Apple is eliminating one of its most high-profile executive positions. Accoring to a new report today, Apple is eliminating the role of “industrial design chief” as part of a broader shake-up. This role was once held by Jony Ive, and most recently held by Evans Hankey.
Hankey has been Apple’s top product designer, as the vice president of industrial design, since 2019. She is a successor to Jony Ive, who departed Apple in 2019. Under this structure, Hankey is responsible for hardware design, while Alan Dye is responsible for software design and holds the title of VP of human interface design
Hankey, however, is set to leave Apple within the coming months, as previously announced in October, after three years in the role.
Bloomberg now reports that following Hankey’s departure, Apple won’t name a new executive to fill the “industrial design chief” role. This is a significant change to Apple’s leadership structure, as the “vice president of industrial design” has existed for decades.
The report says that Apple’s “core group of industrial designers” will now report to Jeff Wiliams, Apple’s chief operating officer. Under the previous structure, Hankey reported to Williams, but the core design team reported to Hankey.
With this change, Apple’s “longest-tenured” designers will get “larger roles,” but none of them will be elevated to the top-level “industrial design chief” position.
Instead, the company’s core group of about 20 industrial designers will report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. The company will also give larger roles to a group of Apple’s longest-tenured designers. Hankey has reported to Williams since taking the job in 2019, when top designer Jony Ive left to start his own firm.
That group will get larger roles as part of the shift. But Williams decided that none would be named the new head and that the entire team will report to him. That move links Apple’s operations group more closely with design — an arrangement that’s irked some of Apple’s creative staffers. It will also elevate Williams, who is seen as a possible successor to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.
Williams has an increasingly broad range of responsibilities at Apple.
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