Apple’s Head Engineer for Dwelling Units Quits Apple Amid Siri Debacle, Joins Oura

Brian Lynch, the {hardware} engineer overseeing residence units at Apple, has left Apple for Oura, maker of fitness-tracking rings. No purpose has been given for Lynch’s departure, however Apple’s long-awaited, still-non-existent-but-definitely-not-vaporware Siri revamp is the elephant within the room.

Two days ago, I in contrast the brand new Siri to “a white whale dragging an enormous group of Apple’s product engineers to the depths together with their ship, loaded with what have been alleged to be thrilling new Apple devices.” Leaks strongly trace that a number of sensible residence units in Apple’s product pipeline have been delayed on account of Apple’s incapacity to ship a passable new model of Siri, even though Apple started marketing one in 2024 that by no means materialized.

In the present day, Oura’s CEO, Tom Hale, informed Bloomberg that Lynch has been poached, and can function the corporate’s senior vice chairman for {hardware} engineering. As Bloomberg additionally factors out, Oura’s head of design is an Apple alum, as is the individual with the job title “chief medical officer.”

Apple hinted at adjustments coming to its line of sensible residence devices final month when it ended support for the unique model of the Apple Dwelling platform, which didn’t render previous units ineffective, however it pressured customers to replace or threat dropping compatibility with related units and home equipment. “It is smart that Apple ought to lastly take away the chaff from its previous Dwelling structure for the sake of the brand new,” wrote my Gizmodo colleague Kyle Barr.

However the brand new has not arrived but. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s new-Siri-dependent line of sensible residence units with screens won’t roll out till September on the earliest, which can also be the earliest we should always count on to see the brand new “customized” Siri.

In December of final yr, as Apple dealt with a wave of departing vice presidents, rumors swirled that CEO Tim Cook was on the verge of leaving in 2026. Yesterday on Good Morning America, when asked if he was leaving, he said “No, I didn’t say that. I haven’t stated that. I like what I do deeply.” Cook dinner additionally claimed he “can’t think about life with out Apple.”