After the AI and design head, two more executives are leaving Apple

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Apple is having one of those months where the group Slack probably needs its own crisis counselor. 

Just days after losing AI chief John Giannandrea and design exec Alan Dye to Meta, the company has announced yet more departures.

First up: Kate Adams, Apple’s general counsel since 2017, is calling it quits, just not immediately. 

She’ll retire late next year, presumably after finishing one last round of legal sparring with regulators who think Apple shouldn’t own the entire universe. 

Replacing her will be Jennifer Newstead, currently Meta’s chief legal officer, who slides into the role on March 1, 2026. 

Yes, the same Meta Apple keeps trading executives with like limited-edition Pokémon cards.

Newstead’s résumé is stacked: she’s advised the US Secretary of State, clerked for a Supreme Court justice, and held so many government legal roles that you’d need a spreadsheet to keep track of them. 

Tim Cook praised her as the perfect hire to run both Legal and Government Affairs, which, considering the antitrust climate, means she’s walking straight into the deep end with a legal flamethrower.

Also retiring: Lisa Jackson, the exec behind Apple’s environmental and DEI initiatives. She’ll step down in January 2026. 

Cook credited her for helping slash Apple’s greenhouse emissions by more than 60% since 2015, which is huge, even if climate initiatives aren’t exactly fashionable with certain political administrations.

These exits follow others: COO Jeff Williams, AI lead Ke Yang, AI models chief Ruoming Pang, and yes, Giannandrea, as mentioned earlier. 

With leadership reshuffling and Apple now relying on Google’s AI models to power Siri, critics say the company has fallen behind in the AI race. 

Some employees reportedly even celebrated Dye’s exit, hoping for a return to Apple’s famously obsessive design DNA.

Apple’s executive suite currently looks less like a stable org chart and more like musical chairs, but with more NDAs, lawsuits, and billion-dollar stakes.