If the latest report is to be believed, another designer is said to have left Apple"s design team. Reportedly, he is Abidur Chowdhury, who introduced Apple"s slimmest phone ever in this year"s event, the iPhone Air.
Bloomberg adds that Choudhury left the Apple design team to join an AI startup. This move has "made waves internally, given his rising profile within the design team." Choudhury spoke about the iPhone Air features during the September event this year, that was for roughly two minutes.
It should be noted that according to reports, his departure is unrelated to the underwhelming sales of the iPhone Air. Recently, it came to light that Apple, disappointed with the sales numbers for the iPhone Air, could ditch the product or delay its launch, a move Samsung is also expected to do with its Galaxy Edge model.
However, fresh information then also suggested that the alleged iPhone Air 2 won"t be delayed, but Apple wants to improve the device, possibly with a 2nm chipset for better battery life, and add a second camera to the thin phone.
Since the reason for the departure of Abidur Choudhury is unclear, there are a few speculations. Notably, after Apple"s longtime design chief, John Ive"s bid adieu to the company in 2019 to create a new design firm, a lot of his team members tagged along. Some joined Ive"s design firm, while others moved on to other companies.
Choudhury joined Apple in 2019, around the same time when John Ive left the company, and stayed with them for six years. With this high-profile departure, the Apple design team is almost new, with most previous members have either retired or moved to a different company. Jeff Williams, the Chief Operating Officer who also oversaw the design team, left Apple last week. The design team now reports directly to CEO Tim Cook.