Apple CEO Ternus Plans Engineering Overhaul, Faster Product Launches

Apple chief executive John Ternus is considering a broad restructuring of the iPhone maker to sharpen its engineering focus and release products more frequently, Bloomberg reported. Early ideas include abandoning the traditional spring and autumn launch cycle and removing some middle-management layers to bring engineers closer to top executives.

Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran who succeeded Tim Cook this autumn, has signaled internally that the company must move faster and become more experimental to stay competitive in the artificial intelligence era. Cost-cutting efforts are already underway while Ternus also seeks new revenue streams and ways to extract more value from existing products.

“Apple needs to launch products faster and become more experimental to stay competitive in the AI era.”

The first concrete staffing change involves engineering programme managers in the hardware division. Several managers and roughly half a dozen directors have been dismissed from their current posts and given weeks to find other internal roles or face layoffs later this year, according to Bloomberg. The changes are limited to hardware engineering and do not reflect a company-wide reduction target.

Apple has a heavy product slate planned for next year, including AirPods with embedded cameras, its first smart glasses, and a redesigned iPhone to mark the device's 20th anniversary. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.