Apple gutted its Silicon Valley offices of 147 employees, mostly software engineers, weeks before its long-awaited product launch. In a WARN document released Tuesday, the company announced 79 layoffs at its headquarters at One Apple Park Way in Cupertino, 40 at its office at 605 W. Maude Ave. in Sunnyvale and 28 at its office at 599 N. Mathilda Ave. in Sunnyvale. Although software development engineers at its ring-shaped “spaceship” in Cupertino faced the most cuts, software engineers in augmented and virtual reality products took the biggest hits at its Sunnyvale locations. AppleInsider reported Thursday that layoffs were anticipated at Apple Vision Group because the company’s expensive VR headsets were not selling well since their launch. A 2024 event at its San Francisco flagship store introducing the $3,500 headphones turned out to be disappointing, with employees outnumbering customers. The separations are expected to begin on October 19, according to WARN. Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors. Ternus will begin its tenure with new product launches throughout September, a month in which it traditionally launches new products. Although an event has not yet been scheduled, the company is expected to launch its first foldable smartphone and its iPhone 18 product line at an event on September 9, according to Bloomberg. Other anticipated announcements include a new Mac Mini, new Apple Watch technology, a look at its AirPods 5 product line, and a release date for iOS 27. It’s unclear if any of the new phones will support Apple’s Siri AI, which the company announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Although the long-delayed Siri revamp adds several new features, it initially met with a lukewarm reception from investors. On the same day, Apple’s stock price fell more than 3%, its worst day since February according to CNBC. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Do you work at Apple and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Matthew Brown securely at matthew.brown@sfgate.com or matthewbrownsfgate.11 on Signal.
