Apple is losing one of its most senior hardware leaders as Paul Meade, the vice president in charge of the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset and the company’s AI-powered smart glasses program, prepares to join OpenAI.
According to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman, Meade is set to leave Apple by next week and will then start at OpenAI’s hardware unit, where he will help develop the AI company’s upcoming family of consumer devices.
The move continues a wave of high-profile departures from Apple to AI-focused rivals. Meade will join several former Apple colleagues at OpenAI, including legendary designer Jony Ive and executives Tang Tan and Evans Hankey. The trio founded the AI hardware startup “io,” which OpenAI acquired for $6.5 billion in 2025.
Longtime Apple Leader
Meade has been a respected engineering executive at Apple for more than 15 years. He joined the company in 2010 as a key manager on the iPad team, later became head of iPhone program management in 2012, and moved to the Vision Products Group in 2017. He took over all hardware engineering for the group in 2019.
Under his leadership, the team developed the Vision Pro, which Apple once positioned as its next major computing platform after the iPhone, but has so far been a resounding flop. Meade’s group has also led development of Apple’s planned display-free smart glasses, expected to launch next year as a more affordable entry into AI wearables and a direct competitor to Meta’s devices.
The Vision Products Group is additionally responsible for longer-term augmented-reality glasses targeted for the end of the decade, as well as other AI-related wearables.
Succession and Context
Many of Meade’s responsibilities will be assumed by his longtime deputy, Fletcher Rothkopf, who currently leads product design for the Vision Pro and smart glasses efforts.
Gurman reported that Meade’s departure is linked to upcoming changes in Apple’s hardware engineering organization tied to John Ternus’s expected promotion to chief executive, succeeding Tim Cook. Some vice presidents reportedly felt sidelined by the restructuring.
Apple and OpenAI declined to comment on the personnel move. Apple shares pared some gains following the news.
OpenAI’s Hardware Ambitions
At OpenAI, Meade will contribute to the company’s aggressive push into hardware. OpenAI has said it is developing “a new family of products” and is already working on devices such as a smart speaker with a camera (expected in early 2027) and future smart glasses. The company has described its hardware vision as creating calmer, more peaceful AI experiences compared with today’s smartphones.
The departure underscores the intense competition for top hardware talent as both Apple and OpenAI race to define the next era of personal computing — one centered on spatial computing, AI wearables, and intelligent devices.
MacDailyNews Take: Buh-bye.
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.