Apple Announces Retirement of Bob Mansfield, Senior VP of Hardware Engineering

NewImageApple Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield is retiring, according to an Apple press release. He joined Apple in 1999. He has led Mac hardware engineering since 2005, along with iPhone, iPod, and iPad engineering since 2010.

Apple® today announced that Bob Mansfield, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will retire and the role will be transitioned to Dan Riccio, Apple’s vice president of iPad Hardware Engineering, over several months. The entire hardware engineering team will continue to report to Mansfield until his departure.

“Bob has been an instrumental part of our executive team, leading the hardware engineering organization and overseeing the team that has delivered dozens of breakthrough products over the years,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are very sad to have him leave and hope he enjoys every day of his retirement.”

Mansfield has been instrumental in Apple's success in recent years, overseeing the development of the very successful MacBook Air notebooks, as well as recent iPhone and iPad designs. With rumors of an iPhone redesign coming this fall, it's possible that Mansfield wanted to stay with Apple through the introduction of that product.

He has sold off more than $70 million in Apple stock and options in the past few years.

Dan Riccio, the executive taking over Mansfield's responsibilities, has been with Apple since 1998. He was vice president of product design for 12 years before taking over the iPad division in 2010. Apple's press release says Riccio "has been a key contributor to most of Apple’s hardware over his career."

In a separate announcement made today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple reported that Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Office Betsy Rafael will also be retiring, effective October 19.

Top Rated Comments

GBrooks Avatar
149 months ago
He's done a great job. Deserves a rest! :)
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nuckinfutz Avatar
149 months ago
Oh man. Mansfeld seemed like a solid guy but hell if I had millions in stock options I too would get on with my life.

Godspeed Mansfeld!
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LimeiBook86 Avatar
149 months ago
Well he has certainty deserved it! Thanks and best of luck Bob! :D

But I'll miss seeing his face in the videos Apple releases. :)
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrmjenkins Avatar
149 months ago
Maybe he'll come back with a slimmer redesign from Ive.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cheffy Dave Avatar
149 months ago
Tad cold yes?

just following the trend, RIP Bob

Grow up!
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jav6454 Avatar
149 months ago
How old is he? He looks very young. Goes to say he will have a nice retirement....
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
anker new xmas 1

Anker's Cyber Week Sale Enters Final Days With Up to 60% Off Sitewide

Friday December 1, 2023 12:05 pm PST by
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
General Apps Messages

Green Bubbles on iPhone to Gain These 7 New Features Next Year

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:00 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
top stories 2dec2023

Top Stories: iOS 17.1.2 Released, NameDrop Misinformation, and More

Saturday December 2, 2023 6:00 am PST by
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...
instagram messenger

Instagram and Facebook Messenger Chats to Disconnect This Month

Tuesday December 5, 2023 1:57 am PST by
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
iphone 5g mmwave

Apple's Work on 6G Connectivity Already Expanding

Monday December 4, 2023 7:00 am PST by
Apple's work on implementing 6G cellular connectivity on its devices appears to be ramping up, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is increasingly turning its attention to 6G, even amid its widely reported difficulties developing a custom 5G cellular modem. In 2021, the first highly specific Apple job...