Apple is entering a notable period of leadership change as several vice presidents leave the company, marking one of the most concentrated waves of senior departures in recent years. These confirmed exits span different areas of the organization, reflecting a moment of transition inside a company known for long internal tenures and highly structured teams.
Among the most visible departures is Stella Low, who led Apple’s communications efforts during a period of major hardware and service launches. Her role touched nearly every product introduction and corporate announcement, positioning her as one of the central executives shaping Apple’s public messaging. Her exit underscores the shifts occurring not only in product groups but also in Apple’s broader corporate structure.
Another major confirmed departure is Evans Hankey, the head of industrial design who succeeded Jonathan Ive. Hankey’s role placed her at the center of Apple’s hardware identity, guiding refinements to iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac and the early stages of Vision Pro. While industrial design is only one component of the ongoing leadership transitions, her exit is significant due to the group’s influence on Apple’s long-standing design culture.
Internal Adjustments Reflect How Apple Manages Long Development Cycles
Inside Apple, vice presidents oversee teams that operate on multi-year development timelines, which means leadership changes occur while hardware roadmaps continue moving forward. Engineering, design and operations teams work across overlapping product cycles, giving the company a structure capable of absorbing executive transitions without shifting long-term plans.
Many of the responsibilities held by outgoing executives are now distributed across seasoned directors and long-time team leads. These groups maintain continuity within their divisions, guiding everything from device architecture to materials research and product marketing. Apple’s culture relies on deep institutional knowledge, which helps steady internal teams even as the senior leadership landscape evolves.
This structure allows Apple to maintain predictable development rhythms while adjusting to organizational changes. Devices already deep in planning continue progressing through prototype stages, testing cycles and manufacturing preparation under consistent guidance from their respective groups.
Design Teams Navigate Their Own Transition Within the Larger Shift
While vice president departures span several divisions, Apple’s design team remains a point of interest due to its historical role in defining the company’s identity. Hankey’s confirmed exit places additional responsibility on the senior designers who collectively guide industrial design today. Apple has leaned more heavily on a collaborative design structure in recent years, moving away from the single creative figurehead model that defined earlier eras.
This collaborative approach influences how future products take shape. It supports long-term design language decisions while giving specialists room to refine form, materials and ergonomics. Even as leadership shifts, internal processes remain grounded in shared research, detailed prototyping and coordination with engineering teams that shape the structural aspects of each device.
The broader leadership changes bring attention to how Apple balances continuity with adaptation. Its design organization continues functioning within a stable rhythm that values incremental refinement, even as it prepares for new products across emerging categories.
