Apple’s Siri chief, Mike Rockwell, is still seriously considering stepping down next year. He could give up his vice president role or leave Apple altogether, and either move would remove the person who got the new Siri onto iPhones after a delay of about two years.
The latest on Rockwell’s future comes from Bloomberg, where Mark Gurman covers it in his Sunday newsletter, and it follows an August report that Rockwell had already voiced doubts about his future at Apple. Rockwell could also move to another job inside Apple instead of leaving.
Apple’s Siri chief moved over from Vision Pro in March 2025
Rockwell created the Vision Pro and ran Apple’s Vision Products Group until Apple put him in charge of Siri in March 2025, after Tim Cook lost confidence in John Giannandrea’s ability to deliver the Siri upgrade. He reports to Craig Federighi, who now leads Apple’s AI efforts.
Rockwell led the team that rebuilt Siri’s engine around AI models based on technology licensed from Google, and Siri AI reached iPhones with iOS 27 on September 14. Apple first showed the assistant in 2024, so the finished version arrived well behind schedule.
The Vision work he left behind has shrunk. Apple laid off at least 60 Vision Products Group employees in August and dropped plans for a second-generation Vision Pro.
Amar Subramanya and Sebastien Marineau would take on more of Siri
If Rockwell leaves Apple or takes another job, more responsibility would likely fall to Amar Subramanya and Sebastien Marineau. Subramanya is a Google veteran who joined Apple last year to strengthen its AI work.
Marineau is a Federighi deputy who leads the teams that build AI into iOS. Some people at Apple see him as more fully committed to AI than the rest of the software leadership and as a possible future successor to Federighi.
Federighi has no clear successor and has given no sign of leaving
Any actual succession process for Federighi is still a distant prospect. Federighi has done little to plan for a successor or to set out a clear path to the job, which leaves possible heirs few chances to show what they can do.
The Siri leadership question comes as John Ternus presses Federighi to move faster on AI and pushes for fewer layers of management. Apple’s hardware engineering group has already cut engineering program managers, including about six directors.
Federighi has led Apple’s software engineering organization for more than a decade and keeps a firm grip on it. He has given no sign that he is among the senior leaders thinking about leaving in the coming years.
