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Apple’s longest-serving designer and part of the original Jony Ive team, Bart Andre, has just told colleagues he is about to retire. Bart has been with the company for over three decades and has been part of many iconic Apple designs. Being the last remaining member of the Jony Ive team, Bart’s departure marks a crucial shift at Apple. With all of the original design team having moved on, Apple now relies on fresh talent. There also seems to be “unrest” within the design team due to the threat of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.
Bart Andre had been around since the Jony Ive era
Jony Ive was a big part of helping Apple’s products gain the sleek looks they’re known for today. He led a team of designers that lived and breathed Apple. Jony Ive and his team took Apple in a certain direction and then helped maintain that status. Ive’s departure in 2019 led many people to wonder how much longer Apple’s devices would look like they do today.
Bart Andre has been part of this legendary team for over 30 years. He’s been around to see the company branch out into MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, iPods, and more. The Ive team’s presence throughout this time helped Apple remain consistent with its looks. With Bart’s retirement, Apple’s entire design team is left to its own devices, and the documentation left behind by the Ive team.
Unrest inside the design team
According to the Bloomberg report, there’s been unrest within the design team over recent company decisions. Looming layoffs, cost-cutting measures, and an overall culture of demanding immediate profit don’t sit right with the team. Bloomberg’s sources say this doesn’t let the team experiment like it once could.
“Cost-cutting measures also have added to the unrest, they said. Under Ive, the team embarked on exploratory projects that didn’t necessarily have an immediate payoff – something that’s been reigned in.”
Apple has recently lost many long serving members
Bart and Ive’s departures aren’t the first of their kind in recent years. The company has been losing long-serving members left, right, and center for a few years now. This is understandable, of course, as most of these people have been with the company for decades. Nevertheless, their loss has perhaps irreversibly shifted the course of Apple going forward. Major retirements from Apple include the Chief Product Designer Tang Tan and inventor Steve Hotelling.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has claimed layoffs are a last resort, and the company seems to have avoided major ones. However, how viable this is and how long it lasts remains to be seen as other tech giants continue to lay off thousands with impunity.