File: Then Apple Creative Director Alan Dye celebrates the launch of the July Issue at the new WIRED office on June 24, 2015 in San Francisco, California.
Kimberly White | Getty Images
Apple‘s head of user interface design, Alan Dye, will reportedly join Meta, in a notable shift of executive talent in Silicon Valley.
Apple confirmed Dye’s departure and CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that the company prioritizes design and has a strong team. The statement said that veteran designer Stephen Lemay will succeed Dye.
“Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999,” Cook said in a statement.
Compared to other Silicon Valley companies, Apple has always emphasized design to customers and investors as one of its strengths. Apple prominently features its design executives to discuss interface changes at the company’s launch events.
Most recently, Dye revealed in June a redesign of Apple’s software interface for iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watch called Liquid Glass. The company described it as an “elegant” new design with translucent buttons, updated app icons, and fluid animations.
Dye said it was the “next chapter” of the company’s software and said it “sets the stage” for the next era of Apple products.
“Our new design blurs the lines between hardware and software to create an experience that’s more delightful than ever while still familiar and easy to use,” Dye said at the launch.
Reviews were mixed on the Liquid Glass update, which shipped with new iPhones in September.
Apple announces liquid glass during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, 2025 in Cupertino, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
For years, Apple design was embodied by executive Jony Ive, who left Apple in 2019 and is now working with OpenAI on artificial intelligence hardware alongside Sam Altman.
Dye took over user interface design and became one of the design studio’s leads in 2015 when Ive stepped back from a day-to-day role. Dye started at Apple in 2006 and worked on software for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, according to his LinkedIn.
He was also partly responsible for the first iPhone in 2017 that did away with the home screen button at the bottom of the device and replaced it with a software-based swipe-up motion.
Meta has said in recent years that it wants to be a major maker of hardware and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Apple is one of the social networking company’s biggest competitors.
Meta currently makes several virtual reality headsets under its Oculus brand, and recently scored its first hardware hit with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which are stylish sunglasses equipped with cameras and the ability to run an AI model that can answer questions. Sales of the device tripled over the past year, the Ray-Ban parent company said in July.
Bloomberg first reported the move.
The report said that Dye will be in charge of a new design studio at Meta where he will be in charge of design for hardware, software, and AI integration. Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
