Apple has confirmed that Greg Christie, one of the main developer of the original iPhone software, is bidding good bye to the company.
Christie was heading the Apple’s “Human Interface” team that designs software for its products. Jonathan Ive, the current vice president for design, will be taking over Christie’s role in the company.
Announcing Christie’s departure, Apple said in a statement, “Greg has been planning to retire later this year after nearly 20 years at Apple. He has made vital contributions to Apple products across the board, and built a world-class Human Interface team which has worked closely with Jony [Ive] for many years.”
Christie has played a major role in developing the iOS software for the first iPhone, which was released in 2007. He is also credited with the development of the iPhone’s “slide to unlock” feature along with a dozen or so other of the company’s patents. The slide to unlock is one of the five features that Apple is accusing Samsung of infringing upon in the current lawsuit.
A report on 9to5Mac suggest that Christie’s departure from the company has resulted out of a tiff with Johnathan Ive during the development of iOS 7. However, the report also notes that multiple sources inside and outside the company have confirmed Christie’s exit to be known for weeks.
Christie’s retirement follows the announcement by Apple last month that CFO Peter Oppenheimer is to bow out after nearly two decades at the firm.
