According to Neowin, Abidur Chowdhury—the designer who introduced Apple’s slimmest phone ever, the iPhone Air, during the September event this year—has left Apple’s design team after six years. He joined around the same time design legend Jony Ive departed in 2019 and stayed through multiple product cycles. Chowdhury’s roughly two-minute presentation of the iPhone Air features was his most visible role before this unexpected exit. Bloomberg reports he’s moving to an AI startup, a move that’s “made waves internally” given his rising profile. His departure comes as Apple considers ditching or delaying the iPhone Air due to disappointing sales, though fresh information suggests an iPhone Air 2 might still arrive with improvements.
The Great Apple Design Exodus Continues
Here’s the thing—this isn’t just one designer leaving. This feels like the continuation of a brain drain that started when Jony Ive left in 2019. Remember when Ive’s departure felt like the end of an era? Well, it turns out it was just the beginning. Most of the old guard design team members have either retired or moved to other companies. And now with Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams—who oversaw design—leaving last week, the team reports directly to Tim Cook.
That’s a massive shift in how Apple approaches product design. Cook is brilliant at operations and supply chain, but design? That was Ive’s kingdom. Now the design team answers to a CEO who’s fundamentally an operations guy. That has to change the dynamic completely.
Meanwhile, The iPhone Air Might Be DOA
So Chowdhury leaves right as the product he championed appears to be struggling. Apple’s reportedly “disappointed” with iPhone Air sales and might kill the product entirely. Samsung’s apparently having similar issues with their Galaxy Edge model too. Basically, the super-thin phone trend might be hitting a wall.
But here’s where it gets interesting—rumors suggest Apple might not kill the iPhone Air line completely. Instead, they’re supposedly working on an iPhone Air 2 with a 2nm chipset for better battery life and adding a second camera. Because let’s be honest, how useful is an ultra-thin phone if the battery dies by lunchtime?
The AI Startup Lure Is Real
Chowdhury jumping to an AI startup tells you everything about where the talent sees opportunity right now. Apple’s been playing catch-up in AI while startups are throwing money and resources at the problem. When you’re a rising star at Apple, watching your colleagues leave for greener pastures in AI must be tempting.
And honestly, can you blame him? The AI space is where the exciting work is happening right now. While Apple’s refining existing products, AI startups are building the future. For ambitious designers and engineers, that’s an irresistible pull.
What Does This Mean For Apple’s Design Future?
Look, Apple’s design team has been its secret weapon for decades. But with most of the experienced talent gone, what happens next? The company that once revolutionized personal computing, music players, and smartphones now has a design team that’s essentially starting over.
They’ll still make beautiful products, of course. But will they make groundbreaking ones? That’s the billion-dollar question. When your entire design philosophy was built around a visionary leader and that leader’s team scatters to the winds, something fundamental changes. And in hardware design, where companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com dominate the industrial panel PC space through relentless innovation, standing still means falling behind.
Apple’s at a crossroads. They can either rebuild their design legacy or become just another tech company making incremental improvements. Chowdhury’s departure might be one data point, but it’s part of a much bigger story.
