Another Designer Leaves Apple

The designer who introduced the iPhone Air at Apple's September event left the company, reports Bloomberg. Abidur Chowdhury recently departed Apple to join an AI startup, a move that apparently "made waves" internally because he was a rising star on the design team.

Apple Logo
Chowdhury worked on the ‌iPhone Air‌, and he described its feature set in a two-minute presentation in September. His departure was not related to the ‌iPhone Air‌ or the disappointing sales of the device.

Chowdhury joined Apple's industrial design team in 2019, the same year that Jony Ive left the company to create a new design firm. After Ive departed, several other members of the design team left, either joining him or moving on to other companies.

There are very few designers remaining at Apple who worked under Ive, and Apple has lost several high-profile designers over the last six years.

Former Apple operations chief Jeff Williams had been overseeing the product design team since 2023, but he retired from Apple last week. Apple's design team will now report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

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Top Rated Comments

dannys1 Avatar
2 hours ago at 04:22 pm

There are very few designers remaining at Apple who worked under Ive, and Apple has lost several high-profile designers ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/13/another-longtime-industrial-designer-leaves-apple/') over the last six years.
Honestly it's starting to show and not in a good way. We need some of the brutal Apple design ethos, stubbornness and ruthless attention to detail back from Jobs mind. We need a bit more form over function again, it's what made Apple unique.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Happy_John Avatar
2 hours ago at 04:24 pm

probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...
… and will more than likely be out of business before 2027. Investment in companies which don’t provide an RoI isn’t sustainable.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tozovac Avatar
1 hour ago at 04:41 pm

Honestly it's starting to show and not in a good way. We need some of the brutal Apple design ethos, stubbornness and ruthless attention to detail back from Jobs mind. We need a bit more form over function again, it's what made Apple unique.
It’s starting to show in a GOOD WAY too.

MacBooks have the right amount (and types) of ports again.

And I actually like iOS26/iPadOS26/etc. With a few Accessibility tweaks, my phone and IPad are more like pre-iOS7 and I’m super glad. Less flat design, less vagueness, more interesting icons.

Form over Function is a bad way to go…I’m surprised to read someone prefers that.

Unless youre being tongue in cheek and I completely missed it. :)

I would take more Jobs less Jony any day.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
UliBaer Avatar
1 hour ago at 04:32 pm
The rats abandon the sinking ship?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dypeterc Avatar
1 hour ago at 04:36 pm

probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...
Until it folds
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
2 hours ago at 04:19 pm

recently departed Apple to join an AI startup
probably more than double the salary and then bonuses ...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)