Abidur Chowdhury, Mind Behind iPhone Air Design, Departs Apple for AI Startup

New Delhi: Abidur Chowdhury, the young designer who helped shape the iPhone Air and introduced it on stage at Apple’s September keynote, has left the company to join an artificial intelligence startup. His exit marks another notable loss for Apple’s design team, which has already seen several departures in recent years.

Chowdhury’s role in the iPhone Air launch made him one of the most visible designers at Apple. He appeared in a promotional video explaining the design process behind Apple’s thinnest iPhone yet, a rare honour for someone who was praised in the design group. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that while the iPhone Air’s design was internally developed, the device has faced weaker-than-expected sales. Gurman stressed that Chowdhury’s decision to leave was not tied to those sales figures.

Born in London and now based in San Francisco, Chowdhury has built a career defined by creativity and problem‑solving. He studied Product Design and Technology at Loughborough University, where he won several awards, including recognition from the James Dyson Foundation and a Red Dot Design Award. Before joining Apple, he worked at consultancies in the UK and ran his own studio, delivering projects for agencies and startups.

Chowdhury joined Apple in 2019, shortly after Jony Ive’s departure, and quickly rose within the industrial design group. Over six years, he contributed to multiple projects, but the iPhone Air was his most high‑profile achievement. His design philosophy, shared on his personal site, emphasises creating products people “can’t bear to be without.”

Apple declined to comment on the departure. Inside the company, however, it is seen as another blow to a design team that has already lost several senior figures since Ive’s exit. Chowdhury’s move reflects a wider trend in the tech industry: top designers and engineers are increasingly drawn to AI startups, where they see opportunities to shape the next generation of user experiences.

For Apple, the challenge is clear: retaining creative talent in a time when artificial intelligence is drawing some of the brightest minds away from hardware. For Chowdhury, the decision opens a new chapter, moving from iconic devices like the iPhone Air to exploring how AI can transform design and technology for the future.

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