That list includes Scott Forstall, who Jobs
brought to Apple from NeXT when Apple
bought it in 1997. Despite his strong influence
on various Apple projects, including the Safari
web browser, Mac OS X’s Aqua interface and
the early iPhone and iPad software, Forstall left
in 2012. It wasn’t the most ceremonious exit,
coming after the debacle that was the launch of
the botched Apple Maps.
Four years earlier, Tony Fadell, who had been
instrumental in developing the iPod, left Apple,
having served as senior vice president of the
company’s iPod division and before then, head
of Apple’s iPod & Special Projects Group. Today,
the iPod itself is a fading memory, the product
line having largely been discontinued in 2017;
the iPod Touch remains the only iPod variant still
sold by Apple.
Easily the highest-profile loss among Apple’s
staff in recent years has, of course, been that
of Steve Jobs himself. Although the Wall Street
Journal alleges that Ive became disillusioned
with Cook’s approach to product development
in comparison to Jobs’ style, there’s a good
reason why Apple has largely continued to grow
and grow since Jobs’ death: he laid very strong
foundations for his successor. Apple can now
benefit from the similarly strong foundations left
by Ive, too.
by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan