Apple Director of Graphics Architecture Is Second Chip Executive Hired Away by AMD

NewImageAMD has hired away another executive from Apple, CNET is reporting.

Raja Koduri, Apple's former director of graphics architecture, has been rehired by AMD as Corporate Vice President of Visual Computing after four years with Apple.

Koduri joined Apple from AMD in April 2009 as part of the electronics giant's push to build up its own chip operations. Instead of relying on partners like Intel to design processors for smartphones and tablets, Apple started creating its own chips for mobile devices.

Anecdotal reports have suggested that Apple employees have been sending out resumes more recently than they have in the past, though CNET says Koduri left Apple last month and didn't immediately join AMD. The company was reported to have been attempting to hire Koduri back for some time.

The skills of Koduri and Jim Keller -- Apple's former head of platform architecture who joined AMD last year -- would seem to compliment each other as AMD attempts to gain market share after a poor showing in recent years. AnandTech says AMD is putting GPU hardware and software under Koduri's leadership.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices from credible sources. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone Reportedly Moving to All-Screen Design in Two Stages

Sunday June 22, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple has long been working towards an iPhone with an all-screen design, and it might finally achieve the feat in a few more years from now. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on new iPhone models released next year. A year after that, he expects Apple to release a redesigned 20th-anniversary iPhone model....
ios 26 control center b2

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 2

Monday June 23, 2025 2:57 pm PDT by
Apple provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26, introducing the first changes and refinements to the new operating system since it debuted after the WWDC keynote. Because we're early in the beta testing process, there are quite a few tweaks to iOS 26, which we've rounded up below. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Control Center The background behind the...
ios 26 control center b2

iOS 26 Beta 2 Fixes Control Center Design

Monday June 23, 2025 10:58 am PDT by
With the second beta of iOS 26 that Apple provided to developers today, Apple addressed one of the major complaints that people have had with Liquid Glass. iOS 26 beta 1 on left, iOS 26 beta 2 on right The Control Center buttons are now slightly more opaque, making it easier to see the different control options even on a multicolored background. The new, more opaque look is apparent with the ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro's Alleged Vapor Chamber Cooling System Partly Revealed

Sunday June 22, 2025 6:37 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models are rumored to be equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, and a leaker known as Majin Bu today shared a photo of an alleged copper thermal plate for the system. Many high-end Android smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra are equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, which can manage heat dissipation inside the...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

watchOS 26 Adding a Smaller Yet Useful New Watch Face Setting

Monday June 23, 2025 9:39 am PDT by
watchOS 26 is adding a new "Show Data When Locked" setting to the Apple Watch. MacRumors contributor Steve Moser discovered the new setting within the code for the first watchOS 26 beta, and a Reddit user has seemingly found it in action, but we have yet to figure out where it is exactly. Leave a comment if you know. The new privacy setting allows you to toggle on or off the ability to...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adding Two New Wi-Fi Features, Allows AirDrop and AirPlay Alternatives

Saturday June 21, 2025 7:02 am PDT by
iOS 26 is gaining two new Wi-Fi features, including Captive Assist and Wi-Fi Aware. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris discovered a reference to Captive Assist within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta, but Apple has yet to enable the feature. It should be available by the time the software update is released later this year. In his Power On newsletter last month, Bloomberg's...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Tuesday June 24, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...

Top Rated Comments

nwcs Avatar
159 months ago
In other news, employees seek out the best job opportunities that fit their talents and salary requirements. Next up, Apple hires people from other companies because Apple offers the job opportunities and salaries they are looking for in a career.

Later, those same employees seek employment elsewhere in 1-5 years because this is the norm in technology careers.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
159 months ago
Wow, jumping ship from a great innovative company to one that is struggling to make a profit - things must be very bad behind close doors at apple :confused:
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Atlantico Avatar
159 months ago
AMD is an exciting place to work for these days, there's a bunch of new and groundbreaking designs AMD is pushing to the market and a lot of room for improvement - at Apple it's more focused on just one thing, the ARM architecture.

For chip engineers AMD is way more exciting than Apple. There's nothing really strange about this move. Great for AMD. :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3282868 Avatar
159 months ago
Let's see

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, gone (2009 but officially 2011) primarily responsible for the release of Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Board of Directors for Parallels, Inc.

S.V.P. of Software Engineering - empty since Serlet's (official) departure in 2011

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, responsible for 10.7 and 10.8, 2011+

S.V.P. of Retail Ron Johnson, gone (2000 - 2011), became CEO for JCP, recently fired from said position.

S.V.P. of Retail John Browett, April - October 2012, fired.

No current S.V.P. of Retail, position filled by CEO Tim Cook

S.V.P. of User Interfaces Began at NeXT in 1992, then Apple after acquisition in 1997. Promoted to S.V.P. in Jan, 2003. Headed OS X Aqua interface, then head of iOS development. Fired on Oct, 2012 alongside S.V.P. John Browett, due to rumored conflicts with other Apple departments.

Jonny Ive is acting S.V.P. for Design Interfaces since Forstall's departure.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Tony Fadell Feb 2001-Nov 2008, founded Nest Labs and "Nest" thermostat

V.P. of iPod Engineering Mark Papermaster vetted in 2007, hired in 2008. Bob Mansfield expressed disdain for Papermaster to then CEO Steve Jobs. Left Apple in August, 2010 in the wake of the iPhone 4 antenna troubles, however it was later reported he left due to "broader cultural incompatibility" and a loss of confidence from then CEO Steve Jobs.

S.V.P. of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield, announced retirement on June 8th, 2012. Subsequently returned on August 27th, 2012 under Tim Cook, with reports indicating Scott Forstall's departure played a key role.

Director of Software then iOS Richard Williamson, 2002 - Nov, 2012, fired by Eddie Cue reportedly due to iOS 6's [failed] maps app, now with Facebook.

V.P. of Mobile Advertising Andy Miller, 2010 - 2011, reported directly to then CEO Steve Jobs.

Chief Microprocessing Architect Jim Keller 2008-2012, currently Corp. V.P. and Chief Architect for CPU Cores at AMD

C.T.O. of Graphics Raja Koduri, 2009-2013, returned to AMD

In recent years Apple has seen many executives and department heads come and go, some with no replacements.

What is going on???
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rogifan Avatar
159 months ago
Comments in red.

Let's see

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, gone (2009 but officially 2011) primarily responsible for the release of Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Board of Directors for Parallels, Inc.

S.V.P. of Software Engineering - empty since Serlet's (official) departure in 2011

Is this really empty? Didn't Craig Federighi, who you have listed below, fill this position?

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, responsible for 10.7 and 10.8, 2011+

S.V.P. of Retail Ron Johnson, gone (2000 - 2011), became CEO for JCP, recently fired from said position.

Johnson admitted he wanted to move on because he wanted a challenge. He had been running Apple retail since 2001; he was probably ready to do something different and JCP offered him a real challenge (and CEO position)

S.V.P. of Retail John Browett, April - October 2012, fired.

No current S.V.P. of Retail, position filled by CEO Tim Cook

S.V.P. of User Interfaces Began at NeXT in 1992, then Apple after acquisition in 1997. Promoted to S.V.P. in Jan, 2003. Headed OS X Aqua interface, then head of iOS development. Fired on Oct, 2012 alongside S.V.P. John Browett, due to rumored conflicts with other Apple departments.

Jonny Ive is acting S.V.P. for Design Interfaces since Forstall's departure.

Time will tell if Cook made the right decision in getting rid of Scott Forstall, but a lot of people seem to think it makes sense to have hardware and software design under the same leadership. And perhaps Ive wanted more responsibility, wanted to challenge himself more? It seems executives were in silos more under Steve than they are under Cook.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Tony Fadell Feb 2001-Nov 2008, founded Nest Labs and "Nest" thermostat

Fadell has said he (and his wife) were burned out. My guess is once the iPhone became the "it" product (and the iPod touch fell under the iPhone group) Fadell knew it was time to move on. Based on his comments about Forstall "getting what he deserved", one can assume the two did not get along, and perhaps that was another reason Fadell left.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Mark Papermaster vetted in 2007, hired in 2008. Bob Mansfield expressed disdain for Papermaster to then CEO Steve Jobs. Left Apple in August, 2010 in the wake of the iPhone 4 antenna troubles, however it was later reported he left due to "broader cultural incompatibility" and a loss of confidence from then CEO Steve Jobs.

S.V.P. of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield, announced retirement on June 8th, 2012. Subsequently returned on August 27th, 2012 under Tim Cook, with reports indicating Scott Forstall's departure played a key role.

I think everyone would agree keeping Mansfield is a good thing. Though from what I've read he really was planning to retire (he's been with Apple since 1999), so the fact he stayed on indicates to me he was given the freedom to work on some really cool stuff. I'm excited to see what comes out of this new Technologies group.

Director of Software then iOS Richard Williamson, 2002 - Nov, 2012, fired by Eddie Cue reportedly due to iOS 6's [failed] maps app, now with Facebook.

V.P. of Mobile Advertising Andy Miller, 2010 - 2011, reported directly to then CEO Steve Jobs.

Chief Microprocessing Architect Jim Keller 2008-2012, currently Corp. V.P. and Chief Architect for CPU Cores at AMD

C.T.O. of Graphics Raja Koduri, 2009-2013, returned to AMD

his job title was CTO? I didn't know Apple used C-level job titles, except for CFO and COO when Cook held that position.

In recent years Apple has seen many executives and department heads come and go, some with no replacements.

What is going on???

Is the turnover/churn at Apple greater than the average for tech companies? Or large companies in general? If you're at a VP level in a company does it look better on your CV if you've been with the same company for 20-30 years or if you've moved around and held high level positions at multiple corporations?

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Winni Avatar
159 months ago
Rats are always the first to leave a sinking ship.

That's because they are smarter than the other passengers.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)