Apple's design team leadership in flux once again with Jeff Williams retirement

AppleInsider

The legendary Apple design team hasn't had much luck holding onto leadership since Jony Ive left, and with COO Jeff Williams retiring, the leadership role will shift to CEO Tim Cook.

Tim Cook can't wait to see what he'll do with Apple design. Image source: Apple

Those keeping score at home will know that Apple CEO Tim Cook is an excellent industry supply chain strategist that launched Apple into what it is today. Cook isn't exactly known for his merits in industrial or software design, if he has any to claim.

However, it doesn't matter because by the end of 2025, the design team at Apple will be reporting directly to Tim Cook. The COO Jeff Williams, who is currently overseeing the design team, will be retiring later in 2025.

Apple's design team has seen a lot of flux since Scott Forstall was ousted as a result of the great Apple Maps launch debacle of 2012. Jony Ive took over industrial and interface design as the new SVP of Design in 2013, which transitioned into a more flowery title of Chief Design Officer as Apple tried to convince him to stick around.

Jony Ive finally left Apple in 2019, in spite of Apple letting him release a $17,000 first-generation Apple Watch coated in gold. The Chief Design Officer position left with Ive, but Evans Hankey was placed in charge as vice president of industrial design, while Alan Dye was left as lead for software design.

Hankey's position was short-lived as she departed in 2023, leaving another power vacuum in the design team. COO Jeff Williams stepped in, and the design team reported to him directly, at least until a replacement design head could be named.

No new design head was ever named, which likely means Apple's internal restructuring works for the company as it exists today. The software design team is still led by Alan Dye, who was shown presenting Liquid Glass during WWDC 2025.

Let Tim Cook

With Williams departing Apple, the design team changes leadership once again and will report directly to Tim Cook. It is unknown how much influence Williams had, or Cook will have, on hardware design going forward.

Cook will likely be a good team player as design team oversight. Image source: Apple

In spite of all this leadership turnaround, Apple has had quite the successful industrial design run in the last five years since the death of the butterfly keyboard. The incredibly thin and light iPad Pro, new thinner MacBook Pro with more ports, smaller Mac mini, and Dynamic Island have all occurred since Jony Ive's and Evans Hankey's departures.

Jeff Williams had a key role in the development of the Apple Watch, so his influence was likely felt by the design team. It is unknown how hands-on Cook will be going forward, nor what changes he might make.

Since Apple's products are designed with several years of lead time, there's a chance we may not see any influence from Tim Cook on product design for a while, if ever. Likely, the company can ride on the existing planned product pipelines until a proper replacement for Ive, Hankey, and Williams is named so Cook doesn't need to interject into the design team's strategy.

Apple seemed to plan on bringing in a new design executive as recently as 2023, which could very well be Alan Dye, but obviously the plans haven't been made public, if they exist. In the meantime, Apple's design team will likely continue to operate uninterrupted by the transition.



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mattinoz

Retirement later in the year. 

So how do justify calling it turmoil when it has been planned for and the plan still has time to run. 

I get you need grabby headlines and Apple to keep business as usual in a country gone mad is likely to turn some people off. 

I would have thought putting the team directly under the CEO who you think is fairly busy but also sign they are supportive of the next tier of the leadership team to keep things moving along but aren’t ready to name someone as head.  Maybe they want to let a larger team shine move away from “single personality” narratives. 

mike wuerthele

mattinoz said:

Retirement later in the year. 

So how do justify calling it turmoil when it has been planned for and the plan still has time to run. 

I get you need grabby headlines and Apple to keep business as usual in a country gone mad is likely to turn some people off. 

I would have thought putting the team directly under the CEO who you think is fairly busy but also sign they are supportive of the next tier of the leadership team to keep things moving along but aren’t ready to name someone as head.  Maybe they want to let a larger team shine move away from “single personality” narratives. 

Wes didn't use the word "turmoil" in the entire piece. "In flux" is accurate, and the context in the piece is better than anybody else's so far.

wesley_hilliard

mattinoz said:

Retirement later in the year. 

So how do justify calling it turmoil when it has been planned for and the plan still has time to run. 

I get you need grabby headlines and Apple to keep business as usual in a country gone mad is likely to turn some people off. 

I would have thought putting the team directly under the CEO who you think is fairly busy but also sign they are supportive of the next tier of the leadership team to keep things moving along but aren’t ready to name someone as head.  Maybe they want to let a larger team shine move away from “single personality” narratives. 

I have a feeling you read the headline, which is reasonable, then left this comment. I suggest giving it a read as Mike pointed out, we covered it. I even made fun of the superlatives that other publications would surely be using here on my social media, and we're certainly not one of them. Not sure why you felt the need to jump straight to outrage on a pretty even handed narrative that ended suggesting the team is in good hands and Cook won't cause any issue. 

charlesn

I'm a big fan of Tim Cook, but I'm pretty sure even Tim Cook would admiit that he shouldn't be leading a design team. I mean, just look at the way Tim dresses--Jensen Huang he's not. I find it really kind of strange: Apple has long been at the pinnacle of industrial design for consumer tech products. It has mountains of money to spend on attracting the best talent. It has been the world's most admired company for 18 consecutive years. And a well-designed new product will not only make a global impact, but that design is also going to get a kazillion dollar global marketing campaign like no other. And yet there seems to be no candidates for a new Chief Design Officer (which I actually think is an excellent title) at Apple. I mean, what the hell is up with that? How many CDOs have ever been KNIGHTED for their work? Spoiler alert, it's one: Jony Ive. Not a bad perk of the position, right? (And in case Tim is reading this: I'll happily take the CDO title for no money!)

True, as this article correctly points out, Apple seems to be doing okay without filling that position--but we've also been in an era when literally everything coming out of Apple design-wise is a rounded rectangle. And while I know, yes, "the devil is in the details" of how you execute that, it's still just a rounded rectangle that lacks the excitement of pushing the boundaries of what's possible in industrial design. The new iPhone Air promises to be a thinner rounded rectangle which you might notice if it's not in a case and you hold it sideways, so... yay? The last design that seemed to have something to say was the Watch Ultra, a great titanium take on a beefy adventure watch that I still think looks awesome. And whether you love or hate its design, the one thing it's not is boring. I'd like to see Apple take some bigger swings with design, but you need a talented CDO with vision and an ego to drive that, and I don't think it emerges from a design-by-committee structure. What you get is the safe decision of rounded rectangles. 

edited July 9

massiveattack

Replace Tim now. He is as old as Jeff. 
A product guy would be helpful. 

Many people speculate that John Ternus could be the next CEO. 

dewme

charlesn said:

I'd like to see Apple take some bigger swings with design, but you need a talented CDO with vision and an ego to drive that, and I don't think it emerges from a design-by-committee structure. What you get is the safe decision of rounded rectangles. 

Personally, I'd prefer to have a designer (and CEO) who is driven by an empathic ethos rather than ego. Tim dressing in a way to not draw attention to himself fits precisely with his persona, which I find very reassuring for someone in his role and with his level of responsibility.