Yet Another Top-Level Apple Executive May Soon Exit The Company
Apple's top hardware executive, Johny Srouji, is reportedly considering leaving the company, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Srouji is currently Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies — a position that makes him one of the more impactful and important employees at the company. Under Srouji's leadership, Apple has consistently rolled out industry-leading chip designs. On Apple's leadership page, Apple notes that Srouji "developed leading breakthrough custom chips and hardware technologies, including Apple silicon, batteries, cameras, storage controllers, sensors, displays, and other critical technologies across Apple's entire product line." According to the report, Srouji recently told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he's contemplating leaving Apple for another company.
While previous executive departures haven't impacted Apple in a discernible way, Srouji's departure would be a huge loss. If anything, it's hard to overstate how important Srouji is to Apple. Every chip that powers Apple's hardware comes from Srouji's team. Not only that, but Apple's in-house processors — from the M-series chips on the Mac to the A19 Pro chips on the iPhone 17 Pro — help differentiate the company's products from a crowded field of rivals. Srouji is essentially the main architect behind Apple's wildly successful hardware.
Apple's executive team is in a state of transition
What makes word of Srouji's potential departure all the more alarming is that he's reportedly interested in working elsewhere. This may suggest that something is going on behind the scenes at Apple. Is Srouji perhaps interested in leaving due to rumors of Tim Cook stepping down as Apple's CEO in 2026? Is it possible that Srouji wants to leave because of some internal conflict with John Ternus — the person reportedly in line to succeed Cook? Perhaps Srouji simply believes that his work at Apple is done and he's looking for a more exciting endeavor. At this point, all we have is pure speculation. That said, the fact that several Apple executives are leaving the company is certainly setting off an alarm.
Just last week, for example, Meta poached Alan Dye, Apple's top design executive. While some have criticized Dye's tenure at Apple, the same can't be said for Srouji. If anything, his work has been widely praised across the entire industry. Aside from Dye, Apple's AI chief John Giannandrea also stepped down recently, along with several other top AI executives and researchers. While it's routine for employees to retire or move on to other ventures, the sheer number of high-level Apple departures in recent months is unprecedented.