14 DAY TRIAL // David Tupman, who has been on Apple’s payroll for over a decade now, is no longer working for the Cupertino, California-based computer giant.
The reason behind his departure is unknown. What is known for a fact is that Apple has been leaking executives like a sinking ship over the past year.
Tupman was Apple’s Vice President of iPod and iPhone Engineering. Needless to point out, you don’t just leave this position without some serious motivation.
Regardless of what that motivation was (leaving on his own terms; being forced out; getting canned etc.), Tupman appears to be taking an interest in Nest, a company spawned by another former Apple engineering guru - Tony Fadell.
Nest makes this awesome-looking thermostat that learns from the user’s temperature adjustments, programs itself to keep every member of the family comfortable, and saves energy as well.
Apple not only lost a guy who oversaw dozens of iPod iterations, but the company also lost an inventor whose name can be found stamped on roughly 70 patent applications filed by the Cupertino giant.
Some examples provided by 9to5mac include power and battery life management, the noise-canceling ear buds, the minimalistic iPhone power adapters, and the ways mobile devices interact with accessories.
The blog’s sources said Tupman actually left Apple at the end of last year, but the news is breaking out only now.
Losing Tupman will undoubtedly affect Apple’s iPhone business as well. The guy not only oversaw iPod engineering, but he reportedly also joined the iPhone team just as Steve Jobs was preparing to unveil the original version of the handset.
The company is now considering to replace Tupman with someone from within the confines of 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California.
Potential candidates include Steve Zadesky, VP of iPhone and iPod design, and Apple’s Director of iPod and iPhone Engineering, Vic Alessi, who already has experience on iPhone and iPod engineering.