Apple reportedly does not plan to recruit an outside chief design officer, despite calls inside and around the company for one executive to oversee industrial and software design. CEO John Ternus appears to be filling that role himself while leaving the two specialist groups under their existing leaders.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that no external search is underway. The decision follows years in which Apple’s industrial design and human interface teams operated under separate leaders after Jony Ive’s departure, without one design executive coordinating both sides.
An outside appointment could have brought a prominent creative voice and a new perspective after the loss of several experienced Apple designers. However, it could also have added another management layer while Ternus is trying to make the company faster and more direct.
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Ternus is filling the missing role
Industrial design vice president Molly Anderson and human interface leader Steve Lemay continue to run their respective teams. Ternus reportedly works closely with both groups and makes the final calls that cross the boundary between hardware and software, effectively providing the shared oversight that a chief design officer would offer.
The arrangement also keeps design tied to product engineering. Ternus spent years leading Apple’s hardware organization, which gives him detailed knowledge of materials, components, manufacturing limits and development schedules. The risk is that engineering priorities could outweigh the creative independence associated with a traditional design leader.
Apple has recently presented Anderson and Lemay more prominently, including during the iPhone Duo launch. MacObserver’s report on the thinking behind the iPhone Duo shows how the company is using its current leaders to explain major product choices. Whether Apple eventually restores a standalone chief design title will depend on how well this CEO-led structure works.
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