Meet Steve Lemay: Apple’s new UI design head once nicknamed ‘Margaret’ by Steve Jobs
Apple has appointed long-time designer Steve Lemay as its new head of user interface design. Lemay has shaped major platforms from macOS to visionOS and holds hundreds of Apple patents.
New Delhi: Apple has promoted one of its long-time insiders, Steve Lemay, to its new leader of user interface design, elevating one of the most powerful software design jobs worldwide. Lemay has been with the company since 1999 and has designed almost every key Apple interface throughout more than two decades. He also has a strange nickname used at Apple; he is called ‘Margaret’ by Steve Jobs because Lemay continued to respond to enquiries addressed to Steve at the meeting.
Although Lemay is low profile, his work is very visible in the Apple ecosystem. He has been instrumental in macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS and is credited on hundreds of Apple patents. His promotion comes after a wave of significant leadership transitions at Apple and is an indication of the company not relinquishing its focus on leadership in terms of internal design.
A veteran designer with deep Apple roots
Lemay had worked on the initial iPhone graphical user interface alongside well-known designers such as Ken Kocienda, Imran Chaudhri and Bas Ording. His work includes the necessary UIs, like virtual keyboards, text selection and handwriting recognition systems that are based on gestures. He has engaged in high-profile projects such as Photos and Maps and has worked on platforms such as Siri and iPadOS.
Apple CEO Tim Cook hailed the influence of Lemay as he described him as a designer who sets an impossibly high standard of excellence and reflects the culture of creativity that Apple is known to adhere to. The feeling was returned by the fashion designers: one of them, Ben Hylak, said that Lemay was the best designer he has ever had to work with.
Hundreds of patents and a celebrated iPad feature
Lemay has made contributions towards hundreds of patents, such as the ultimate master patent of the first iPhone. His skills are still visible today in the modern products. Apple Pencil Pro on iPad and its popular virtual shadow effect is one of them, which he was also talking about in a recent interview, pointing at Apple as fulfilling its mission to make digital tools analogue and joyful.
Although Apple is experiencing an executive shuffling, the appointment of Lemay is an indicator that the company is stable in its design vision. The new UI chief already has over 20 years of impact in his background, which means that he is set to influence the next generation of software experiences at Apple.