Greg Christie, a veteran software designer for Apple, is leaving the company and Apple Senior Vice President Jony Ive will assume his duties as a vice president in Apple’s design department.
The team that was working under Christie and reporting directly to Senior Vice President Craig Federighi will now report to Ive.
9to5Mac this morning broke the news and TechCrunch later confirmed with Apple that Christie had for some time been planning his retirement for 2014.
But according to 9to5Mac’s sources, Christie’s departure stems from a rift between him and Ive over the design direction of Apple’s highly overhauled iOS 7. The latest iteration of iOS 7, which will relatively soon see its first major update, did away with the textures of Christie’s original iPhone vision in favor of Ive’s flatter, brighter look.
News of Christie’s departure comes as Apple and Samsung are firing up another trial over patent infringement. Among the several points of contention is an Apple claim that Samsung infringed on the company’s “Slide to Unlock” patent, a software feature Christie developed.
Filed Under: Devices
