Apple's Design Team Will Soon Report Directly to Tim Cook

When Jeff Williams leaves his position as Apple's Chief Operating Officer later this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook will apparently be taking over the design team leadership.

Right now, Williams oversees Apple's design efforts, but when he departs, Apple says that the design team will "transition to reporting directly to Cook."

Williams is in charge of several departments at Apple, and he has been overseeing Apple's design team since 2023. After Apple designer Jony Ive left Apple in 2019, Evans Hankey took over as Apple's design lead. Hankey left Apple in 2022, but Apple opted not to replace Hankey. Instead, the design team began reporting to Williams, and now it will report to Cook. Apple's design team includes software designers and hardware designers,

Williams is stepping down as Apple's Chief Operating Officer later this month, but he will continue to lead the design team, Apple's health initiatives, and the Apple Watch development until he leaves the company at the end of the year.

Apple's longtime senior vice president of Operations Sabih Khan will take over as Chief Operating Officer to continue overseeing Apple supply chains.