Longtime Industrial Designer Leaving Apple's Design Team

[MacRumors]

Longtime industrial designer Christopher Stringer, who has been with Apple for 21 years, is leaving the company, reports The Information.

Stringer, who is part of Jony Ive's industrial design team and had a hand in designing the iPhone, notably testified in the ongoing Samsung v. Apple legal battle back in 2012. As he's been working alongside Ive for many years, Stringer has had a hand in designing everything from the iPhone and iPad to the Mac over the last 20 years.

Ive's industrial design team is notoriously private, so little else is known about Stringer, or where he might be going after Apple. His departure comes nearly two years after Jony Ive took on the role of Chief Design Officer and took a step back from the day-to-day management of the company's design team, a task that now falls to Richard Howarth.

Stringer is the second longtime Apple designer to have left Ive's team over the course of the last year. Daniel Coster, who was also on the team for more than 20 years, left in April of 2016 to join GoPro.

Despite the changes to the industrial design team, and some mid-2016 rumors suggesting Jony Ive might be on his way out, Apple's design chief is said to be as devoted and involved as ever.

Article Link: Longtime Industrial Designer Leaving Apple's Design Team

 

[MrX8503]

20 years. wow. That's a shame to lose such an experienced designer. I'm suprised the other designer left Apple for GoPro.

 

[TheTruth101]

To be in a place that is stuck, with pretentious greedy management and being a person with a lot of creativity and ambitious... is like being dead a live. Time to go.

 

[BMcCoy]

Stringer: "Look at what I have created...."

Cook: "what does it cost?"

Stringer: "... see ya later"

 

[now i see it]

Working anywhere for 20 years sucks. Good for him. There's more to life than thinner, glue & solder.

 

[lamunkya]

Tesla

 

[Plutonius]

I wonder if they put Stringer on the Mac Pro re-design team ? If so, it was a good decision to leave .

 

[surfingarbo]

But someone JUST FINISHED setting up his new desk at Apple Park. Awh man!

 

[TallGuyGT]

Perhaps he was tired of having to do his work on a 2013 Mac Pro, and went to work for a company which provides its employees with more up-to-date tools!

 

[KittyKatta]

I was hoping it was Jony Ive

 

[WannaGoMac]

I heard he's why everything is so thin. I am super excited for 2-3mm more battery space in the new "fat" devices with 2x the battery life!

 

[doelcm82]

Stringer: "Look at what I have created...."

Cook: "what does it cost?"

Stringer: "... see ya later"

Cook: "what's for dinner, Grandpa?"

Stringer: "there's a hole in my sock"

Cook: "well, excuuuuse me!"

 

[Asarien]

Ive's design team is so secret, people don't know that they've been releasing newly upgraded Mac models unbeknownst to their customers, this entire time.

 

[thekeyring]

Stringer: "Look at what I have created...."

Cook: "what does it cost?"

Stringer: "... see ya later"

To be in a place that is stuck, with pretentious greedy management and being a person with a lot of creativity and ambitious... is like being dead a live. Time to go.

Do you really think Steve did such a bad job picking his executive team?

He picks Tim to replace him, and while you might argue that was a one-off mistake, you also think the entire rest of the executive team would sit by and let a CEO go rogue? Or perhaps Steve was wrong when he picked the entire team? That his "best and closest friend" Jony Ive wouldn't have had more to say if Tim was focusing only on profits?

Let's ask Scott Forstall what he thinks.

Forstall had no bad words for the company, saying he was "so proud of the thousands of people I worked with [at Apple] and with whom I remain friends," and adding that "I am delighted that they continue to turn out great and beloved products."

From: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/11/8588657/former-apple-vp-scott-forstall-first-interview

 

[Dilster3k]

Yeah no surprise, at their rate I'd probably leave too... No Mac updates to work on for years and same iPhone design 3 years in, I'd get fed up too.

 

[Mactendo]

No one would be interested working on a product with the same design 4 years in a row.

 

[desmond2046]

I consider this as good news

 

[farewelwilliams]

Stringer: "Wait...why did we release that new iPad?"

 

[Millah]

Cynics will see this as a bad sign for Apple. But maybe it's as simple as the guy is burnt out and never needs to work again for the rest of his life. Or maybe there was some jealousy with Richard Howarths promotion instead of him. Stringer has definitely been a key part of Apples design team, so it's really unfortunate to see him go. He was the least geeky looking guy on the team, I always imagined him being the "cool" part of Apple design. But key word is team. There's many other talented designers still committed there, and it might actually be a good thing introducing fresh minds into that exclusive club.

The other guy who left for GoPro hasn't really done anything impressive over there, so I'm not really concerned about individuals. The total is greater than the sum of its parts. That team chemistry, as well as the internal culture and environment, are the biggest contributors, not any one individual.

 

[MrX8503]

No one would be interested working on a product with the same design 4 years in a row.

3 years.

Also an industrial designer wouldn't be worth his/her salt if he/she only cared about the exterior.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

He wanted something new.

 

[paulcons]

While I take issue with some of the hardware design changes that should not have been a priority, putting Ivie in charge of software was a terrible, terrible decision.

 

[LordVic]

Do you really think Steve did such a bad job picking his executive team?

To be perfectly fair and honest? Based on hind site?

Yes, I think he picked a crappy team. Without Steve job's to lead the team and be the guy who said "No" or "yes" and controlled the people under him, the current leadership team seems to be very stuck in a mindset that They are always right, because they've been right in the past. I think many of the people he picked for the team, without him directing them, are pathetically lost.

This is Hubris. The current executive team seems very VERY full of Hubris lately.

 

[A MacBook lover]

To be perfectly fair and honest? Based on hind site?

Yes, I think he picked a crappy team. Without Steve job's to lead the team and be the guy who said "No" or "yes" and controlled the people under him, the current leadership team seems to be very stuck in a mindset that They are always right, because they've been right in the past. I think many of the people he picked for the team, without him directing them, are pathetically lost.

This is Hubris. The current executive team seems very VERY full of Hubris lately.

Apple continues to make great products. Siri could get better but I'm pretty happy versus what the competition is offering.

That being said, why change? Honestly I think you have no idea what your talking about.

 

[MRrainer]

Burned-out from having to come up with iThings designs?
Kidding - all the best for the future, Mr. Stringer (had to think of the Ms. Marple sidekick) ;-)