Apple has eliminated more than 400 positions across its artificial intelligence, mixed-reality, and hardware engineering divisions, with roughly half a dozen directors dismissed as part of a broader effort by new Chief Executive John Ternus to flatten the company’s management structure and accelerate product development, according to people familiar with the matter.
The cuts, which have unfolded in stages since August, represent the most significant workforce reduction at Apple in recent memory and mark a sharp departure from the tenure of former CEO Tim Cook, who largely avoided mass layoffs during his 15-year leadership. The reductions remain under 1% of Apple’s approximately 166,000 full-time employees, and the company has not issued a formal company-wide announcement confirming the total figure.
The first round of cuts arrived in August, affecting roughly 200 employees. Approximately 100 roles were eliminated from the Vision Products Group, while another 100 were cut from Siri and related software teams, including the Intelligent Systems Experience unit responsible for AI features across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
A California WARN filing confirmed 147 permanent separations across Apple Park in Cupertino and two Sunnyvale offices, effective October 19 and 20.
The Vision Pro reductions reflected a strategic retreat from costly content production. Apple largely shuttered its Vision Pro gaming team and scaled back its immersive video unit, where individual episodes can cost several million dollars to produce for a limited user base.
The Siri cuts, by contrast, were tied to a architectural rebuild of the assistant around a new AI stack requiring different engineering skill sets.
Apple addressed the August reductions in a statement, saying it was realigning teams “to evolve our business to deliver the best experiences for our users.” The company added: “While we will create new roles as part of this change, it will also impact a limited number of existing roles. We are grateful to these team members for their contributions, and we are committed to supporting them throughout their transition, including opportunities to apply for other roles at Apple.”
The more recent wave has targeted Apple’s vaunted hardware engineering organization. Over a two-week period in late September, Apple dismissed a number of engineering program managers – roles long considered central to the company’s product-development process – along with approximately six directors, one of Apple’s most senior employee tiers.
Affected employees were reportedly given just weeks to secure another internal position or face termination later this year.
The restructuring is designed to reduce the layers separating engineers from senior leadership. Ternus, who succeeded Cook on September 1, has advocated for a leaner organization since his years leading hardware engineering, arguing that Apple must ship products more frequently and move beyond its traditional spring-and-autumn launch cadence.
He has also signaled that the company needs to become “more experimental” to compete in the AI era.
Apple reportedly considered an even more drastic reduction over the summer: replacing approximately 5,000 AppleCare support employees with AI-powered phone and web agents. That plan has been placed on indefinite hold, though Apple already routes some U.S. and Canadian support calls to an AI assistant.
The company declined to comment on the reported director-level dismissals or the total number of positions eliminated. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who first reported many of the cuts, has indicated that further reductions are expected before year-end or in early 2027, with employees bracing for additional restructuring as Ternus consolidates his leadership.
