Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, may be joining the growing number of high-level executives leaving the company. According to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Srouji, who led Apple’s transition to in-house chip designs and the Apple Silicon revolution, is seriously considering leaving in the near future. Srouji reportedly conveyed this intention to CEO Tim Cook and plans to move to another tech company if he leaves.
Is Tim Cook retiring? Alarming brain drain at Apple
Srouji isn’t the only loss at the company; the tech giant has recently faced a worrying brain drain. Meta has transferred several key figures for AI and smart glasses development, including longtime Apple designer Alan Dye. Apple also announced the retirements of General Counsel Kate Adams, Vice President of Environmental Policy Lisa Jackson, and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer John Giannandrea. It was previously announced that COO Jeff Williams and CFO Luca Maestri would be leaving their positions.
Retirement rumors are also circulating about Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook, who turned 65 last month, is observed to have a distinct, unexplained tremor in his hands. Rumors suggest that Cook may leave his position next year, but will not leave the company entirely, instead stepping into the role of chairman. To keep Srouji at the company, Tim Cook is offering him a substantial package that includes the title of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and broader authority.
However, Srouji is reportedly unwilling to work under a different CEO. John Ternus is expected to succeed Tim Cook, but if Srouji leaves, he could be replaced by Zongjian Chen or Sribalan Santhanam. The company’s problems aren’t limited to management. Apple’s AI organization is reportedly experiencing a breakdown, and the use of external technologies like Google Gemini is hurting employee morale. Approximately twelve leading researchers have left this department.
The hardware design group has also been almost completely dismantled. Many employees have moved to LoveFrom, former design chief Jony Ive’s studio, or to competitors like OpenAI. Key figures like Abidur Chowdhury, designer of the iPhone Air, and Cheng Chen, responsible for Vision Pro optics, have also left the company. While Apple management is increasing its recruitment and retention efforts to stem this loss, the increased agility of competitors is making the situation more challenging. Even the departure of Richard Locke, dean of Apple University, responsible for preserving Steve Jobs’ culture, demonstrates the gravity of the situation.
At a time when Apple has failed to create a successful new product category over the past decade and has lost talent to competitors, questions about the company’s future are rising. How do you think the departure of so many key figures, especially the leader in chip architecture, will impact the future performance and innovation of Apple devices you use?
