Dan Riccio
,
Apple
's former senior vice president of hardware engineering, is nearing retirement after over 25 years at the tech giant, according to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Riccio, who played a crucial role in developing products like the
iMac
,
iPhone
, iPad, and
Macs
with Apple silicon, handed over his hardware engineering leadership role to John Ternus in 2021 to focus on an unspecified "new project." That project was later revealed to be the Apple
Vision Pro
augmented reality headset, which was launched in the U.S.
earlier this month.
With the Vision Pro now released, Riccio is planning his retirement from Apple, sources told Gurman. Specific details and timing of his departure are still being finalised.
Riccio joined Apple in 1998 and quickly rose through the ranks, leading the product design team and becoming vice president of hardware engineering in 2010. In 2012, he was promoted to senior vice president of hardware engineering, overseeing the development of all of Apple's major products.
Touch ID, Face ID, and the shift away from Intel processors to Apple's own silicon were significant achievements under Riccio's oversight. He was directly involved with the iPad for many years. He led the engineering for recent releases like the M1 Macs and 5G iPhones.
When Riccio transitions to retirement, it will cap over two decades of hardware innovation at Apple. He was one of the company's longest-tenured executives.
With the car project scaled back and Riccio leaving, Apple's hardware engineering leadership could see a shakeup. Mark Gurman speculates that Mike Rockwell, who currently runs the Apple Vision Pro team, may start reporting directly to CEO
Tim Cook
or COO Jeff Williams.
Riccio's retirement marks the end of an era at Apple. As one of
Steve Jobs
' critical lieutenants for many years, he oversaw the development of some of Apple's most iconic and category-defining products. The company will look to build on that legacy as it enters new product categories like
augmented reality
under fresh engineering leadership.
English (US) ·