Apple gives rare bonuses to iPhone designers to deter departures

Chance Miller | Mar 26 2026 - 1:53 pm PT

A new report from Bloomberg details that Apple recently awarded “rare bonuses to iPhone hardware designers this week.” The bonuses are said to be worth “several hundred thousand dollars” and are viewed as a way to deter employees from departing for high-paying startups like OpenAI.

The bonuses are “out-of-cycle,” meaning they come separate from Apple’s typical scheduled bonuses for employees. They are reportedly worth “roughly $200,000 to $400,000 over the full vesting period.” The bonuses come in the form of stock units that vest over four years, so employees must stay at Apple for the full four years to receive the full amount.

Mark Gurman reports:

“Employees see the pay bumps as a direct response to a recent uptick in recruiting from startups. Still, the bonuses are a fraction of what OpenAI and others are offering. In some cases, those companies are paying individual Apple engineers roughly $1 million in stock annually to jump ship.

“While the bonuses are unusual, it’s not the first time Apple has taken such a step. During poaching concerns three years ago, the company handed out similar packages, Bloomberg News reported at the time.”

One of the most notable departures from Apple in recent years was Tang Tan, who departed in 2023. Tan, who held the title of VP of product design at Apple, now works as OpenAI’s chief hardware officer. That OpenAI group has since poached “several dozen Apple engineers,” according to Bloomberg.

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