As one of the most risky and delay-prone projects in Apple’s history nears its climax in the form of a spectacular launch, leader Mark Gurman named 13 employees who have played the most critical role in obstetrically the problematic mixed reality headset. The verbosity of the project is indicated by the fact that one of the 13 no longer works at Apple, and the second is expected to retire shortly after its release. But all of them have reportedly left their mark on the device, which is expected to be called the Reality Pro.
In the latest issue of his regular Power On newsletter, Gurman claims that thousands of employees are currently working on the headset, including executives, marketers, and – the latter mentioned in what seems like an ominous reflection of priorities – engineers. But the following 13 lucky ones “were especially important to the seven-year work.”
- Mike Rockwell: Led the development of the headset since 2016.
- Jeff Williams: Chief Operating Officer and eventual successor to Tim Cook. The driving force behind this project.
- Dan Riccio: The headset is expected to retire “not too long” after the headset is released, so this will be a legacy qualifier.
- Paul Meade: Handles the development of headset hardware.
- Jony Ive: Participated in the project from the very beginning, but finally broke off relations with Apple last summer.
- Greg Joswiak: Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, “and one of the most vocal headset proponents on Apple’s executive team.”
- Phil Schiller: Fellow Apple. Played for the gaming direction.
- Frank Casanova: Responsible for the marketing of this project.
- Kim Forrat: Lead Headset Engineering Program Manager.
- Jeff Norris: former NASA employee where he used virtual reality to control the spacecraft.
- Johnny Srouji: Senior Vice President of Hardware Technology and Apple chip guru. It is expected that the headset will appear responsible for the processor M2.
- Shannon Gans: Responsible for headset content.
- Jeff Stahl: Responsible for the xrOS operating system and other software that will run on the headset.
All of this, while exciting in terms of corporate operations and impressive as a demonstration of an insider’s knowledge of Apple’s inner workings, may seem like a bit of “inside baseball” to readers. Who cares which executive made the decision, as long as the decision was the right one? Who cares about the staff behind the product if we admire it?
Of course, we don’t need to know the names of key Apple executives to use the company’s products. But if the headset disappoints – and there is a moderate risk that it will – then team structure is likely to be a key factor in explaining why this happened.
Tim Cook’s Apple and Steve Jobs’ Apple have a lot in common, but they are very different in where they take power. Under Jobs, Jony Quince’s design studio ruled the roost, and his team was encouraged to largely ignore issues of cost and practicality and simply focus on building the very best products they could. Under Cook, a logistics specialist through and through, operations hold the most power, and the design team has become fragmented, somewhat sidelined, and abandoned in this project.
The fact that designers aren’t even mentioned on Gurman’s resume of the thousands of employees working on the headset, and that the list of 13 key players is dominated by managers, marketers, and hardware or software specialists (while the most prominent designer on the list is almost unaffiliated with the company since 2019) may or may not be a reflection of project priorities. But it does suggest that the voices of people who think current technology will lead to a bulky and heavy product that won’t have good battery life haven’t been widely publicized.
For the latest news and rumors about this important product release, check out our regularly updated Apple Headset Super Guide.