Apple's VP of communications Steve Dowling is leaving the company after five years in the role; Dowling joined the company 16 years ago
and for me, last — launch cycle” 👀 https://twitter.com/...
VoxKara Swisher
Context & Ripple Effects
Dowling's departure closes a chapter that opened when Apple officially named him Vice President of Communications in April 2015. He leaves amid an unusual stretch of senior churn at the company: retail chief Angela Ahrendts exited just months earlier in February 2019, replaced by 30-year veteran Deirdre O'Brien, and design leaders Evans Hankey and Alan Dye were moved under COO Jeff Williams in June as Sabih Khan rose to SVP of Operations.
First-order effects
Apple is immediately without a named VP of Communications; per later reporting on the eventual hire, Phil Schiller took over day-to-day oversight of the PR function after Dowling's exit.
The iPhone launch cycle described in the article becomes Dowling's last, meaning his successor inherits Apple's highest-stakes communications calendar from day one.
Second-order effects
With no internal promotion announced, Apple was pushed to look outside for its next communications chief — a search that ended nearly two years later with ex-Cisco chief Stella Low, per May 2021 reporting, signaling the role stayed unfilled at the VP level through the interim.
Third-order effects
If the 2019 pattern holds — Ahrendts, the design reorganization, and now Dowling — Apple's senior bench shifts from decades-long internal veterans toward outside hires and consolidated reporting lines under Cook and Williams, changing how institutional knowledge reaches the company's public voice.
The trend: 2019 marked a structural turnover in Tim Cook's executive corps, with long-tenured leaders departing and Apple increasingly filling their roles through outside hires and reporting-line consolidation.
After 16 years at Apple, its head of communications is leaving. Steve Dowling says the challenge of guarding Apple's image in a time of increasing scrutiny of tech companies will now be someone else's responsibility. https://www.vox.com/...
@waltmossberg
Walt Mossberg on x
I've known Steve Dowling since long before he joined @Apple. He wasn't just doing a comms job there. He genuinely loved the company and its products. I wish him all the best. https://www.vox.com/...
@reneritchie
Rene Ritchie on x
Remarkable time to have been in that role at that company. Best wish to all for everything that comes next. https://www.vox.com/...
@fxshaw
Frank X. Shaw on x
Steve has always been one of the good ones. https://twitter.com/...
@pitts_man
Pitts on x
Steve Dowling's PR approach was right for this stage of Apple's life. The Katie Cotton era was much more aggressive, less transparent, and less friendly to the press. Good for when Apple was an underdog, not a good look when you're a trillion dollar company https://twitter.com/..…
@neilcybart
Neil Cybart on x
Apple's PR chief, Steve Dowling, is leaving the company. Phil Schiller will take over the role on an interim basis. Dowling oversaw quite a few changes to Apple's PR strategy following Katie Cotton's departure a few years ago. https://www.vox.com/...
@chris_ciaccia
Chris Ciaccia on x
Wow. End of an era. Steve was always a great guy to work with and I've nothing but the utmost of professional respect for him https://twitter.com/...
@stroughtonsmith
Steve Troughton-Smith on x
“This is something that has been on my mind for a while, and it came into sharp focus during the latest — and for me, last — launch cycle” 👀 https://twitter.com/...