Greg Christie to retire from Apple later this year

According to an official statement from Apple Greg Christie, part of the original team behind the iPhone, will be retiring from Apple later this year. Early rumors stated this was because of a falling out between Greg Christie and Jony Ive, however insiders know this plan is nothing new stating it has been in the works for several months now.

The WSJ reports that Christie’s “human interface” team will now report to Jonathan Ive, this compared to the past where the team reported directly to  Craig Federighi.

In an official statement Apple says:

Greg has been planning to retire later this year after nearly 20 years at Apple. He has made vital contributions to Apple products across the board, and built a world-class Human Interface team which has worked closely with Jony for many years.

Greg Christie has been with Apple since 1996 and is often credited as being the guy who developed the “Slide to Unlock” feature of iPhones and iPads. Throughout his time at Apple has has been awarded hundreds of different patents.