Apple has lost another key executive. According to a report by Bloomberg on June 26, the vice president of hardware in charge of Apple Vision Pro and smart glasses projectsPaul MeadeHe is about to leave his job and join the hardware department of OpenAI. This is the fourth former core Apple member to switch from Apple to OpenAI recently.
Who is Meade?
Paul Meade joined Apple in 2010. After accumulating rich experience in the iPad and iPhone teams, he moved to the Vision Products Group (VPG) since 2017. He served as the head of the Vision Pro hardware engineering team for seven years and was deeply involved in the entire process of Apple's spatial computing equipment from concept to mass production. After Mike Rockwell, the original head of Vision Pro, was transferred to oversee the Siri AI upgrade, Meade took over the entire VPG—not only responsible for subsequent iterations of Vision Pro, but also leading the development of Apple's first AI smart glasses.
According to previous reports, Apple plans to release AI smart glasses that compete with Meta Ray-Ban by the end of 2027, and is also developing longer-term AR glasses. Meade is the core driver of both projects.
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions
Meade's joining is not an isolated incident. OpenAI’s hardware division has assembled an “Apple dream team”:
- Jony Ive: Apple’s former chief design officer, responsible for the overall design direction of OpenAI hardware
- Tang Tan: Former Apple iPhone and Apple Watch design chief
- Evans Hankey: Ive took over as Apple’s design chief for three years after leaving
- Paul Meade(New): Vision Pro and Smart Glasses Hardware Engineering Lead
The team’s goal is very clear: to create aAn AI-native device that competes directly with the iPhone. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously pointed out through supply chain investigations that OpenAI is developing an "AI Agent phone" to build an experience around a continuously running context-aware AI assistant - which is completely different from the iPhone's App-centric model.
Why now?
The timing of Meade's departure is very delicate. Apple is in the midst of a CEO transition period - John Ternus is about to replace Tim Cook as CEO, and chip director Johny Srouji has been promoted to chief hardware officer. According to Bloomberg, the reorganization "has left some hardware executives dissatisfied." OpenAI offered an olive branch at exactly this time - for a hardware veteran who has been working at Apple for 16 years and is eager for new challenges, it is obviously very tempting to participate in a new device category that defines the AI era.
What does it mean for users and the industry?
Apple is experiencing a rare hardware brain drain. From Ive to Tan to Hankey to Meade, four key hardware figures have switched to OpenAI. Although Apple's hardware talent pool is still deep - Meade's deputy Fletcher Rothkopf will take over as VPG - the continuous loss of senior executives will inevitably affect the pace of development of Vision Pro and smart glasses.
For the industry, this marks the beginning of the next phase of AI competition:Extend from software and model level to hardware level. OpenAI not only builds the strongest AI models, but also creates exclusive hardware carriers for these models. When Jony Ive's industrial design meets OpenAI's AI capabilities, a product that truly redefines "mobile phones" may emerge.
Summarize
Paul Meade's job-hopping is another footnote in the "talent gravity war" between Apple and OpenAI. As OpenAI's IPO approaches (S-1 has been confidentially submitted), its hardware narrative has become increasingly critical - investors need to see that AI is not just a software subscription, but also has the imagination of hardware terminals. For ordinary users, the next two to three years may see the birth of the first truly AI-native device, and it will most likely not come from Apple.
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