**Apple COO Jeff Williams to Step Down, Sabih Khan to Take the Helm**
Apple Inc. has made it official that Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams will retire later this year, with Sabih Khan, the existing Senior Vice President of Operations, poised to assume the COO position later this month. This change aligns with a well-planned succession strategy within the organization.
Beyond his duties as COO, Williams has been instrumental in managing Apple’s design team. Upon his retirement, the design team will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook, representing a notable alteration in the company’s organizational framework.
Per Apple’s press release, Williams will maintain his reporting to Cook and will oversee the design team, Apple Watch, and the organization’s health initiatives until his departure. The design team has been under Williams’ leadership since 2019, following the departure of Jony Ive, the former Chief Design Officer, who left to create his own design company, LoveFrom. At that time, Apple revealed that vice presidents of design, Evans Hankey and Alan Dye, would report directly to Williams.
Nonetheless, the design team’s dynamics have shifted in recent years. Evans Hankey left Apple in 2023 and is currently working with Jony Ive at OpenAI on a new hardware endeavor. Following Hankey’s departure, Apple removed the “industrial design chief” position, consolidating the essential industrial design team responsibilities under Williams.
As Williams approaches retirement, the future leadership regarding the Apple Watch and health initiatives remains uncertain, as Apple has yet to announce who will step into these roles.
This leadership shift arrives at a crucial moment for Apple, as the company persists in innovating and broadening its product range. The design team’s direct reporting to Tim Cook may indicate a renewed emphasis on design and innovation at the highest echelons of the company.
As Apple adapts to this transition, the industry will be keenly observing how the new leadership structure influences the company’s future trajectory and product development.
