Apple’s Key Decision-Makers Behind the New Mixed-Reality Headset https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-21/the-key-apple-aapl-exe... Apple is just a few weeks away from debuting its mixed-reality headset. This past week, I gave an in-depth look at the device’s development and features. Now, here’s a list of the key people involved in the project. Also: Apple pivots to clothing and details iOS 17’s new accessibility features, while ChatGPT comes to the iPhone. Last week in Power On: Apple begins testing speedy M3 chips as it pursues a Mac comeback. The Starters Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Park campus. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Apple Inc. has thousands of employees working on its upcoming mixed-reality headset, including executives, marketers and engineers. But there are a handful of people who have been especially critical to the seven-year-plus effort, which could be the company’s riskiest product launch in decades. That cadre includes top lieutenants to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and executives from the company’s Technology Development Group, the secretive team behind the device. There’s also someone on that list who is no longer at the company, but still casts a shadow over Apple’s product strategy. Here are the people who helped steer Apple into the world of mixed reality: Mike Rockwell: Rockwell is in charge of the product and has led its development since around 2016. He has helped craft the vision for the headset and the Technology Development Group itself, and oversees engineering of the product — from hardware to software to services. While there has been skepticism that the device will become a smash hit, some are optimistic simply because of Rockwell’s involvement. “He’s an utter genius and if anyone can get this done, it’s him,” said a person involved in the development who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. Look for Rockwell to be one of the faces of the headset when it’s introduced. Jeff Williams: Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, has been a driving force in the headset’s development for the last few years. He’s often seen as an heir apparent to Cook, and the current CEO has leaned on Williams to make the product a success. He’s in charge of Apple’s design team — including the human interface group that has conceptualized many of the device’s use cases and its overall vision. His group is also in charge of manufacturing the equipment itself, which is known internally as the most complex product Apple has ever designed. Jony Ive (left) and Dan Riccio (right). Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Dan Riccio: Riccio is Rockwell’s boss and the conduit between the Technology Development Group and Apple’s top executive team. He has worked exclusively on the headset over the past two years, following a stint as Apple’s hardware engineering chief. He’s likely to retire not too long after the headset’s release, and some involved in the development believe Riccio sees this as a legacy-defining product. He previously oversaw two other products — a full TV set and a car — that were either canceled or delayed. Paul Meade: Meade is Rockwell’s most senior lieutenant, handling hardware engineering for the device. He was one of the top hardware managers for the iPhone until 2017. That’s when he shifted his focus to the headset, tasked with turning the device into a product that Apple could actually ship. Before Apple, he led hardware development for the Sidekick and Microsoft Corp.’s short-lived line of Kin phones. Reporting to Meade are two more key figures: Fletcher Rothkopf and Ray Chang. Rothkopf, a former intern on the iPod team, was a senior design executive for the Apple Watch before being tapped by Rockwell as the lead designer of the headset. Chang leads the teams developing underlying electronics. Jony Ive: Though Ive had already moved to a part-time role at Apple by the early days of the headset, he was involved in the project since its inception. He pushed the company to avoid the isolating designs that plagued existing VR headsets. He also lobbied for a portable design — without an external base station — and an outward-facing display that would let you see the eyes of the user. And he wanted a smooth transition between virtual and augmented reality. (The device ultimately handled that task via an Apple Watch-inspired digital crown.) Ive works at his own design firm now, but he remained involved until about a year ago, when his contract with Apple ended. Apple marketing head Greg Joswiak. Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg Greg Joswiak: Joswiak is the company’s marketing chief and one of the biggest proponents of the headset on Apple’s executive team. The company is counting on him to sell consumers on why they’ll need a $3,000 device powered by nascent technology. He’s unlikely to use the same approach as Meta Platforms Inc., which markets its headsets by touting the metaverse. Joz, as he’s known within Apple, has said he’ll “never use” that term. So don’t expect such a mention on stage next month. Phil Schiller: Joswiak’s longtime boss isn’t as involved in future product development as he once was, but he’s responsible for Apple’s launch event for the device. It will be the very first time the world actually sees this long-discussed product, so the stakes are high. Schiller, known to have a VR car racing rig at home, pushed for the device to have a strong gaming component, particularly via third-party apps, an area he oversees. Frank Casanova: Casanova is the head of marketing for the headset. He earlier handled those duties for Apple’s AR efforts, back in 2019 when they were tied exclusively to the iPhone. He also previously ran iPhone partner marketing, which involved promoting the device with carriers. Earlier in his career at Apple, he helped lead QuickTime, the Mac media player. After he first joined the company in 1988, he led its old Advanced Projects Division under CEOs Gil Amelio and John Sculley. Kim Vorrath: Like Meade, Vorrath was brought to the headset project to help get the device to market. She’s the lead engineering program manager, or EPM, on the project, which means she’s responsible for making sure the team hits its deadlines. She’s also in charge of quality control. Vorrath came from the iOS and macOS side of Apple, where she spent years as the head program manager for its main operating systems. She was also key in developing the software for the original iPhone in the mid-2000s. Jeff Norris: Norris was an early hire on the project, joining in 2017 from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to help figure out the “killer app” for the device. At NASA, Norris used virtual reality to control spacecraft. The use case for the Apple product has been a little more nebulous, but he sees virtual videoconferencing, meditation and remote collaboration as key selling points. Others on the project remain concerned that there still isn’t a slam-dunk reason for consumers to use the headset. But that could change over time, as has happened with the Apple Watch. Apple chips chief Johny Srouji. Source: Apple Inc/Apple Inc. Johny Srouji: Srouji is Apple’s top chip executive, responsible for the M2 processor and other custom components inside the headset. Srouji has been skeptical of the endeavor, internally likening it to a science project. He argued that Apple’s resources would be better spent on new iPhone chips that could drive more revenue than the headset. In the end, Srouji’s team created some of its most advanced chips to date for the headset. But in one setback, Srouji’s group spent years developing a wireless chip for an abandoned feature that would connect the headset to a base station for extra power. Shannon Gans: Gans is in charge of mixed-reality content for the device and oversees dealings with Hollywood types. Gans ran an animation and virtual reality content studio for two decades before becoming an executive producer on an animated series for Jon Stewart at HBO. She joined Apple five years ago and leads a team of VR content experts. Gans is responsible for ensuring the device has enough material at launch and has worked with existing Apple TV+ partners, Walt Disney Co. and Dolby Laboratories Inc. to build content for the device. Geoff Stahl: Stahl is responsible for much of the software that will run on the headset, including the new xrOS operating system. He’s also involved in the development of the device’s applications and gaming engine. Unsurprisingly, Stahl was a senior graphics and gaming software manager at Apple prior to this role. Other key software players include Ranjit Desai, responsible for the operating system’s underpinnings, or firmware; Selim Ben Himane, in charge of the computer vision technology that allows the headset to understand its surroundings; and Yaniv Gur, the former head of engineering for iWork, as well as the Books, Notes and News apps. Of course, Cook is ultimately responsible for the product. The final version has veered from his initial vision, as I detailed in the latest edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, but now it’s up to him to get it over the line. After more than a decade running Apple, this device could ultimately either strengthen or undermine his legacy. The company is betting that it’s the former. Discuss the latest Power On and more in our new Discord channel. The Bench Jason Sudeikis attends Apple’s Ted Lasso Season Two event. Photographer: Valerie Macon/AFP Apple has another new product category up its sleeves, literally. The iPhone maker, in partnership with Nike Inc., plans to begin selling Ted Lasso merchandise for $35 and up on the Apple online store, I’m told. The move is designed to promote the hit TV+ show in what could be its last season. Nike has been selling the gear for months, but this will mark the first time that Apple offers clothing tied to TV+ content (it’s previously sold Apple-themed gear at its company store in Cupertino, California). The apparel will be available in early June, and retail stores will promote a QR code to point shoppers where to find it online. Apple is capitalizing on the breakout success of Ted Lasso, a rare mainstream hit for its three-year-old TV+ service. The show, which chronicles an American football coach’s efforts to lead an English soccer team, has cracked the Top 10 of Nielsen’s streaming ratings — a list typically dominated by Netflix Inc. and Disney. Apple’s new iOS 17 accessibility features. Source: Apple Apple debuts new accessibilities features for iOS 17. As the company typically does in the weeks leading up to WWDC, Apple marked Global Accessibility Awareness Day by unveiling new features coming to the iPhone and iPad. There’s a new Assistive Access option that changes the look of the iOS interface by simplifying apps and making buttons larger (you can see what it looks like on the iPad and iPhone above). Another feature allows you to point the camera at a physical button and have the device explain what it’s looking at. And there’s an option for typing text that you want spoken during a phone call. The feature generating the most buzz is called Personal Voice. This is geared toward users at risk of losing their voice and relies on machine learning to train the iPhone to speak the way they do. They can then use this voice for the text-to-speak feature. OpenAI ChatGPT app on Apple’s App Store. Photographer: akub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images ChatGPT arrives on the iPhone, months after Apple banned its employees from using it. The free app is now available on the App Store and looks quite similar to the web version. It’s coming soon to Android as well, according to OpenAI, the startup behind the service. By default, it uses the GPT-3.5 language model, but paying customers can gain access to GPT-4. Users will also need the premium version to get faster response times and previews of new features. The same day that the app launched, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has banned its employees from using ChatGPT at work, fearing that data inputted into the system could leak sensitive information. The reality is that ChatGPT, along with the rest of the new generative AI services, were banned at Apple several months ago (for use on work projects) and nothing new has happened on that front in a while. Samsung made a similar move a few weeks ago. The Schedule Final Cut Pro on the iPad. Source: Apple Final Cut Pro and Logic for iPad: May 23. A few weeks after the products were announced, Apple is releasing two new iPad pro apps on the App Store as $5-a-month subscriptions. The user interface of Final Cut Pro is designed to be touch-first (it works with a trackpad on a Magic Keyboard or similar device) and appears perfect for in-field edits or for high-end content creators. But, of course, it’s not going to replace the full functionality of Final Cut Pro on a Mac. It’s probably closer to iMovie back in the day, when it worked more smoothly. WWDC 2023: June 5 to June 9. The next Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off in-person at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino. The first day will be the big keynote address, followed by developer sessions online throughout the week. Apple is planning to debut its new headset at the event, alongside the accompanying xrOS software and fresh MacBooks. There also will be updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS. Post Game Q&A Q: What’s the latest on Apple’s MicroLED project, and will the company bring those screens to the iPhone? Q: How do you think the Apple headset will do? Q: Where do you think Apple stands with its artificial intelligence and machine learning efforts?