'Slide to Unlock' Engineer Greg Christie to Depart Apple After Fallout with Jony Ive [Updated]

jony_iveApple's Vice President of Human Interface Greg Christie is set to depart from the company after clashing with Jony Ive, Apple's Senior Vice President of Industrial Design who oversees and guides the Human Interface teams, reports 9to5Mac. Ive first took on a role "providing leadership" for the Human Interface teams in late 2012, following Scott Forstall's departure from the company.

Christie has led much of Apple's software design and reports to Craig Federighi, who oversees development of iOS and OS X, but Christie interacts with Ive during design meetings. Christie's team was responsible for redesigning iOS 7, which reportedly led to disagreements with Ive.

Sources say that Christie's upcoming departure is significant and stems from a falling out with Ive. When Ive tasked Apple's Human Interface team with redesigning iOS 7 to include an entirely new look, Christie and Ive reportedly clashed over design direction, after which Ive is said to have circumvented Christie's leadership of the team during the new operating system's development.

Following Christie's departure, software design will fall under Ive's umbrella, with software designers working alongside Ive's industrial design team rather than Federighi's group.

Christie, who has worked for Apple since 1996, was one of the original software engineers who developed iOS for the first iPhone. He recently did an interview with The Wall Street Journal detailing the development of the original iPhone and he testified in the second Apple vs. Samsung patent trial, telling the court that the "Slide to Unlock" feature he's credited with inventing is an essential iPhone feature.

Along with "Slide to Unlock," Christie has been instrumental in developing many important iPhone features, with hundreds of Apple patents in his name. It is unclear what he plans to do after his departure or when he will officially depart from the company.

Following the departure of Scott Forstall, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on the importance of collaboration and noted that the merging of software and hardware design was needed to take Apple's collaborative efforts to the next level. Last year, Ive and Federighi also spoke on collaboration and how they worked together to create iOS 7. With Ive taking full control over software design with Christie's departure, the integration between Apple's software and hardware may improve even further.

Updated 2:30 PDT:
Apple issued a statement to Financial Times reporter Tim Bradshaw saying that Greg Christie "has been planning to retire later this year" and that he "worked closely with Jony for many years".

Tag: 9to5Mac

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google made waves yesterday by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
WWDC 2025 Banner

Apple Announces WWDC 2025 Schedule, Including Keynote Time

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired Feature 1

macOS 16: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday May 20, 2025 7:31 am PDT by
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented event, is less than three weeks away. We haven't heard a great deal about macOS 16 ahead of its announcement this year, so we could be in for some major surprises when June 9 rolls around. Here's what we know so far about the next major update to Apple's Mac operating system. macOS 16 Name? Every year ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Report: Apple's Next-Gen Version of Siri Is 'On Par' With ChatGPT

Monday May 19, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple has big plans to improve Siri over the next few years, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett report. Some Apple executives are now reportedly pushing to turn Siri into a true ChatGPT competitor. A next-generation, chatbot version of Siri has reportedly made significant progress during testing over the past six months; some executives allegedly now see it as "on par" with recent...

Top Rated Comments

D.T. Avatar
145 months ago
“Look Greg, I want the backgrounds to be white, the icons to be white and the type to be white. Then you can tap anywhere, or nowhere. Monochrome ... it’s the ultimate simplified user experience!”

~ J.I.
Score: 81 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
145 months ago
Greg Christie has shown himself to have good software design (visually speaking), Ive's not so much with the iOS7 rollout.

I cannot see this being a positive thing for apple, imo.
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redscull Avatar
145 months ago
And any hope of iOS 8 reclaiming iOS 6's superior usability or (my opinion) good looks are gone.

Jony Ive: Brilliant hardware designer. Amateur software designer.
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macboy Pro Avatar
145 months ago
The Jony Ive worship is too much anymore.
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FrankieTDouglas Avatar
145 months ago
With Ive taking full control over software design with Christie's departure, the integration between Apple's software and hardware may improve even further.

Spin alert
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BillyMatt87 Avatar
145 months ago
I'd trust Ive over everyone else in this area. He should be the one overseeing all of the design from hardware looks to software looks.

Ive's background is in industrial design and he's a brilliant hardware designer but sadly his talents in that area don't translate well into UI design.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)