Recently promoted Apple Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji will reorganize his division and shift oversight of product design in a move aimed at speeding up development of future devices, according to a new report Tuesday.
Apple hardware chief reshuffles product design leadership
Srouji will make the changes this month as part of a broader effort to better integrate the teams working on Apple’s in-house silicon chips with those responsible for building the company’s products, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported.
The changes arrive as Apple navigates one of the most consequential leadership transitions in its history. John Ternus takes over as CEO on September 1 — in time to oversee the expected launch of the iPhone 18 lineup, which might include Apple’s first foldable iPhone.
Srouji’s restructuring appears designed to tighten the connection between chip design and product development before that milestone moment, setting the stage for whatever Apple builds next.
Product design gets new leadership
The most significant shift involves the management of product design. That’s the function responsible for engineering the look, feel and core capabilities of Apple’s devices.
That responsibility will move from veteran Vice President Kate Bergeron to two of her longtime deputies: Shelly Goldberg and Dave Pakula. Goldberg already oversees product design for the Mac, while Pakula led the effort for Apple Watch, iPad and AirPods. Richard Dinh, a longtime Ternus deputy, will retain leadership of product design for the iPhone.
It’s worth noting that product design at Apple is distinct from industrial design, which is led by a separate executive reporting directly to the CEO. Industrial design drives the overall vision and appearance of new devices, while product design focuses on translating those concepts into finished products that can ship to consumers.
Bergeron, meanwhile, is moving into oversight of product reliability across all Apple devices — a role previously held by Tom Marieb. He succeeded Ternus as head of hardware engineering. The shift is considered a promotion, as it mirrors the path Marieb himself took to eventually lead all of hardware engineering.
Srouji adds direct reports
Srouji will also pull two former Ternus deputies into his direct reporting chain:
- Matt Costello, who led development of Apple’s home and audio products, will now head a new Ecosystems Platforms and Partnerships team.
- Kevin Lynch, who runs a special projects group, will continue overseeing Apple’s robotics device efforts and report directly to Srouji.
Silicon and advanced tech groups expand
Two of Srouji’s longtime lieutenants also take on expanded responsibilities:
- Silicon engineering head Sribalan Santhanam adds oversight of Apple’s chip teams in Israel, along with groups focused on chip packaging and analog mixed-signal technologies. The work is critical to power management and signal processing across Apple devices.
- Advanced Technologies Group leader Zongjian Chen gains oversight of Apple’s sensor software and prototyping work, along with battery and camera engineering teams, and the display engineering group. Chen also takes over a long-running project to develop a noninvasive blood-sugar sensor, a potentially landmark health feature that had previously been supervised by platform architecture chief Tim Millet.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
