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Apple's Head of Home Hardware Leaves for Smart Ring Maker Oura

Brian Lynch, the senior director on Apple's home hardware engineering team, is leaving Apple for smart ring company Oura, reports Bloomberg. Lynch accepted a role as Oura's senior vice president of hardware engineering.

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Oura has poached several employees from Apple over the last few years. Lynch's departure is apparently causing "fresh upheaval" on Apple's home products team as it is aiming to debut new home devices. Apple is rumored to be working on a smart home hub, but its launch has been pushed back due o Siri development delays.

The hub launch is now planned for September 2026, with other devices like a home security and automation sensor and a more advanced tabletop robot in development for 2027. Apple also has plans for smart glasses, a wearable AI pendant or pin, and AirPods with cameras.

Lynch worked at Apple for over 20 years, and prior to overseeing smart home devices, he was on Apple's now-shuttered car development team. Lynch worked under Matt Costello, who also oversees audio engineering and Beats devices. Costello reports to John Ternus, Apple's hardware engineering chief.

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Top Rated Comments

21 hours ago at 03:53 pm
Bro was probably tired of watching every product he develops languish in the pipeline.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheGhostWalker Avatar
21 hours ago at 03:49 pm
Tim Cooks resignation can't be far away now
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KENESS Avatar
21 hours ago at 03:47 pm
I'm not impressed with Apple's Home hardware landscape right now, so this may be a good thing.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
21 hours ago at 03:49 pm
"Fresh upheaval" feels like Gurman spinning a narrative in the absence of facts beyond simply reporting on an employee departure, which happens at every tech company all the time.

What's funny about Gurman's reporting on Apple departures is that he never breathlessly reports them for other companies he covers. For example, Gurman wrote extensively about Apple AI researcher Ruoming Pang who left Apple for Meta, but there were crickets from him when Pang left Meta for OpenAI just seven months later.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
21 hours ago at 04:13 pm
Probably got tired of having his hardware be delayed by the Siri department's vaporware.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
21 hours ago at 04:16 pm
Apple had a Head of Home Hardware?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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