Dan Riccio, Apple’s long-time hardware engineering executive, is retiring. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Riccio is leaving Apple this month after 26 years at the company. Most recently, Riccio led development of Apple Vision Pro.
Riccio first joined Apple in 1998 and became Apple’s hardware engineering chief in 2012. He has led teams across multiple iPhone, iPad, and Mac launches, in addition to Vision Pro and the Apple Silicon transition.
The executive spent 26 years at the company and was known at times for an abrasive style and controversial moves, but he also made key hires and encouraged acquisitions that resulted in major new products. His tenure included overseeing some of Apple’s biggest bets, including development of the Vision Pro headset and the failed bid to make a car.
In January 2021, Apple reshuffled its hardware engineering team by Dan Riccio shifting from Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering to a “new role focusing on a new project.” John Ternus then took the reins of the hardware engineering team and joined Apple’s executive team.
Since that shakeup in 2021, Riccio has led the Vision Products Group at Apple, including the development of Apple Vision Pro. Bloomberg says that he was “one of the biggest advocates for the device and served as a bridge between the group and Apple’s top executive team.”
Top comment by Garrett
We were working on a hardware component with a major design flaw, and despite the tight timeline, Dan insisted we fix it without delaying the launch. He wasn’t interested in hearing why it couldn’t be done, only how we would make it happen. When someone suggested pushing the deadline by a week, he immediately shut them down, saying, “We don’t delay. We deliver.” We worked around the clock and met the deadline, but everyone was burnt out, and the solution wasn’t as refined as it should’ve been. For him, hitting the deadline was all that mattered.
Riccio also led Apple’s work on developing a self-driving car. The Apple Car, or Project Titan, initiative was disbanded in February after more than a decade.
Following Riccio’s departure, Mike Rockwell will continue to lead the Vision Products Group on a day-to-day basis. John Ternus, Apple’s current hardware engineering boss, will oversee the group and its “couple thousand engineers.”
Riccio’s departure comes amid multiple other changes at Apple. CFO Luca Maestri is set to depart his role after the end of 2024. Apple’s head of procurement is also soon retiring after 24 years at the company.
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