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

Amid tough times for Apple and the current halt in US sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, Cupertino sees another key figure decide to move on and leave Apple.

This is Apple's third major exit in 2023. First, it was Steve Hotelling who left Apple, who was deeply involved in iPhone goodies like multi-touch, Touch ID, Face ID, as well as the next revolutionary Vision Pro device.

Then, a few days later, a report came out that in the first weeks of 2024, Tang Tan, Apple's executive head of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, may resign. This statement was provided to Bloomberg by people who asked not to have their identities disclosed because news of Tan's departure has not been publicly announced.

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

The 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 also participated in the development of numerous iPhone and iPad models. His name appears 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 consultant.

Vast, as you may have heard, is not interested in matters on this Earth and instead aims for 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 gravity-powered space station artificial rotating multi-module 100 meters long. .