Hiring

Apple releases diversity report: 55% of US employees are white, 70% male

Cody Lee ∙ August 12, 2014

As promised, Apple has released a report on the diversity of its workforce today. The iPad maker is the latest tech firm to post such data in response to the growing debate on whether or not women and minorities are underrepresented in Silicon Valley.

Accompanying Apple's report is a letter from Tim Cook, who says he's not happy with the numbers, but says the company is making progress. Of its employees here in the US, 55% are white, and around the world, 7 out of every 10 of its employees are male...

Judge rejects $324 million anti-poaching settlement from Apple and others

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

In 2011, tech employees levied a class action anti-poaching lawsuit against Apple, Google, and other companies. The suit covered more than 60,000 workers, who claimed the firms conspired to keep their salaries lower by entering in a non-poach agreement with one another.

It was reported in April that Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe had reached a settlement for $324 million, but apparently Judge Lucy Koh (yes, that Judge Koh) didn't like that number. Judge Koh officially rejected the proposed offer today, saying that it needed to be higher...

Susan Wagner joins Apple’s board of directors as Bill Campbell retires

Cody Lee ∙ July 17, 2014

Apple announced this afternoon that Susan Wagner, a founding parter of asset-managment firm BlackRock, has been elected to its board of directors. She is considered a pioneer in the financial industry, and has been named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.

Wagner joins the Cupertino company's board as long-time member Bill Campbell has decided to leave it. Alongside Sue's appointment, Apple also announced today that Bill Wagner, who has been on the Mac-maker's board of directors for 17 years (longest serving member), is retiring this year...

Apple picks up two engineers from Nike’s FuelBand team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

A few months ago, word got out that Nike was significantly downsizing its FuelBand team. The company's CEO later confirmed the move, saying that it would be transitioning the focus of its FuelBand project from hardware to software.

The news sparked speculation that the strategy shift had something to do with Apple's rumored wearable, and today more fuel was added to that fire. Apparently the iPad-maker has added two ex-FuelBand engineers to its iWatch team...

Apple loses senior Maps engineer Chris Blumenberg for Uber

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple's senior engineering manager with the Maps team is leaving the company for Uber, the popular ride-sharing service founded in 2009.

Chris Blumenberg, who long worked on Maps for iOS and OS X and managed Apple's Maps Apps and Frameworks teams, will be taking a position at Uber, according to a report by The Information.

The departure comes as Apple appears to be ramping up hiring to overhaul the Maps backend.

More importantly, this development reaches us amid talk of internal politics, personal issues and managerial incompetencies allegedly causing significant Maps delays, as evidenced by the lack of major iOS 8 Maps announcements at WWDC...

Apple hiring software engineers to help ‘overhaul’ Maps backend

Cody Lee ∙ July 2, 2014

According to a pair of new job listings, Apple is looking for folks to help with a major rewrite of its Maps app programming interface. The listings, which were posted yesterday, call for software engineers to aid the company in a major overhaul of its Maps API.

The job descriptions call for cross-functional leaders to join the Apple Maps API team, which is responsible for the "doorway" to all systems powering the Maps service. The company says it has "big plans" for the API, and is overhauling things front-to-back...

Apple hires head software engineer from Atlas Wearables, likely to work on the iWatch

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple is believed to have an interesting pipeline of new products planned for the second half of this year, including new Macs, iPhones and its first wearable device. It has been speculated over the past several months that the company is gearing up to launch the so-called "iWatch" in the fall, a smart watch that will double as a health and fitness tracker for managing your heart rate, calories, blood glucose levels and more…

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine to take on senior roles at Apple after Beats buyout

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 1, 2018

The Wall Street Journal added some new details to the Apple-Beats discussion last night, reporting that Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are likely to take on senior roles at the Cupertino company following the high profile acquisition.

Now, just what exactly they'll be doing at Apple is still unclear. It sounds like the positions are not going to be full time, with the pair commuting from Los Angeles—where Beats is headquartered—to Cupertino, and other places if necessary...

Nokia’s PureView camera expert joins Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Ari Partinen, Nokia's expert who worked on the Lumia PureView imaging technology has joined Apple, presumably to work on the iPhone's camera. According to a pair of tweets issued by Partinen himself, today marks his last day on the job.

A graduate of Helsinki University of Technology, Partinen was Lumia Photography Lead at the Finnish company and was instrumental in the development of the Nokia 808 PureView 41-megapixel sensor with unmatched low-light sensitivity...

Beats’ Jimmy Iovine in talks to join Apple as ‘special adviser’ to Tim Cook

Cody Lee ∙ May 8, 2014

Following up news this afternoon that Apple is in serious talks to acquire Beats, the New York Post is reporting that co-founder Jimmy Iovine may soon be joining the company. The Post says Iovine would serve as a 'special adviser,' and would report to Tim Cook on 'creative matters.'

Jimmy Iovine is a record and movie producer, as well as a very successful entrepreneur. He co-founded Interscope Records in the early 90's, which later became part of the Universal Music Group, and then Beats in 2006, which again is being rumored to soon be bought out by Apple...

Apple hiring ‘Buzz Marketing Manager’ to beef up its presence in Hollywood

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Historically, Apple has spent far less than Samsung and other competitors on stuff like marketing and advertising. Things like product placements and celebrity endorsements came easily for devices like the iPhone and iPad, due to their initial popularity and slight competition.

But competition has stiffened over the years, and with Samsung forking out millions of dollars to get its products into the hands of Lebron James and selfie-taking celebrities, Apple needs to step up its game. So it's looking for a new 'Buzz Marketing Manager' to give it a boost...

Expert in ear-worn vital signs monitoring joins Apple’s iWatch team

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

According to a source who spoke to MacRumors, Eric Winokur who does research at MIT's Medical Electronic Devices Realization Center will be joining Apple's wearables team in the coming weeks.

He's the latest in a string of high-profile hirings of experts with diverse interests in medical devices, sleep monitoring, wearable tech and fashion design.

This isn't talent Apple typically needs so these hirings serve as the strongest indication to date that the firm is assembling a star team to take on wearables.

And why precisely should you care about this particular hire? Read on as I lay out everything for you after the break...