After 1,000 Apple patents, this man leaves Cupertino and goes to help build a space station

Amidst troublesome times for Apple and their current halt of US sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, Cupertino is seeing another key figure deciding to move on and leave Apple.

That’s the third major Apple dropout in 2023. First, it was Steve Hotelling who left Apple, who was deeply involved in iPhone goodies like multi-touch, Touch ID, Face ID, and also the upcoming Vision Pro revolutionary device.

Then, just a few days later, there was a report that in the first weeks of 2024 Tang Tan, Apple’s executive leading product design for the iPhone and the Apple Watch, might be stepping down. This statement was provided to Bloomberg by people who asked not to have their identities disclosed, as the news of Tan’s leaving hasn’t been announced publicly.

The third one to step down in 2023 is Peter Russell-Clarke (via 9to5Mac) – who has worked at Apple for nearly 20 years, as stated by Bloomberg. According to the report, he left his role in October and is now joining space technology company Vast.

As a name, Peter Russell-Clarke probably means nothing to the regular Apple user, but he has worked on the design of many products: iMac, iPod nano, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. He was also involved in the development of many iPhone and iPad models. His name is listed on more than 1,000 Apple patents.

Now what?

Russell-Clarke’s new job is confirmed in a blog post by Vast and they will employ him as an Industrial Design Advisor.

Vast, as you might’ve heard, is not interested in business on this Earth and instead aims at the Cosmos. Earlier in 2023, they announced a collaboration with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch Vast’s first single-module space station called Haven-1 in 2025. Vast’s long-term goal is to develop a 100-meter-long multi-module spinning artificial gravity space station.