Apple today announced that Bob Mansfield, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will retire and the role will be transitioned to Dan Riccio, Apple’s vice president of iPad Hardware Engineering, over several months. The entire hardware engineering team will continue to report to Mansfield until his departure.
“Bob has been an instrumental part of our executive team, leading the hardware engineering organization and overseeing the team that has delivered dozens of breakthrough products over the years,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “We are very sad to have him leave and hope he enjoys every day of his retirement.”
“Dan has been one of Bob’s key lieutenants for a very long time and is very well respected within Apple and by the industry,” added Cook. “Our hardware engineering team is the best engineering team on earth and will not miss a beat during the transition.”
As senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, Mansfield has led Mac hardware engineering since 2005, iPhone and iPod hardware engineering since 2010, and iPad hardware engineering since its inception. Mansfield joined Apple in 1999 when Apple acquired Raycer Graphics, where he was vice president of Engineering. Mansfield earned a BSEE degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1982.
Riccio currently serves as vice president of iPad Hardware Engineering and has been instrumental in all of Apple’s iPad products since the first generation iPad. Riccio joined Apple in 1998 as vice president of Product Design and has been a key contributor to most of Apple’s hardware over his career. Dan earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1986.
Source: Apple Inc.
MacDailyNews Take: Job very well down and all the best, Mr. Mansfield! Here’s to a long and happy retirement! Good luck, as well, to Mr. Riccio in your new position!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Thank you Mr. Mansfield for all your years of service. This brings up a question. As Senior Execs leave or retire and new people join Apple, do you think in 10-15-20 years we could have a CEO who didn’t even know Steve Jobs?
When you compare Mac hardware against Dell, HP, etc, it’s clear that Mr Mansfield is a true craftsman that advanced the state of the art significantly. Well done.
MDN you made a big spelling mistake!
Anyone know how old Bob is? Looks like he is around 40.
He’s 50.
Burnt out at 50. No-one out lives Steve at Apple.
But Mansfield will hardly retire, contrary to what MDN comment suggests. After some time, he will probably join other company.
I always thought Bob Mansfield integrated well with Steve’s key notes, and he held a very positive ethos in my mine. Changing guard is not a comfortable thing.
And Apple has never been about comfort, but all about change.
Cheers Bob!
Cue the “apple losing vital staff” stories. Doom and gloom to follow.
He is vital, don’t make the mistake and lump him with the rest or underestimate his contributions. I count him above J. Ive, FWIW.
I reiterate MDNs’ words. However, how does a guy with a degree in Mechanical Engineering take over a hardware design role of what is more Electrical than Mechanical? Also, isn’t the mechanical part more of a Jony Ive (is that how his name is spelt) thing? Just a bit puzzled, maybe someone can shed some light.
Of course you are correct. The only learning that counts occurs in universities. Nobody can possibly learn anything once they leave the classroom. Just look at Apple’s former CEO…er, nevermind.
One thing that neither the press release or the MDN take notes is that Bob was the executive that Steve turned to when the iPhone 4 antenna issue exploded. In a not very well masked transfer of responsibility, the iPhone engineering was moved over to Bob, who had previously overseen Mac development. Bob, soon after, became head of all hardware development, regardless of platform.
This guy is an engineer’s engineer. He’ll be missed.
good job, and will be missed. Even though he kinda looks like Chris Farley!
Chris Farley is missed too.
Bob Mansfield was always the exec in Apple promotion videos who looked like “The Guy in Charge of Apple Hardware Guts” (even if there were no names and titles shown). 😉
He must be very talented, to make all the components fit so efficiently and precisely inside the “space” defined and demanded by Ive and Jobs. I’ll bet it was quite stressful…
Good for him to be retiring at 50. Somehow I think he may end up wanting to do something else after a few years.
Paul don’t let college degrees throw you. Mechanical, Electrical… doesn’t matter. I worked in that industry with an electronics degree and after a few years, it’s your work experience that matters, not your school degree. What you learn in school just gets you started. What you learn on the job is far, far more important. My guess is all of Apple’s executive managers are heavy hitters. BTW, I give Bob a year before he’s hired by a competing company or begins his own company. After a decade at Apple, I doubt he can just ‘turn it off’ like that.