Apple has recently made a foray into a brand-new product category with the Apple Vision Pro headset. This represents a deviation from the company’s traditional product approach, as Mark Gurman reported in his latest Power On newsletter. To streamline the management of Vision Pro and other segments of the ecosystem, Apple has formulated a dedicated division.
This newly minted division, called the Vision Products Group (VPG), has actually been in existence since 2015 under the designation of Technology Development Group (TDG). However, its name was recently altered to better depict the tasks the group will undertake.
The Vision Products Group stands as a self-sufficient entity within Apple, as Gurman elaborated on its unusual structure compared to Apple’s norm. Steve Jobs had famously eliminated the typical product development structure, and this division appears to be a departure from his traditional management approach.
For instance, Apple doesn’t possess dedicated divisions for their flagship iPhones or the iPad. Instead, they leverage broader teams responsible for different aspects of development for all products. The Vision Products Group, though, charts a different course.
Gurman revealed, “This group doesn’t rely on Apple’s primary software and hardware engineering and other departments. It has its own versions of these teams, who report to Rockwell, along with separate teams for strategy, computer vision, content, app development, and project management.”
While maintaining close ties with the rest of Apple, the Vision Products Group will collaborate with other segments of the company. Gurman elaborated, “It liaises with the design and operations teams supervised by Jeff Williams, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, and the Johny Srouji-directed chip unit that produces M2 and R1 processors. It also leans on frameworks and other building blocks developed for iOS and macOS by Federighi’s group, who are responsible for some of the headset’s developer tools. Additionally, it receives support from the central hardware organization.”
It was previously projected that upon the launch of Vision Pro, the division would be dissolved and absorbed into other company departments. However, Apple decided to maintain it. This move piques interest in observing how differently the development of Vision products will evolve as a consequence.
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