Apple is preparing to expand the roles of some top executives in response to the pending departure of longtime Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, Bloomberg reported.
Services chief Eddy Cue will gain supervision over Apple’s health and fitness teams, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the moves haven’t been announced. Craig Federighi, head of software engineering, will now oversee the Apple Watch operating system, they said.
The executives each have decades of experience at Apple, where they’ve steadily gained influence and helped launch some of the company’s biggest offerings. Williams, meanwhile, is stepping down at the end of this year after serving as COO since 2015.
Since announcing his retirement plans in July, Williams has transferred oversight of the company’s supply chain, operations, AppleCare customer support and its work in China to new operating chief Sabih Khan.
The move to put Cue in charge of Apple’s health efforts comes ahead of the planned launch of a new subscription service dubbed Health+. It also stems from a desire to combine the company’s health and fitness work under one roof.
The health and fitness groups, managed by Sumbul Desai and Jay Blahnik, respectively, had long reported to Williams. Under the new structure, the teams will be consolidated under Desai, with Cue serving as her boss. Blahnik will report to Desai, the people said.
Federighi, well known to Apple fans for his splashy appearances in company presentations, will now oversee watchOS. It marks the second expansion of duties for the executive this year. He previously took charge of the Siri voice assistant and visionOS, the operating system for the Vision Pro headset.
John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware, is gaining some additional power as well. He will assume sole control of Apple Watch hardware engineering. Though that team already reported to him, Williams had overseen new versions of the smartwatch — a product he helped launch a decade ago.
Williams also led Apple’s hardware and software design teams. The company previously announced that those groups, managed by Molly Anderson and Alan Dye, respectively, will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook once Williams departs.
More executive changes are on the horizon at Apple, Bloomberg News has reported. The company is searching for a replacement for John Giannandrea, its artificial intelligence chief. And Lisa Jackson, head of environment and government affairs, is considering retirement.
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