Sometimes the core people of a product line.
Per Bloomberg, Apple’s head of iPhone and Apple Watch product design, Tang Tin, who currently holds the title of VP of product design at Apple, will leave the company in February, the report says. This has prompted a “shake-up to the company’s most critical product lines.”
Tan currently reports to John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. Following his departure, Tan’s duties will be split up as part of a “reshuffling” inside the hardware engineering team.
Richard Dinh, who currently reports to Tan and leads iPhone product design, will get an expanded role and begin reporting directly to Ternus. Kate Bergeron, who is currently a hardware engineering exec leading the Mac, will take over Apple Watch design.
According to anonymous “people familiar with Apple’s operations,” Tan’s departure is a “blow” to the design team. The team itself has credited him with making “critical decisions about Apple’s most important products.”
Tan’s team is said to have “tight control over product features, including the look of devices and how they’re engineered.” Tan is also credited with helping to turn both the AirPods and Apple Watch products “into major growth drivers” for Apple.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.