Apple vice president of iOS engineering Henri Lamiraux retires

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
After 23 years at Apple, iOS engineering vice president Henri Lamiraux has retired, saying he decided a "little while ago" that iOS 7 would be his last project with the company.

Lamiraux


News of Lamiraux's exit from Apple broke on Sunday, while the key iOS engineer's LinkedIn page has also been changed to reflect his retired status.

Lamiraux actually retired a "couple of weeks" ago, and officially left Apple shortly after the latest iOS 7.0.3 update was released, reports 9to5Mac.

Working as vice president for iOS Apps and Engineering, Lamiraux was in charge of feature development and distribution, bug fixing and app-building frameworks for Apple's mobile operating system. As he answered directly to SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, who is now in charge of both iOS and OS X, Lamiraux took on more responsibility in developing Apple's mobile OS.

Lamiraux first joined Apple in 1990 as a software engineer for the Mac platform, which would later be renamed OS X. In 2000, he earned a managerial position for OS X platform experience before becoming director of engineering for that department in 2004.

In 2005, he switched over to iOS under the important Apps and Frameworks section as director of software engineering, and became vice president of the department in September 2009.

It is not clear who will fill Lamiraux's now vacant position.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    One has to wonder if he left *over* iOS 7
  • Reply 2 of 31
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TimmyDax View Post



    One has to wonder if he left *over* iOS 7

     

    Actually, no. One doesn't.

  • Reply 3 of 31
    err, Mac OS was never renamed Mac OSX. Mac OS was retired, and replaced with NeXTSTEP which was renamed Mac OSX.
  • Reply 4 of 31
    Originally Posted by TimmyDax View Post



    One has to wonder if he left *over* iOS 7

     

    No one sane has to wonder that.

     

    Originally Posted by TheOtherGeoff View Post

    Mac OS was retired, and replaced with NeXTSTEP which was heavily modified and renamed Mac OS X.


     

    Yep.

  • Reply 5 of 31
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TimmyDax View Post



    One has to wonder if he left *over* iOS 7

     

    You wish. Keep fantasizing, Timmy.

  • Reply 6 of 31
    I could name 10 folks currently at other corporations who were top NeXT/Apple behind-the-scenes guys who should be persuaded to come back.
  • Reply 7 of 31

    Interesting.  I, like a previous poster, wonder if he left because of the disaster that is iOS7, The new look Calendar in Mavericks (the one that looks like the calendar in iOS7, or maybe the new look and reduced ease of use in Pages, or could it have been any of the other "new" features recently added under the new leadership of Apple?

     

    Is Apple still the best product available?  Of course.  But it has been severely damaged by all the new "change for the sake of change" people.  Ugly is one thing. I can live with ugly, in fact I almost don't care that most of the new stuff is ugly.  Ugly is an opinion.  But when both OS and iOS start making life more difficult instead of easier...How incredibly disappointing.  

  • Reply 8 of 31
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    The guy worked at Apple for 23 years and decided to retire. Not sure what iOS 7 has to do with anything. :rolleyes:
  • Reply 9 of 31

    People sometimes retire because they want to spend more time with their families.  People also retire when they see a major change in direction brought on by the new leadership.  Who really knows?  no one.  Just speculating.

  • Reply 10 of 31
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TimmyDax View Post



    One has to wonder if he left *over* iOS 7

    No, he decided to leave on a high note, probably with a shed load of cash.

  • Reply 11 of 31
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    sky king wrote: »
    People sometimes retire because they want to spend more time with their families.  People also retire when they see a major change in direction brought on by the new leadership.  Who really knows?  no one.  Just speculating.

    Uneducated guessing.
  • Reply 12 of 31
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    sky king wrote: »
    People sometimes retire because they want to spend more time with their families.  People also retire when they see a major change in direction brought on by the new leadership.  Who really knows?  no one.  Just speculating.
    But what's the point in speculating especially when he's given no indication that he's leaving because of issues with leadership or company direction or whatever. 23 years is a long time to be at one company.
  • Reply 13 of 31
    akqiesakqies Posts: 768member
    jungmark wrote: »
    Uneducated guessing.

    You could have let it at: Uneducated.
  • Reply 14 of 31
    He either left because iOS 7 was a failure or he left because he's good and Apple won't be able to replace him. Either way, Apple is doomed.
  • Reply 15 of 31
    adamcadamc Posts: 583member
    No one is indispensable, ask Forstall, Fadell, ok except Steve Jobs.
  • Reply 16 of 31
    enzosenzos Posts: 344member

    Why bring iOS7 into it like it's a negative? Most reviewers (certainly all the big names) have rated it a triumph and a much needed freshening up of the iOS (.. typography nuts rave about it!) I use it and find it easier and flatter (in the sense of less operations and less menu-option layers) to learn and use than iOS6. With a couple of quirks, Camera, e.g., is a vast HI improvement over iOS6 Camera. 

     

    Congratulations on a job well done, Henri! 

     

    Enz

  • Reply 17 of 31
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markbyrn View Post



    He either left because iOS 7 was a failure or he left because he's good and Apple won't be able to replace him. Either way, Apple is doomed.

    or maybe he left because he didn't want to work and felt he was pretty damn rich already.

  • Reply 18 of 31
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheOtherGeoff View Post



    err, Mac OS was never renamed Mac OSX. Mac OS was retired, and replaced with NeXTSTEP which was renamed Mac OSX.

    Which was recently renamed OS X (i.e. they dropped the "Mac" from the name).  I think that was the point, that the "Mac platform" is now called OS X, though the article clumsily worded it. 

  • Reply 19 of 31
    kibitzerkibitzer Posts: 1,114member
    Why is it that no one seems to leave Apple - whether for any desire of his or her own or on a mortuary slab - without some birds on a line cawing about cock-ups, cabals and conspiracies?
  • Reply 20 of 31
    No one sane has to wonder that.

    So it's just coincidence that right after the release date it's announced?

    Maybe he liked Scott Forstall. iOS 7 is more than an update, it was a shake up of the entire department over the past year. It is a reimagining of what a mobile OS should strive towards. People always retire at this sort of time, and it's fine. Pretending it's a coincidence doesn't make him or Apple look better.
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