Evans Hankeywho is still the head of industrial design at Apple, will leave the company, according to reports Bloomberg. In 2019, the aforementioned took the reins of a fundamental department for the company, the same one that Jony Ive led for so many years. Though will remain in office for the next six monthshis short tenure has been quite surprising.
According to the aforementioned medium, those from Cupertino, At the moment, they have not named any replacement. However, they have half a year ahead of them to calmly reflect on such an important decision. We must remember that design has always been a fundamental section —sometimes a priority— of Apple products. Finding the right person to lead the team is sure to become a pre-eminent analysis within the company.
That yes, from Apple they already warn that their industrial design team is made up of very talented people; implying, first, that there is plenty of capacity in the team to continue developing first class products. On the other hand, finding a suitable substitute will not be too complicated a job. The company, for his position, thanked Evans Hankey for his work in his statement:
“Apple’s design team brings together creative experts from around the world and across many disciplines to imagine products that are undeniably Apple. The senior team has strong leaders with decades of experience. Evans plans to stay on while we work through the transition, and we’d like to Thank you for your leadership and contributions.”
Manzana
Now Mark Gurman of Bloombergalso poses a possible somewhat negative scenario after Hankey’s departure. It is not ruled out that the product development schedule will be affected. After all, Apple is a company that plans and makes decisions for the long term, so Hankey must have been involved in products that were still a long way from launch. Without it, those devices will probably have to wait a little longer.
Likewise, the question also arises: will the replacement share the same vision of Hankey in relation to how Apple products should be seen? Maybe not. In the recent past it has been evident that, After Jony Ive’s departure, Apple’s industrial design team began making decisions that in many cases prioritize functionality over design. look.
The best example is the latest generation MacBook Pro (2021). These brought back the essential ports for the professional sector – such as HDMI or the SD card reader -, and that had been eliminated from the laptop in 2016 because there was simply not enough space to place them in its ultra-slim chassis. The new computers, of course, had to increase their thickness to integrate them again.
Of course, to know the true impact of Evans Hankey’s departure from Apple, and later to know the vision of his replacement, it will take several years.