Mark Papermaster, the Apple executive in charge of hardware for the company’s flagship iPhone, has left the company in the wake of widely reported problems with the antenna of the recently introduced iPhone 4.
It is not clear if Papermaster was ousted or left on his own accord.
Reached on his cellphone, Papermaster declined to comment.
In a statement, an Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling, confirmed Papermaster’s departure.
Dowling said Papermaster “is leaving the company and Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering, is assuming his responsibilities.”
Mansfield already oversees several technologies that are part of the iPhone, including the A4 chip, the retina display and touch screens, Dowling said.
Papermaster arrived at Apple in 2008 from IBM, where in a 25-year-career he had risen to the top levels of management.
When Apple chief executive Steven Jobs introduced the iPhone 4, he hailed the design of its antenna, which is built into a steel band that encases the phone. However, almost immediately after the iPhone 4 went on sale, consumers began to complain that when they touched a spot on the lower left section of the device, reception would decrease sharply, in some cases resulting in dropped calls.
The problems, and Apple’s clumsy response, turned into a public relations mess for the company. Apple first recommended that users hold the phone in a way that avoids contact with the lower left section of the device. The company later said it found a software problem with the signal meter that indicates cellphone reception. Embarrassingly, the company said the problem affected not only the iPhone 4, but also earlier models.
After Consumer Reports shone a spotlight on the problems and said it could not recommend the iPhone 4, Apple called a news conference on July 16 where Jobs said other smartphones suffered from similar problems when cradled in certain ways and offered free bumpers to all iPhone 4 customers. By insulating the antenna from human touch, the bumpers solve the reception problems.
Some observers were surprised that Papermaster was not present at the news conference, which in addition to Jobs included chief operating officer Tim Cook and Mansfield. Papermaster vanished from Apple’s Web site later on Saturday.
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