Abidur Chowdhury, an industrial designer who shaped the iPhone Air and appeared in its design video, left Apple to join an unnamed AI startup. His departure, reported by Bloomberg, occurred after the device’s September 9 launch event and created internal waves due to his rising profile in the design team.
The iPhone Air represents one of Apple’s most ambitious iPhone redesigns in recent years, distinguished by its super-thin profile. Apple emphasized this feature during the “Awe Dropping” event on September 9. Chowdhury starred in a nearly two-minute video presented at the event, where he detailed the phone’s design and manufacturing process.
Chowdhury joined Apple in 2019 and advanced rapidly through the ranks within the industrial design group. Bloomberg specifies that his exit bears no connection to the iPhone Air’s launch. The specific AI startup he joined remains undisclosed in available reports.
Apple’s chief operating officer, Jeff Williams, retired recently, resulting in the design team now reporting directly to chief executive Tim Cook. This structural change followed a period of leadership transition in design.
Jony Ive directed Apple’s industrial design team for an extended period until his departure in 2019. Since then, multiple senior designers have exited the company. Evans Hankey, Ive’s successor as head of industrial design, left after more than 15 years at Apple. Tang Tan and Cyrus Daniel also departed, each with over 15 years of service in the design organization.
Apple’s AI division experienced separate losses over the past year, with several key researchers moving to Meta. Among them was Ke Yang, who led the company’s “answer engine” project.
Chowdhury’s departure holds no impact on Apple’s development schedule for the iPhone Air 2, planned for debut in the first half of 2027.
