Apple's former 5G modem lead joins 'Humane' startup

Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2020
A mysterious startup called Humane continues to hire ex-Apple staffers, with its most recent hire being 15-year Apple veteran Ruben Caballero.

Ex-Apple veterans Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno are the founders of Humane.
Ex-Apple veterans Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno are the founders of Humane.


Not much is known about Humane, who appears to be in stealth mode while developing its first product. In January, the startup announced that it had hired Apple cloud services executive Patrick Gates.

Now Caballero, Apple's former 5G modem lead, has joined Humane's growing list of former Apple engineers and executives. This week, the startup announced that it had hired Caballero as a technical advisor.

At Apple, Caballero was a vice president of engineering and a key member of the iPhone hardware team. Notably, he also served as a team lead for Apple's first-party 5G modem initiatives, and also worked on products ranging from Macs to AirPods.

After Apple struck a multiyear modem supply deal with Qualcomm, and in the wake of divisional restructuring, Caballero departed the Cupertino tech giant in April 2019. Later that year, in October, the former SVP joined a wireless startup named Keyssa to work as a chief wireless strategist.

Now, just a few months later, it appears that Caballero has joined Humane. In its blog post, Humane said that Caballero's belief in its mission, alignment with its values and his "excitement for our product vision" play a role in the hiring decision.

It still isn't clear what that product vision is, or even what Humane is working on at all. The startup was founded by two other Apple veterans, former director of software engineering Bethany Bongiorno and designer Imran Chaudhri.

The only clues come from the startup's website, which says Humane is building "the next shift between humans and computing." It admitted that it has been "mostly quiet" thus far, but notes that "2020 is the year you'll here more from us."

Other notable Apple veterans who now work at Humane include former iPhone 7 design lead Miguel Christophy and Monique Relova, who worked on iOS camera engineering at Apple.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Wtf is this company?  Their website is super creepy.
    byronl
  • Reply 2 of 6
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,166member
    Obviously the opposite of their name I would guess. They are building terminators.

    or the Borg.
    edited March 2020
  • Reply 3 of 6
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,125member

    Other notable Apple veterans who now work at Humane include former iPhone 7 design lead Miguel Christophy and who worked on iOS camera engineering at Apple.
    I think you missed her name. It's like she's Voldemort.

  • Reply 4 of 6
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    "the next shift between humans and computing."

    I’ll just assume this is merely a bunch of pretentious and presumptive arrogance. Humane computers / software would take an entire (and massive) industry change from top to bottom (tech and culture). That won’t happen any time soon, and it won’t happen by way of one company.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    viclauyycviclauyyc Posts: 849member
    Guess they can’t sell their product in China, Russia and a number of 3rd world countries 
    edited March 2020 minicoffee
  • Reply 6 of 6
    Anilu_777Anilu_777 Posts: 526member
    If I were Apple I’d keep a close eye on them.  Who knows what kind of Apple knowledge will be shared.  I’m suspicious of their motives.
    byronl
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