Evans Hankey, the person in charge of how Apple’s various products like the iPhone and the Mac look and feel, has reportedly been leaving the company. Hankey is Apple’s Industrial design vice president, but despite her high position, it has been reported that she will only remain at Apple for another six months.
Evans began her role as Apple’s hardware design lead three years ago because the previous chief designer, Jony Ive, left the company to pursue his projects and started a design firm. As for now, there has been no replacement who will replace her, nor do we know what she plans on doing next. It’s been reported that news of her departure was announced earlier this week internally at Apple. An Apple spokesperson was reported as stating:
The senior design team has strong leaders with decades of experience. Evans plans to stay on as we work through the transition, and we’d like to thank her for her leadership and contributions.
Apple Spokesperson
It’s important to note that Hankey’s departure is big news for the company, as she oversaw the design of all of Apple’s products, their looks, their materials, and even the design of the box the iPhone was shipped in.
Since Jony Ive’s departure, Hankeyand Vice President of Human Interface Alan Dye has reported directly to Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO. While she may be leaving, Dye has been reported to be staying at Apple. Another essential detail to note is that Gary Butcher has been rumored to return to the company after he left to work at Airbnb. It is currently unknown if he will go back to being a designer in the human interface division of Apple or not.