A little-known fact about the iPad Pro reveals why Apple takes its time with each new device
Last week, Bloomberg Business has published a profile titled “The Most Important Apple Executive You’ve Never Heard Of”, offering a unique insight into the work of Apple’s Senior VP of Hardware Technologies, John Srouji.
Srouji is the man behind every chip that powers the iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV, the iPad Air, and ultimately, the iPad Pro. Speaking of the iPad Pro, a little known fact revealed by Apple’s hardware chief, tells tales of the premium-sized tablet being originally scheduled for a Spring 2015 unveiling. Due to a snag in the pipeline, the release date was eventually changed to the Fall.
The delay was described by Bloomberg as “...the stuff that keeps technology executives up at night...”, especially as the initial plans for the Apple iPad Pro were to power the tablet with an A8X chip, previously used in the 2014 iPad Air 2.
With the A9-powered iPhone 6S due for release alongside the iPad Pro, the big issue was with a brand new tablet being powered by a chip slower and older than the iPhone 6S. This prompted Srouji to push his team to speed up the development of the A9X processor, and finish the new chip in half the time, and ready to be integrated into the iPad Pro, on time for the big reveal.
The delay yielded benefits for both consumers and Srouji himself, as the huge success of the iPad Pro garnered the executive a seat in Tim Cook’s management team, along with 90,000 Apple stock shares.
John Srouji’s work is one of the most complex within the organization, and one of the most important, since the company has began engineering its own SoC (System on Chip). Srouji’s work at Apple, began in 2008, with the A4 chip which, two years later, would power the original iPad.
Less reliance on third party manufacturers, especially Samsung, allows Apple to keep its projects and specs under heavier wraps, a crucial part of holding onto its position as an innovator. Engineering divisions like these will be even more important in the future, as Apple continues working on acquiring more experience in other areas as well, such as batteries, GPUs, and even internal storage and memory.