Bob Mansfield Explained

Bob Mansfield
Nationality:American
Known For:Senior leadership at Apple Inc.

Bob Mansfield is an American hardware engineer working at Apple, Inc. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Technologies, before leaving that role to focus on unnamed future products.[1] [2] It has been claimed that he supervised the development of the Apple Watch or smart television products.[3]

Education

Mansfield earned a BSEE degree from the University of Texas in 1982.

Career

Early in his career, he had the positions of senior director at SGI and vice president of engineering at Raycer Graphics, subsequently acquired by Apple in 1999. Following the acquisition, Mansfield stayed on with Apple to fill his new role of senior vice president of Mac Hardware Engineering, overseeing teams that delivered products such as the iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air and iPad.[4] Bob Mansfield no longer on Apple's exec team, will continue work on special projects.

In August 2010, Mansfield took over the position of Devices Hardware Engineering from the departed Mark Papermaster. Although Apple announced Bob Mansfield's retirement on June 28, 2012,[5] it was announced on August 27, 2012 that Mansfield would remain at Apple, working on "future projects" and reporting to Tim Cook.[6]

Apple announced on October 29, 2012 that Mansfield would take on a new role at Apple as Senior Vice President of Technologies. Reports have claimed that Scott Forstall's departure was a key reason for Mansfield's unexpected return from retirement.[7] On July 28, 2013, roughly 9 months after Mansfield's appointment to Senior Vice President of Technologies, Mansfield's biography was removed from Apple's executive profiles webpage. It was subsequently confirmed by Apple that Mansfield was no longer a part of the executive team, but would "continue to work on special projects under CEO Tim Cook."[8]

He was heading Apple's car project until 2020.[9] [10] Following Mansfield's departure, Apple's AI executive John Giannandrea led the project, which was ultimately cancelled in 2024.[11]

Notes and References

  1. News: After Steve Jobs: Apple's next CEO . Fortune . August 11, 2010 . 2008-11-04.
  2. Web site: Apple: goodbye hardware engineering head Bob Mansfield, hello Dan Riccio . Jacqui . Cheng . . July 12, 2012 . June 28, 2012.
  3. Web site: Yarow. Jay. Meet Bob Mansfield: The $85 Million Apple Executive Who Is Secretly Working On Its Next Major Product . Business Insider.
  4. Web site: Apple - Press Info - Bios - Bob Mansfield. Apple Inc.. 2010-08-09. 2010-08-09. Apple Inc.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100723194001/http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/mansfield.html. 2010-07-23. Apple Inc.
  5. News: Bob Mansfield, Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, to Retire. Apple Inc.. 2012-06-28. 2012-06-28. Apple Inc.
  6. News: Craig Federighi, Apple's Vice President of Mac Software Engineering & Dan Riccio, Apple's Vice President of Hardware Engineering Join Apple's Executive Team as Senior Vice Presidents. 27 August 2012. 27 August 2012. Apple Inc..
  7. Web site: Paczkowski. John. Behind Silicon Valley's Un-Retirement: Why Bob Mansfield Is Back at Apple. All Things D.
  8. Web site: Bob Mansfield no longer on Apple's exec team, will continue work on special projects . July 29, 2013 . appleinsider.com.
  9. News: 2020-12-08. Apple Shifts Leadership of Self-Driving Car Unit to AI Chief. en. Bloomberg.com. 2020-12-09.
  10. Web site: Apple's car project to be led by Bob Mansfield . 2016 . .
  11. News: 2024-02-27 . Apple to Wind Down Electric Car Effort After Decadelong Odyssey . 2024-03-07 . Bloomberg.com . en.