Brian Lynch, the senior director who has overseen hardware engineering for Apple’s home devices since 2022, is leaving the tech giant to join the health-tracking ring manufacturer Oura, Bloomberg reports.
Oura CEO Tom Hale confirmed the news this week, announcing that Lynch will serve as the company’s new senior vice president of hardware engineering.
Lynch is a veteran of Apple with a career spanning over two decades. Before taking the lead on smart home products like the HomePod and Apple TV, he played key roles in the development of various iPod models and worked on the company’s now-cancelled autonomous car project.
The exit comes at a sensitive time for Apple’s home hardware group. The division has reportedly struggled to keep its product roadmap on track, with several major devices facing repeated postponements.
According to industry reports, Apple’s upcoming smart home hub, a device expected to feature an iPad-like display, has been pushed back to September 2026 at the earliest. Other ambitious projects, including a tabletop robotic device with a motorized arm and advanced home security sensors, are now reportedly targeted for 2027.
The primary “bottleneck” behind these delays is said to be the ongoing overhaul of Siri. Apple’s next-generation smart home lineup relies heavily on a more capable, AI-driven version of the voice assistant to provide personalized data and natural language interactions. Without a finalized version of this new Siri, the hardware remains stuck in the testing phase.
While Apple is not currently competing in the smart ring market, the loss of a senior hardware leader like Lynch adds pressure to a department already facing brain drain. This departure follows the 2024 exit of DJ Novotney, another high-ranking executive who managed home device projects before moving to Rivian.
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