Evans Hankey, Apple Vice President Industrial Design since 2019, has announced plans to leave the company in the coming months. Apple confirmed its imminent departure to Bloomberg.
She has held the position of hardware design leader, once famous by Jony Ive. Before taking on the role, Hankey reported to Ive for several years. Since 2019, she has reported to Jeff Williams, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer. She leads dozens of industrial designers at the company. While Ive once oversaw both industrial design and software design, Hankey’s responsibility lay solely on the hardware side. According to sources who spoke to Bloomberg, Apple’s head of software design, Alan Dye, will remain in his position.
Hankey announced her departure this week, saying she will stay for six months while Apple works out its future plans for the industrial design team. She has not said publicly what her next step is. Her role was also briefly filled by designer Richard Howarth from 2015 to 2017. Hankey took it on around the time of Ive’s departure from the company, just three years ago. Howarth is still with the company and could be a candidate to replace Hankey.
It’s unclear what this will mean for the future of Apple’s hardware design team. The company has several major hardware projects underway, including the long-delayed mixed-reality headset and the usual litany of new iPhones, Macs, iPads, and wearables like the Apple Watch and AirPods. Further delays related to this departure seem unlikely, but who Apple chooses as successor could have a major impact on the future of the company’s hardware design philosophy.
Industrial design has always been at the forefront of Apple’s brand identity and value proposition to customers. It was Jony Ive, along with Steve Jobs, who spearheaded the design of the products that made Apple what it is today, such as the iPhone. Ive left Apple in 2019 to start his own design firm, which until recently counted Apple as a client. Since leaving, Apple has taken a remarkably different approach to hardware design, albeit one that may be more consistent with Apple’s current position in the market. A similar shift could happen again under new leadership. Because the lead time of product development is a bit long, we will probably not notice any changes in the products in the coming years.
