Evans Hankey, Apple vp of commercial design since 2019, has introduced plans to go away the corporate within the coming months. Apple confirmed her impending departure to Bloomberg.

She has been sitting within the submit of {hardware} design lead as soon as famously held by Jony Ive. Prior to taking the position, Hankey reported to Ive for a number of years. Since 2019 she has reported to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief working officer. She manages dozens of commercial designers on the firm. Whereas Ive as soon as oversaw each industrial and software program design, Hankey’s accountability was on the {hardware} aspect solely. Apple’s head of software program design, Alan Dye, will stay in his position, based on sources that spoke with Bloomberg.

Hankey introduced her departure this week, saying she is going to keep for six months whereas Apple works out its future plans for the economic design workforce. She has not publicly stated what her subsequent transfer is. Her position was additionally held for a short while by designer Richard Howarth from 2015 to 2017. Hankey took it on across the time of Ive’s departure from the corporate simply three years in the past. Howarth continues to be with the corporate and could possibly be a candidate to switch Hankey.

It’s unclear what this can imply for Apple’s {hardware} design workforce transferring ahead. The firm has a number of main {hardware} initiatives underway, together with the long-delayed mixed-reality headset together with the standard litany of latest iPhones, Macs, iPads, and wearables just like the Apple Watch and AirPods. Further delays associated to this departure appear unlikely, however whoever Apple chooses as a successor might have a huge impact on the corporate’s {hardware} design philosophy transferring ahead.

Industrial design has all the time been on the forefront of Apple’s model identification and worth proposition to prospects. It was Jony Ive, in tandem with Steve Jobs, who spearheaded the designs of the merchandise which have made Apple what it’s at present, such because the iPhone. Ive departed Apple in 2019 to start out his personal design agency, which counted Apple as a consumer till not too long ago. Since his departure, Apple has taken a notably totally different method to {hardware} design, albeit one which may be extra appropriate to Apple’s place out there at present. The identical form of shift might occur once more below new management. Since the lead time on product growth is considerably lengthy, we’re unlikely to note any modifications within the merchandise for a number of years but.