Sadly my time at Apple has come to an end. Like the maximal dlc of my favorite messaging system, I seem to be following an 8 year cycle. A few months ago after our programs' change of direction, my smallest daughter saw the Apple logo on a building and pointed it out to me. I told her I wouldn’t be working there anymore, being laid off wasn’t in her vocabulary so I told her I was fired. Not to worry dear, I had some good interviews coming. She said “Great, I hope they also don’t fire you too!” I have taken much from this program, seeing how Apple invests deeply in all of its technical experts and processes. I had a bit of an ego coming in, feeling like I could self design the modules, make the pcb, hw, sw, and tools to support it. I was floored to learn I needed a layout person to do my first bit of HW after finishing the schematic ( that’s the fun bit I thought)! I wondered why it took so many experts, and such a big process to do the same. Over time, I learned why. Meeting all these great people, and learning just snippets from them, set me in my place while being able to appreciate the deep and technical aptitude of everyone around me. We all came with different scars and battle wounds that have formed us and grew our skillset. I understand why when Apple releases a product, it typically dominates the sector. This is just what I learned in the first 3 months on the project(; Staying inside Apple was not in the cards for me. Others like myself did not fit the mould and will move outward as well. We will all bring our lessons learned and experiences with us. I think it’s safe to say I am sad for the things we developed that the world might not experience. I am deeply thankful to Apple, and 100's of people inside that supported me, celebrated our team's achievements, and pushed as hard and as far as was meant to be. The next chapter in my work life starts soon. In the mean time, over the last 3 months, I have been working on myself, my health, focusing on the family, and resting. I have never felt healthier, stronger, and more focused. Since February, I have gained 35 W of cycling FTP, lost 13 lbs / 6% body fat, lifting at the gym more regularly, eating better, eater cleaner, been to all of my kiddos events, pick up and drop offs, grown and been more connected with my wife than ever before. I am standing on a firm foundation, we will have some mountains to climb!
Johnny. You have been one of the smartest engineers I have worked with. I’ll miss the time of working together and envy the folks who have hired you. Anywhere you go, you’re gonna make a great impact.
Shi Y.
1mo
Such a shame for our paths to have diverged. Was amazing working with you. You'll do amazing wherever you go.
James Weatherson
1mo
Excited to see where you land next Johnny! And where you ride next (i'll keep an eye out on Strava) 🚲 Congrats on making it to 8 years!
I’ve lived these days Two distressing ones I still haven’t managed to save the memory of the iPad. Imagine! There were movies made by my son when he was still so small. There were beautiful memories of my mother who died 6 years ago (love of my life). I’ve been living in Switzerland for almost 20 years. And I have beautiful memories of my family in Brazil. I’ve had this iPad since 2012. I put it away as soon as I got a new one. And it was not backed up. It’s inactive. Now what? Please tell me who has a solution!!!
Wei Ding
1mo
You're one of the most badass engineer I've worked with. You have set my expectation for a good engineer way too high the first year of my career
Zion Melson
1mo
If you have experience at any of these companies and are in the market for your next role connect with me, we have a ton of startups that are looking to hire!
Paul Keas
1mo
Hey Johnny, I'm so glad I had the chance with work with you at SPG. You were one of the people who's rare combination of expertise, work ethic, and humility powered amazing accomplishments (in particular, when the program was young, we had only notional requirements, and needed performance to spare for proof-of-concept and early development!). All the best to you in your next role, Johnny! Admiration, gratitude and respect! -PK
Alessandro Boni
1mo
Hey Johnny, what an amazing ride we had together! You’re one of the best of the best! It was so amazing to work with you! How much did I learn from you, it was humbling to watch your rare talent at work! I will be forever grateful for your generosity - always available to help no matter the pressure you had on all the things you touched. I remember pushing myself beyond my capabilities to deserve a spot in a team with you. Good luck for what’s about to come and stay in touch mate!
Senior Director of Battery Engineering at Rivian
1moHey Johnny, it was truly awesome working with you, and getting to know you as an engineer and a person. Reading through this brought back so many memories, especially your thoughts around our PCB process.... but thanks for pushing on me and you're welcome for Tinker ;-) Up until the end you held our Altium licenses, haha! You were truly a one-man show when you had to be and just "got stuff done". We worked on some incredible technologies together that the world may never know. I wish you all the best of luck in the future.