Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, is reportedly considering accelerating the pace of new product releases, moving away from the traditional spring and autumn launch windows. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Apple has laid off some hardware engineering project managers in the past two weeks.
Ternus took over from Tim Cook on September 1, having previously been in charge of Apple's hardware engineering. According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Ternus discussed with his team adopting a more experimental approach, allowing product teams to launch more devices in shorter cycles. An insider described the current work atmosphere as chaotic.
It is reported that among the hardware engineering project managers recently laid off were about six directors. Some affected employees were given a limited time to find new internal positions, otherwise they may leave within the year. Apple also considered cutting approximately 5,000 jobs in AppleCare this summer, but later abandoned the plan.
It remains unclear whether these changes will affect the rumored OLED iPad mini, HomePod mini 2, and Apple TV 4K scheduled for release in October. Employees reportedly expect further layoffs in the coming months and believe that changing Apple's product development approach may take years.