Numerous other exits from that period are notable, such as Greg Christie, who served as the VP of Human Interface Design at Apple. Christie and his team were directly accountable for some of the most recognizable iPhone UI features, including slide-to-unlock and the various multitouch gestures that rapidly became standard within the industry. Christie retired from Apple in 2014.
Upon Christie’s retirement, Apple released a statement highlighting that “Greg… has made essential contributions to Apple products throughout, and established a top-tier Human Interface team that has collaborated closely with Jony for many years.”
One year prior, Apple also faced the exit of Henri Lamiraux, the company’s VP of iOS engineering. Lamiraux was a 30-year veteran at Apple at the time of his retirement and was a key player in the development of the iPhone. In simple terms, much of the engineering foundation that enabled iOS is credited to Lamiraux and his team. Before that, Lamiraux was significant in guiding Apple into the OS X era.
In just three years, Apple lost three pivotal members of the original iPhone design group. Nevertheless, iPhone and iOS advancement continued. This is not to downplay the significance of these individuals, but to stress that Apple is a colossal organization with tens of thousands of staff members. It possesses the capability to endure significant employee losses in a manner that perhaps other firms cannot.
Several other instances of high-profile executive exits from Apple during the post-iPhone period include Tony Fadell, who would later establish Nest Labs alongside another former Apple engineer, Matt Rogers. Additionally, the exit of Bob Mansfield is notable, as he departed Apple in 2012 but was persuaded by Tim Cook to remain for a few additional years. Mansfield ultimately departed the company permanently in 2015. More recently, Apple executive Phil Schiller resigned as the company’s VP of marketing in 2020.
Apart from product design and development, Apple in the post-iPhone period also lost Ron Johnson, the executive who played a vital role in building Apple’s retail presence from the ground up. While there are currently hundreds of Apple retail locations worldwide, Apple’s venture into retail was a daring gamble early on. However, Johnson’s expertise facilitated Apple’s successful outcome. Johnson left Apple in 2011 to take on the role of CEO at J.C. Penney. Meanwhile, Apple’s retail ventures continued to thrive without losing momentum.
