Apple announced Monday that Dan Riccio, head of long-term hardware engineering, will step down as vice president of engineering as he takes on a “new project” for the tech giant.
Riccio will leave his current position as vice president of hardware engineering, but will remain a direct reporter to CEO Tim Cook. John Ternus will now lead Apple’s Hardware Engineering organization as a member of the executive team.
“All the innovations that Dan has helped Apple bring to life have made us a better and more innovative company, and we’re excited to continue to be part of the team,” Cook said. “John’s deep experience and extensive experience make him a bold and visionary leader in our hardware engineering teams. I want to congratulate you both on these exciting new steps and I look forward to many other innovations that will help the world. ”
Riccio joined Apple in 1998 as vice president of Product Design and rose to the ranks to oversee the first iPad as vice president of hardware engineering for the iPad in 2010. In 2012, Riccio and his executive Craig Federighi was promoted to vice president, the former replacing the outgoing head of hardware, Bob Mansfield, as deputy vice president of hardware.
“Working at Apple has been my lifelong opportunity, dedicating myself to making the best products in the world with the most talented people imaginable,” Riccio said in a prepared statement. “After 23 years leading our Product Design or Hardware Engineering teams, culminating in our year of greatest and most ambitious products, it is the right time to make a change. Then I am looking forward to doing what I do best. ‘I like it, focusing on all of my time and energy at Apple in creating something new and wonderful that I couldn’t be more excited about.’
Riccio’s transition to a vice president role is curiously reminiscent of Mansfield’s move in 2012. At the time, Mansfield was scheduled to retire, but agreed to stay with limited capacity to advise Cook on “future products”. Four years later, it was reported that Mansfield was leading the “Apple Car” project after his former boss, Steve Zadesky, left Apple under strained relations. Now the effort is led by the head of AI and Siri, John Giannandrea.
Executive remodeling comes amid reports that the development of a rumored AR “Apple Glass” headset has stalled.
John Ternus, a veteran of Apple and current vice president of hardware hardware, holds the position of Riccio. A member of Apple’s product design team since 2001, Ternus oversaw hardware engineering efforts on products, including first-generation AirPods and each generation iPad. More recently, Ternus featured prominently in masterful presentations detailing the transition from the Mac to Apple Silicon.