Apple loses mechanical engineer responsible for original MacBook Air enclosure to Tesla

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2017
Matt Casebolt, one of Apple's key hinge designers, and the key designer of the original MacBook Air mechanical design has departed Apple, and is now working at Tesla.




Casebolt is now listed as the Senior Director of Engineering, Closures & Mechanisms at Tesla Motors on his LinkedIn profile, which was updated on Wednesday.

After obtaining a bachelor's degreee in mechanical engineering, Casebolt worked for Acorn, AMD, and Rackable Systems. He was hired at Apple in 2007, and left the company in December as a director of product design.

Casebolt is named in 52 patents, according to 9to5Mac. Patents attributed to Casebolt include spanning battery mounts, hinge clutches for computing devices, thermal management systems, and adhesive application and layering.

Products that Casebolt has worked on include the MacBook Pro with Retina Display first launched in 2012, the new Retina MacBook Pro, the current Mac mini revision, the 2013 Mac Pro, and the original MacBook Air.

Casebolt isn't the only recent high-profile departure at Apple to Tesla. On Tuesday, reports spread that the architect of Apple's Swift, Chris Lattner, left Apple to the car manufacturer. In November, Apple lost a PR specialist to the company as well.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dismissed reports of a brain-drain away from his company, and has called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." Musk claims that Apple frequently hires engineers that "don't make it" and have been cast-off from the auto manufacturer.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 51
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    Maybe he can fix those Falcon Wing doors on the Model X :)
    patchythepiratetzm41lostkiwi
  • Reply 2 of 51
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    I don't really get why these people are leaving for Tesla. The vehicles may be interesting, but the company isn't making any money from what I see. Their production sucks, their quality isn't that great. Other than it being electric and having a decent range these cars don't appeal to me at all. 

    I guess maybe they're tired of working on the same ole thing and I get that. Or, maybe Apple internally isn't what it used to be so they're getting frustrated and leaving. I don't believe its a money issue. 
    edited January 2017 buckalecksecmdriftmeyerpulseimagesentropys
  • Reply 3 of 51
    The fact that Apple is losing employees to Tesla makes me think Project Titan has really been scaled back. 
    slprescottcanukstormbaconstangpulseimages
  • Reply 4 of 51
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,032member

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dismissed reports of a brain-drain away from his company, and has called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." Musk claims that Apple frequently hires engineers that "don't make it" an have been cast-off from the auto manufacturer.
    I'm afraid Musk may be right.  Jobs wasn't perfect but he was very competitive and took things personally. I think he'd try to hire the best Tesla people just to win. Musk isn't just trying to make money, he's playing to win.  Is Apple in the game? I love Apple stuff but I sold about 30% of my position yesterday. 
    tzm41bloggerbloganantksundaram
  • Reply 5 of 51
    williamh said:

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dismissed reports of a brain-drain away from his company, and has called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." Musk claims that Apple frequently hires engineers that "don't make it" an have been cast-off from the auto manufacturer.
    I'm afraid Musk may be right.  Jobs wasn't perfect but he was very competitive and took things personally. I think he'd try to hire the best Tesla people just to win. Musk isn't just trying to make money, he's playing to win.  Is Apple in the game? I love Apple stuff but I sold about 30% of my position yesterday. 
    Win what? Any trophy in it? It is just a profit business. You can be enterprenour at best - noting else. Some people seem to lose basic understanding and bring some slogans and create useless philosophies.
    StrangeDaysbaconstang
  • Reply 6 of 51
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Once more commenters frantically looking for signs of Apple failure and extrapolating to apocalyptic proportions. Apple must fail, Apple must die, Steve is dead. The new dogma? Musk is a megalomaniac every bit as insufferable as Jobs was. I’m surprised he isn’t talking about a hostile takeover of Apple instead of the reverse. If you want Apple to fail because the founder is no longer around you will find reasons that support your desire. This is one of them, nothing more.
    mike1StrangeDayslostkiwijony0
  • Reply 7 of 51
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    williamh said:

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dismissed reports of a brain-drain away from his company, and has called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." Musk claims that Apple frequently hires engineers that "don't make it" an have been cast-off from the auto manufacturer.
    I'm afraid Musk may be right.  Jobs wasn't perfect but he was very competitive and took things personally. I think he'd try to hire the best Tesla people just to win. Musk isn't just trying to make money, he's playing to win.  Is Apple in the game? I love Apple stuff but I sold about 30% of my position yesterday. 
    "I'm afraid" is the operative phrase here.

    People who are habitually negative about post-Jobs Apple have a daddy complex. Losing their authority figures is a nagging anxiety wired in from childhood abandonment traumas. Note the shift to authority worship of Elon Musk on the part of these "Jobs would have" people.

    For details on this complex see The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich.
    StrangeDayspatchythepirateNameo_baconstangapple jockeylostkiwilkrupp
  • Reply 8 of 51
    Apple: buy Tesla, thereby:
    1. Leapfrogging into the leader position (probably in units-sold and industry mindshare)
    2. Regaining key employees
    3. Shortening your time-to-market
    4. Gaining vertical integration of the full solution (HW + SW)
    5. Building enthusiasm around Apple (by consumers and Wall Street)

    This would be equivalent to Google buying YouTube in 2006.  After struggling with their own video-on-demand solution, Goggle adopted Plan B and bought the industry leader.  Good decision.  I'm not suggesting that Apple is struggling, just that Apple can reach its goal faster via acquisition.
    edited January 2017 patchythepiratejay-tbaconstanglostkiwi
  • Reply 9 of 51
    glynhglynh Posts: 133member
    Matt Casebolt, one of Apple's key hinge designers
    Fantastic...you just couldn't make up a name like that for a role like that! :)
    Rayz2016StrangeDayspatchythepirateavon b7baconstangroundaboutnow
  • Reply 10 of 51
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,695member
    sog35 said:
    Tesla is the Apple graveyard.

    The place where washed up or failed Apple employees go to make their final big paycheck
    Chris Lattner wasn't failed or washed up. He was one of Apple's best and brightest. As for the other two that left in the last couple of days, I don't know enough about them.
    edited January 2017 tzm41bloggerbloglostkiwianantksundaram
  • Reply 11 of 51
    lkrupp said:
    Once more commenters frantically looking for signs of Apple failure and extrapolating to apocalyptic proportions. Apple must fail, Apple must die, Steve is dead.

    What are you talking about? Nobody has said any such thing. Does your feed include posts that are missing from mine? If not, you may wanna get a brace for that knee... it seems to be jerking! ;)

    holyoneanantksundaram
  • Reply 12 of 51
    sog35 said:
    Tesla is the Apple graveyard.

    The place where washed up or failed Apple employees go to make their final big paycheck
    Chris Lattner was a failed Apple employee?  :/
    mark dodel
  • Reply 13 of 51
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    sog35 said:
    Tesla is the Apple graveyard.

    The place where washed up or failed Apple employees go to make their final big paycheck
    Oh good grief. 

    People often get bored of staying at a job for over a decade. 

    They get a good offer; they mull it over; they take it. 

    The end. 
    StrangeDayssingularityanantksundaram
  • Reply 14 of 51
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    macxpress said:
    I don't really get why these people are leaving for Tesla. The vehicles may be interesting, but the company isn't making any money from what I see. Their production sucks, their quality isn't that great. Other than it being electric and having a decent range these cars don't appeal to me at all. 

    I guess maybe they're tired of working on the same ole thing and I get that. Or, maybe Apple internally isn't what it used to be so they're getting frustrated and leaving. I don't believe its a money issue. 
    No, I don't think it's a question of money. While not making any, Tesla is doing a lot of interesting stuff, which would be a big draw if you've been working at the same company for years. 

    Or it could be that these folk believe what they read in the press. 
  • Reply 15 of 51
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    williamh said:

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dismissed reports of a brain-drain away from his company, and has called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." Musk claims that Apple frequently hires engineers that "don't make it" an have been cast-off from the auto manufacturer.
    I'm afraid Musk may be right.  Jobs wasn't perfect but he was very competitive and took things personally. I think he'd try to hire the best Tesla people just to win. Musk isn't just trying to make money, he's playing to win.  Is Apple in the game? I love Apple stuff but I sold about 30% of my position yesterday. 
    You can't win if you're not making money. Apple stock is a lot safer bet than Tesla's. 
  • Reply 16 of 51
    sog35 said:
    Tesla is the Apple graveyard.

    The place where washed up or failed Apple employees go to make their final big paycheck
    Chris Lattner was a failed Apple employee?  :/
    Sog is on form then....
  • Reply 17 of 51
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    sog35 said:
    Tesla is the Apple graveyard.

    The place where washed up or failed Apple employees go to make their final big paycheck
    Pretty sure Lattner hasnt failed. 
  • Reply 18 of 51
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    flaneur said:
    williamh said:

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dismissed reports of a brain-drain away from his company, and has called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." Musk claims that Apple frequently hires engineers that "don't make it" an have been cast-off from the auto manufacturer.
    I'm afraid Musk may be right.  Jobs wasn't perfect but he was very competitive and took things personally. I think he'd try to hire the best Tesla people just to win. Musk isn't just trying to make money, he's playing to win.  Is Apple in the game? I love Apple stuff but I sold about 30% of my position yesterday. 
    "I'm afraid" is the operative phrase here.

    People who are habitually negative about post-Jobs Apple have a daddy complex. Losing their authority figures is a nagging anxiety wired in from childhood abandonment traumas. Note the shift to authority worship of Elon Musk on the part of these "Jobs would have" people.

    For details on this complex see The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich.
    Very interesting hypothesis. I hadn't thought of that but it seems plausible. I find the hero worship of executives (and athletes and celebrities) pretty silly. They're just men and women and not super men. 
    edited January 2017
  • Reply 19 of 51
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    The fact that Apple is losing employees to Tesla makes me think Project Titan has really been scaled back. 
    How do you know he was working on Titan?

    caliblastdoor
  • Reply 20 of 51
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    lkrupp said:
    Once more commenters frantically looking for signs of Apple failure and extrapolating to apocalyptic proportions. Apple must fail, Apple must die, Steve is dead.
    What are you talking about? Nobody has said any such thing. Does your feed include posts that are missing from mine? If not, you may wanna get a brace for that knee... it seems to be jerking!
    Yesterday's comments very much beat the DOOM drum. As are the tweet discussions I've read and comments on The Loop.  And even on this thread one guy has already said he's selling his Apple stock.

    I agree with Spheric -- these guys were at Apple for a decade or more, change is normal. If you've ever left a job you know the jump you can make going to a different org is usually much bigger than you can make inside the same org. It's a fresh start and challenge. Change is good. These are just jobs, your family and life outside of work is what life is about, and you won't read about that online. 
    edited January 2017 mark dodel
Sign In or Register to comment.