Apple Hires New Head of Secret Research Lab

Apple hired former president and research and development chief of Mercedes-Benz's research and development team to create its own secret research lab, according to reports.

Johann Jungwirth will join Apple as its director of Mac Systems Engineering, according to 9to5Mac, and is likely going to be heading up Apple's new automotive research lab to create and promote automotive products. 

The new Apple research lab was created last year after the Cupertino company launched its latest iPhones and smart watches, but automotive products may be years from similar launches. It's unclear if Apple intends on creating vehicles or simply integrating its products into vehicles, such as CarPlay. We've also written articles about the Apple employee poaching by electric-car maker Tesla, which may make this new research lab even more important for Apple. 

Jungwirth has been part of the Mac team since last year, a year after Doug Field, vice president of design and Mac hardware engineering left the company for a job at Tesla.

Contact Us