Apple's Industrial Design Chief Evans Hankey Is Leaving The Company - CNET

Apple's caput of concern design, Evans Hankey, is leaving the institution adjacent year, marking different modulation for the iPhone shaper aft its celebrated plan main Jony Ive near 3 years ago.

Hankey had been heading the company's hardware plan teams, overseeing the look and consciousness of products ranging from the Mac computers to AirPods headphones. She worked alongside Alan Dye, Apple's caput of plan for bundle and quality interface design. Hankey's departure was announced wrong Apple earlier this week, Bloomberg said successful a report. Apple confirmed the move, and said she volition stay astatine the institution for the adjacent six months to assistance with transition.

"Apple's plan squad brings unneurotic adept creatives from astir the satellite and crossed galore disciplines to ideate products that are undeniably Apple," a institution spokesperson said successful a statement. "The elder plan squad has beardown leaders with decades of experience."

The determination marks different play of modulation for the world's astir highly valued company, and it's coming astatine an important time. Apple's rumored to beryllium putting finishing touches connected a headset that it could unveil adjacent year, according to reports including from CNET. Tech manufacture insiders judge that Apple's introduction into the still-nascent markets for virtual world (VR) and augmented world (AR) could pull mainstream attraction successful a mode that others, including Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, have truthful acold struggled to do.

Hankey's exit besides draws attraction to Apple's leadership, whose seat is comparatively unchangeable erstwhile compared to different tech firms. Tim Cook was appointed CEO by Steve Jobs successful 2011, and has since been capable to support galore of his peers who worked with Jobs connected astatine the company. One notable exemption was Ive, who'd worked with Jobs to assistance make the archetypal iMac computer, iPod euphony player, iPhone and Apple Watch. Ive kept moving with Apple aft his planned departure, but appeared to afloat abstracted from the institution earlier this year, according to property reports.