Apple said Jeff Williams, the company's operating chief, will be stepping down from that role later this month.
Sabih Khan, senior vice president of operations, will be taking the COO role as "part of along-planned succession," Apple said.
Williams will continue reporting to CEO Tim Cook, while overseeing the design team as well as the Apple Watch and health initiatives.
In this articleAAPL your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTJeff Williams, chief operating officer of Apple Inc.
, during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, US, on Monday, June 9, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesApple said on Tuesday that Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, a 27-year company veteran, will be retiring later this year.
Current operations leader Sabih Khan will take over much of the COO role later this month, Apple said in a press release.
For his remaining time with the company, Williams will continue to head up Apple's design team, Apple Watch, and health initiatives, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.
Williams becomes the longtime Apple executive to step down as key employees, who were active in the company's hyper-growth years, reach retirement age.
Williams, 62, previously headed Apple's formidable operations division, which is in charge of manufacturing millions of complicated devices iPhones, while keeping costs down.
He also led important teams inside Apple, including the company's fabled industrial design team, after longtime leader Jony Ive retired in 2019.
When Williams retires, Apple's design team will report to CEO Tim Cook, Apple said.
"He's helped to create one of the most respected global supply chains in the world; launched Apple Watch and overseen its development; architected Apple's health strategy; and led our world class team of designers with great wisdom, heart, and dedication," Cook said in the statement.
Williams said he plans to spend more time with friends and family. "June marked my 27th anniversary with Apple, and my 40th in the industry," Williams said in the release.
Williams is leaving Apple at a time when its famous supply chain is under significant pressure, as the U.
Imposes tariffs on many of the countries where Apple sources its devices, and White House officials publicly pressure Apple to move more duction to the U.
Khan was added to Apple's executive team in 2019, taking an senior vice president title.
Apple said on Tuesday that he will lead supply chain, duct quality, planning, curement, and fulfillment at Apple.
The operations leader joined Apple's curement group in 1995, and before that worked as an engineer and nical leader at GE Plastics.
He has a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polynic Institute in upstate New York. Khan has worked closely with Cook.
Once, during a meeting when Cook said that a manufacturing blem was "really bad," Khan stood up and drove to the airport, and immediately booked a flight to China to fix it, according to an anecdote published in Fortune.
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