selected benchmarks, and it will be "The best iPhone we've ever made"

Have I got the job?

Dont forget to 10% price increase !

 

[Surf Monkey]

As predicted.

What are you arguing? You didn’t answer the question.

 

[steve09090]

With Jony Ive, Apple didn’t sell the same phone all the time.

These designers really didn’t do anything since Jony Ive left so if someone leaves, nothing is missed.

I have to agree with you. They have made major changes to the physical and electrical engineering of the phone, but as you say, not the design. It’s likely the roadmap (Jony Ive was a part of making) helped him make his decision to leave.

Even the rumours moving forward are technical bumps. I don’t know what else Apple, or anyone can do to change that landscape. So I’m happy with the phone I have.

 

[Agent007]

"I got fired cause management was restructurin'"
"Yeah, restructurin' the number of ******* they had workin' for em"

- Good Will Hunting

 

[Surf Monkey]

It’s likely the roadmap (Jony Ive was a part of making) helped him make his decision to leave.

Right. Apple plans out their road maps many many years in advance. It’s likely that the Jobs era road maps are only now coming to a complete end. And that’s why (in my opinion) Apple has stopped being a forward leaning design company. They’ve been resting on their laurels without a high profile designer on the team. This seems like the emblematic Tim Cook decision. He has basically removed every advanced thinking designer in favor of predictable, conservative designers who have refined the iPhone design but haven’t pushed it forward.

Making bold design choices is risky. Tim Cook appears to hate risk.

 

[UK-MacAddict]

Before, Jony Ive oversaw design of every product Apple sold. Now they've assigned a different person for each product it seems. No wonder there's no cohesion in the product line up in recent years and products are definitely suffering.

 

[freediverx00]

Apple vice president of iPhone and Apple Watch product design Tang Tan is departing the company in a move that will lead to changes in the hardware engineering group, reports Bloomberg. Tan, who reports to Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus, is set to leave Apple in February.

Tan's exit from the company will see several employees that work under Ternus and Tan receiving expanded roles. Head of iPhone product design Richard Dinh will take over iPhone development for Tan and will report directly to Ternus, while Mac hardware engineering vice president Kate Bergeron will handle Apple Watch design.

Tan also oversaw accessory design and the acoustics team that develops the AirPods, with those two groups being handed over to Matthew Costello, the former chief operating officer of Beats. Costello is in already in charge of Beats and the HomePod.

Apple employees that spoke to Bloomberg have called Tan's departure "a blow" because he is responsible for making critical decisions about the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. His team has control over product features and design.

News of Tan's departure comes just a few days after Bloomberg reported that Steve Hotelling, an Apple hardware VP, is set to retire. Hotelling leads the camera engineering team and has worked on Face ID, Touch ID, haptic feedback, ProMotion, and other key Apple technologies.

Article Link: Apple's Hardware Engineering Group Faces Restructuring as iPhone Product Design VP Departs

Any comments on the reason for his departure?

 

[Joshuaorange]

Resign? Because he been responsible for an astronomical increase in Apple's value? You may think he deserves a break, but I want to see what else he can achieve with more Apple products, like the Apple Watch, M series devices and Vision Pro

It was a joke. Low hanging fruit, specifically Apple you could say.

 

[ThomasJL]

For that one time a year when I want to plug in headphones, I just use the USB-C port. It’s not difficult. How many people here want to use the USB-C AND a headphone jack at the same time? I’m guessing nearly none.

I do! I want that. I'd like to use wired headphones while my phone is charging. And I'd like to do that without a dongle.

 

[dampfnudel]

Speed up progress and innovation ... ?!?

Let's see... Apple moves too fast, we get too many bugs, and people demand that Apple slow down.
Apple takes a graceful, iterative approach, delivering quality product after quality product, and Apple is not innovating enough.

I don't get it. Why can't people just be happy with what we have? iPhones were and continue to be an inspiration for the rest of the industry from a purely joyful and reliable user experience. Sure, other phones may have flexible screens and removable SD cards, but adding those would not be classified as innovation anyway, so what sort of innovation are people expecting? A circular iPhone simple because it's not a rectangle?

I think it might be time for some visual change even if it’s a minor one like a different-looking camera cluster. The 11/12/13/14/15 Pro are visually identical or very close (11/12 Pro with smaller lenses).

 

[steve09090]

He has basically removed every advanced thinking designer in favor of predictable, conservative designers who have refined the iPhone design but haven’t pushed it forward.

Making bold design choices is risky. Tim Cook appears to hate risk.

So you think they have just 'refined' the iPhone. What do you want them to do with it? More specifics, the more credibility you have with your complaint. If the haven’t pushed it forward, why do other manufacturers keep on copying them…still…

 

[darngooddesign]

30 Futuristic Phones We Wish Were Real

Discover 30 futuristic phone concepts that we wish were real. Get inspired by these innovative designs and imagine the possibilities.

www.hongkiat.com

It’s a simple matter of imagination. If anyone thinks that the fixed size, rounded rectangular slab is going to be the form factor for all future phones because there just isn’t any logical alternative they’re simply wrong.

Most of those were akin to the triangle device from The Office.

Single purpose areas can have different shapes, I remember some creative shapes and designs for the number pads in cell phones back in the 90s, but smartphones have ended up as rectangles because rectangles are best for displaying a wide range of simple and complex content. You could argue that we only have rectangle phones because thats what we are used to, but if you look at smart watches, would you say that the circular android watches are better or worse at displaying emails and text messages than the square Appel watch?

Who knows what future content, and therefore future device shapes, will look like, but can you think of a screen shape different from a rectangle which is better at displaying the kind of content we currently have?

 

[citysnaps]

So you think they have just 'refined' the iPhone. What do you want them to do with it? More specifics, the more credibility you have with your complaint. If the haven’t pushed it forward, why do other manufacturers keep on copying them…still…

Well said. Despite being asked multiple times, no one here has yet to step-up and articulate even just a half dozen novel ideas. Complaining without stepping up is so easy. Much easier to claim Apple can't innovate anymore, it's Cook's fault, and call it a day.

From listening to them, one would assume the dozen or so Apple competitors must be dazzling the world with jaw-dropping innovation. They should switch brands and finally find happiness. Yet they refuse to. Which leads me to believe it's all about feeling good complaining.

 

[UK-MacAddict]

Well said. Despite being asked multiple times, no one here has yet to step-up and articulate even just a half dozen novel ideas. Complaining without stepping up is so easy. Much easier to claim Apple can't innovate anymore, it's Cook's fault, and call it a day.

From listening to them, one would assume the dozen or so Apple competitors must be dazzling the world with jaw-dropping innovation. They should switch brands and finally find happiness. Yet they refuse to. Which leads me to believe it's all about feeling good complaining.

Sticking a massive battery in there to last a week should be top. Should maybe give it more performance cores not the current 2 performance/4 efficiency on the current model. Make the phone capable of converting into a fully fledged Mac laptop when docked and switches to MacOS.