Apple’s Key Decision-Makers Behind the New Mixed-Reality Headset

Gunnar Larson g at xny.io
Sun May 21 14:25:05 PDT 2023


Apple’s Key Decision-Makers Behind the New Mixed-Reality Headset
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-21/the-key-apple-aapl-executives-behind-the-mixed-reality-headset-coming-at-wwdc-lhxh0lok


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?
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