Apple's design studio has seen almost all of the designers from the Jony Ive period leave. The new CEO, John Ternus, claims he will address this issue.

      TL;DR: Since Jony Ive's departure, Apple’s design team has deteriorated. Incoming CEO John Ternus plans a significant restructuring before he assumes his role in September.

      Apple's industrial design studio, once a leader in tech product design, has been significantly diminished. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the team has lost its executive presence, influence, and credibility, now functioning mainly as a service department for other teams.

      John Ternus, who succeeds Tim Cook on September 1, is aware of the situation and is preparing a major overhaul of the design organization to leave his mark, as Gurman reports.

      This decline began about ten years ago when Jony Ive transitioned to chief design officer in 2015, which Apple presented as an advancement but ultimately led to a gradual decline in the design-driven culture that had characterized the company since Steve Jobs's return. Ive fully departed Apple in 2019 to establish LoveFrom, a design firm currently collaborating with OpenAI.

      For some time, Apple managed to maintain stability. Evans Hankey, who had overseen the studio under Ive, became head of industrial design but was not granted a position on the executive team, indicating a reduction in the importance of design within the company. Hankey reported to COO Jeff Williams, who lacked a design background.

      This shift meant that Apple replaced one of the most significant designers ever with its top supply chain executive, reflecting changing priorities during Cook's leadership, according to Gurman. Following the conclusion of Ive's consulting deal in 2022, Hankey departed, leading to numerous exits of designers from the Ive era, many moving to LoveFrom, launching their firms, or retiring. Bart Andre, Apple’s longest-serving designer since 1992, retired in February 2024, along with Colin Burns, Peter Russell-Clarke, and Shota Aoyagi, who left around the same time.

      Hankey co-founded io, an AI hardware startup with Ive, which was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5 billion in 2025. In response to the personnel losses after Hankey exited, Williams opted not to appoint a new design leader, instead choosing to directly manage the team to prevent further exits, which continued to escalate.

      The situation evolved, as described by Gurman, into a crisis where morale plummeted, the studio's influence waned, and the once-innovative hub diminished in relevance. With Williams retiring in November 2025, Apple confronted a long-evaded question about leadership.

      Molly Anderson, an industrial designer known for her work on Apple Watch and her association with Hankey, was appointed as vice president of industrial design in March 2026. However, Bloomberg notes that Anderson had no prior team management experience, and Apple prioritized continuity over finding the most qualified design leader available.

      The team's capabilities have diminished as well, now populated by more junior members from universities or smaller companies, lacking the renowned design talents it once included.

      The most significant setback came when Alan Dye, who had led user interface design since 2015, departed for Meta in December 2025, becoming its chief design officer, prompting several software designers to follow.

      The impact of these changes is evident in the products. While Apple has continued to issue updates regularly, the introduction of new designs and significant form factor alterations has slowed. Until last year, the iPhone's design remained largely static for about five years.

      The Apple Watch, AirPods, and Mac have maintained almost identical industrial designs for around a decade, with only a few exceptions like the Watch Ultra and MacBook Neo. In the era of Jobs and Ive, such a prolonged absence of substantial redesigns would have seemed unimaginable.

      Ternus, who has a background in Apple’s product engineering and design sectors, has already engaged extensively with the industrial design group since assuming control of the team in late 2025. In a recent internal meeting, he emphasized the company's ongoing commitment to design as a core aspect of Apple's identity.

      Gurman's reporting highlights the need for Apple to appoint a leader capable of revitalizing the design studio's strength, granting them a genuine executive position and the authority to reconstruct the organization and produce groundbreaking designs. Finding the right cultural match will be challenging, but this should not deter Apple from seeking the best available talent.

      Ternus faces the challenge of addressing design leadership among a multitude of pressing issues. Apple is lagging in AI, grappling with enforced regulations under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, and must launch a foldable iPhone alongside the regular lineup this September. Rebuilding a design culture is a long-term endeavor, and Ternus has only a few weeks before he officially steps into the CEO role.

      Whether he can restore design to its previous prominence at Apple while managing other responsibilities will be a critical question during his early tenure. Although the company possesses the financial resources, brand strength, and distribution to attract top designers globally, it currently lacks the internal