Apple Car Project Head Reportedly Leaving

TMO artist rendering of an Apple CarSteve Zadesky is leaving Apple, according to unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Zadesky is a 16-year Apple veteran who worked on both iPod and iPhone, but he's been heading Apple's "Project Titan" electric car effort since 2014, making his departure a possible setback for the company.

Mr. Zadesky's departure is for personal reasons, according to those sources, and not a decision made for him by Apple for performance reasons. He is also still at Apple for the time being.

Project Titan has been in development since roughly 2014, and it came to public awareness in 2015. Apple is working on an electric car for initial introduction as early as 2019 or 2020, with plans for an autonomous vehicle to follow.

While Apple has hired a multitude of engineers and executives from the auto industry, including Tesla, the initial team largely came from Apple's iPhone team. That includes Mr. Zadesky.