Apple's Mixed Reality Headset: Executive Power Struggles and Design Team Objections

Source: 9to5Mac Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams have reportedly ignored the objections of the company's design team and pushed ahead with the development of a new mixed-reality headset, despite concerns that the technology was not yet ready. The Financial Times report suggests that the company's once-influential industrial design team is losing agency, as a result of executive departures and other factors, which have led to the team reporting to the company's operations chief instead of a top-level design executive. One significant departure from the design team was that of Evans Hankey, who succeeded famed design chief Jony Ive. When Hankey left, Apple leadership either decided against or was unable to fill her role, and the design team ended up reporting into Jeff Williams. The report notes that Hankey's departure led to other departures within the design group, and since the company first started working on the mixed-reality headset in 2016, members of the design team attempted to discourage Cook and the rest of Apple's leadership from moving forward until the technology was more advanced. However, Cook and Williams overruled them, believing it was time to move forward with the first iteration of the device. According to the Financial Times, Cook's desire to secure a legacy for his time as CEO before his current shares finish vesting in 2027 is a key driver of the push forward with mixed reality over some designers' objections. However, there may be other factors at play. Cook and Williams may wish to release a more specialized headset this year to attract creator and developer interest and get a head start on development resources before a more mass-market product becomes available down the line. Waiting until the underlying technologies have reached the ideal state for a consumer breakthrough could mean ceding the future of mixed reality to companies like Meta that are already shipping products and building out an ecosystem. While the report isn't detailed enough to provide a nuanced picture of what's going on inside the company, it does suggest a shift in power, where the design team once had more say in the company's direction. The Financial Times cites two people familiar with Apple's decision-making as well as a former Apple engineer, though it is unclear if that source is one of those two people or an additional source. Source: Brandsynario According to a variety of reports over the past few months, Apple is gearing up to release some form of mixed-reality headset by the end of this year. If it is indeed intended to be an early stab at attracting developer interest, it may make sense to debut the device and its associated software platform at the company's annual developer conference, which is likely to take place this June. It's worth noting that this isn't the first time reports have suggested internal conflict over Apple's mixed-reality headset. Last year, The Information ran a similar story that specifically mentioned Jony Ive as a particularly vocal advocate for keeping the device to a small, standalone form factor, in contrast to the device expected to ship this year, which some reports have claimed will come with a battery pack attached with a wire. Also Read: OnePlus CEO Confirms Second Half of 2023 for Release Apple's CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams have reportedly disregarded the concerns of the company's design team and pushed ahead with the development of a new mixed-reality headset. The report suggests a shift in power, where the design team once had more say in the company's direction, and that Cook's desire to secure a legacy for his time as CEO may be a key driver of the push forward with mixed reality. However, there may be other factors at play, such as the need to attract creator and developer interest and get a head start on development resources. Reports suggest that Apple is gearing up to release some form of mixed-reality headset by the end of this year, with the company's annual developer conference a likely venue for its debut.