Apple is moving the visionOS team out of the Vision Products Group, with the VP who founded it, as part of a shake-up to get Siri back on track.
The Vision Products Group (VPG) is the division within Apple responsible for Apple Vision Pro and visionOS. It was founded in 2015 by Mike Rockwell, a former Dolby executive, and originally known as the Technology Development Group (TDG) until the reveal of Vision Pro in 2023.
Rockwell was a prominent figure in Vision Pro’s introduction at WWDC 2023, introducing the technical architecture of the device’s hardware and system software.
Contrary to Apple’s set organizational structure, the VPG has been running as a mostly self-contained unit, with its own hardware, software, and content teams. But that’s seemingly about to change.
Today, in a bombshell report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple CEO Tim Cook has “lost confidence” in artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea’s ability to deliver on the advanced Siri features the company recently announced it had to delay. In a “rare shake-up”, Cook is appointing Mike Rockwell to a new role under Craig Federighi, the company’s SVP of engineering, where he will be in charge of Siri to get it back on track.
In his new role, Rockwell will also take the visionOS parts of the VPG with him, meaning he will be running both visionOS and Siri.
As for the Vision hardware teams he’s leaving behind, Rockwell will reportedly be replaced by Paul Meade, currently the Vision Products Group’s head of hardware engineering.
Apple’s Vision Pro Group Chief Is Retiring
Apple’s Vision Products Group chief Dan Riccio is retiring, Bloomberg reports, and the group will be moved under SVP of Hardware Engineering John Ternus.
The shake-up comes six months after Dan Riccio, the Vision Products Group’s SVP and thus the executive between Rockwell and Cook, retired.
Riccio’s retirement saw the Vision Products Group placed under Apple’s SVP of Hardware Engineering John Ternus, where it still sits. But soon, it will be Paul Meade reporting to Ternus, not Rockwell any longer.
Essentially, Apple is merging its XR efforts into the regular structure of the company, though more by coincidence than plan.
The Future Of Apple Vision
The restructuring comes as Apple is reportedly working on both a refresh of Vision Pro and a new cheaper non-Pro Vision headset.
Apple Vision Pro Could Get An An M5 Refresh In Late 2025
Mass production of an Apple Vision Pro refresh with an M5 chip should start in late 2025, prominent supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims.
The Vision Pro refresh will reportedly feature the M5 chipset, a significant upgrade from the current headset’s M2 that could unlock new capabilities and improve existing features.
Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly been talking to multiple display suppliers in its struggle to deliver a cheaper non-Pro headset, which could use an A-series chipset and might even drop the EyeSight front display.
Cheaper Apple Vision Could Use iPhone Chip And Lack EyeSight
Apple’s in-development more affordable Vision headset could use an A-series chipset and lack EyeSight.
Meade taking the mantle for Rockwell may bring changes to Apple’s XR strategy, and could even lead to the cancellation of or significant changes to these two in-development headsets. But regardless of Apple’s exact hardware plans, the core element in common will be the visionOS operating system, which is set to continue to improve over time.
