Apple's design team's influence has dropped to its lowest point in decades, and the new CEO wants to make changes

Image source: Jiemian Image Library

On June 21 local time, well - known technology journalist Mark Gurman published an article stating that the influence of Apple's industrial design team has dropped to its lowest point in decades. New CEO John Turners regards revitalizing the design ability as his top priority after taking office.

The decline of Apple's design department began about a decade ago when former Chief Design Officer Jonathan Ive faded out of daily management. In the era of Steve Jobs, Ive was the second - most influential decision - maker within Apple after Jobs. All new product roadmaps were finalized from top to bottom by the design team. The book Steve Jobs recorded that Jobs gave the entire decision - making power of product aesthetics and innovation to Ive's team, which was the underlying foundation for Apple to continuously produce disruptive products.

The turning point occurred after Tim Cook took full control. During the launch phase of the Apple Watch in 2014, the differences between Ive and the operations team on material costs and mass - production difficulties intensified. The proposals of the design team were repeatedly rejected by the supply chain and finance departments. After that, Ive gradually faded out of daily management, only spending a small amount of time in the office each week, and the influence of the design department continued to shrink.

In 2019, Ive officially left Apple and founded the independent design studio LoveFrom. Subsequently, he reached a long - term cooperation with Ferrari. Apple's personnel structure also changed synchronously. The two design branches of industrial design and human - machine interface were unified under the jurisdiction of then - COO Jeff Williams, who had no design background. Since then, Apple has lost a full - time executive to coordinate the design strategy, and the design department no longer has an independent channel to reach the top management.

The change in the management hierarchy directly led to the continuous departure of core talents. Design supervisors no longer have seats in executive meetings, and creative plans need to be reported layer by layer to the operations positions. Many senior designers chose to leave because they couldn't accept the power misplacement.

Evans Hankey, Ive's deputy and former vice - president of Apple's industrial design, left Apple in 2022 and co - founded the AI hardware company io with Ive. The company was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5 billion in 2025. Chris Stringer, the chief designer of HomePod, left to found an audio hardware brand; Danny Coster, the core designer of iPad, jumped to GoPro to serve as the design director. After that, Apple appointed Molly Anderson, who had never independently managed a team, as the head of industrial design, which was criticized by the outside world as a "conservative choice". Last year, Alan Dye, who was in charge of user interface design, also left to join Meta, further weakening the influence of the design team.

The loss of design talents and the weakening of power are also reflected in the product iterations of the past decade. Some industry observers believe that in the middle and later periods of Cook's tenure, the iPhone, Mac, and iPad have mainly undergone minor iterations, with a high degree of repetition in appearance language and a lack of iconic designs that can subvert industry perception, forming a sharp contrast with Ive's peak period.

The golden age of Apple's design team can be traced back to 1998 when the transparent and colorful iMac saved Apple from the verge of bankruptcy and completely changed the aesthetics of the PC industry. In 2007, the first - generation iPhone abandoned the physical keyboard, and the full - screen touch - integrated design reshaped the form of smartphones; in 2008, the ultra - thin MacBook Air redefined the standard for laptop portability. All of the above products were led by Ive's team. The development model of design first and hardware adaptation allowed Apple to maintain the high ground in industry aesthetics for a long time.

Behind the adjustment of the design team lies Apple's current dual development contradictions. On the one hand, new product categories such as AI hardware and foldable screens rely heavily on differentiated design to build product barriers. The Android camp's foldable models have gone through multiple generations of iterations. If Apple's first - generation foldable phone lacks iconic aesthetic innovation, it will be difficult to form a competitive advantage. On the other hand, the cost - control and large - scale operation system established by Cook over the past 15 years is deeply ingrained. The constraints of the finance department on material and processing costs are difficult to loosen in the short term. For the design team to regain its past decision - making power, it needs to balance the two demands of creative implementation and mass - production costs.

Now Apple is about to enter its most intensive new product cycle in history. According to Gurman, in the fall of 2026, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and the foldable iPhone (iPhone Ultra), as well as the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. In addition, it also includes multiple Macs, a new entry - level iPad supporting Apple Intelligence, and possibly a smart home hub, an iPad mini with an OLED screen, a new Apple TV, and a HomePod mini.

In 2027, centered around the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, Apple will launch the second - generation iPhone Air in the spring (to make up for the camera's shortcomings and improve battery life), and release the iPhone 20 Pro and Pro Max, the second - generation foldable phone, a new AirPods equipped with a camera to support Siri AI, and Apple's first smart glasses in the fall. The latter was originally scheduled to be released at the end of this year but has now been postponed to the end of 2027. Around 2027 - 2028, a desktop robot equipped with a mechanical arm and an upgraded Vision headset will also be launched.

Recently, there have been continuous news about Apple's first foldable screen phone. In April, according to Jiemian News citing industry chain sources, the trial production of Apple's first foldable screen phone went smoothly without major problems and should not cause a delay in release. "The entire foldable screen solution has been under discussion for several years. Apple is very conservative in appearance and uses mature solutions, so there are no major problems," said this industry chain source.

On June 21, according to China Securities Journal, an Apple supply - chain company has recently started small - batch supply for the first foldable iPhone Ultra. According to the target guidance received by the company, this product will be launched in September 2026.

Facing numerous new products, Gurman pointed out that Turners intervened and took over the design team last year and said in a recent internal meeting that "design is the core of Apple". He needs to find a leader for the design team who truly has a seat in the executive management and the ability to rebuild the team's influence.

"Apple has brought excellent design to more people than any other company in history," Turners previously said. He is very excited to take over as CEO because Apple "is about to change the world again" and "as a company, our essence will not change."

This article is from Jiemian News, author: Song Jianan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.