Apple's App Store Chief Phil Schiller Steps Down as Tim Cook Exits as CEO

CUPERTINO, Calif. —

Phil Schiller, the Apple executive who has run the App Store since 2015, has stepped down from that job and from overseeing the company's product launch events, Bloomberg reported Monday. He will keep the title of Apple Fellow, a designation reserved for people who have made major technical or leadership contributions to the company, and will work on what Bloomberg described as unspecified initiatives. People close to the company told Bloomberg the move looks like a step toward Schiller eventually retiring.

Schiller joined Apple in 1987 and has spent nearly all of his career there, aside from a four-year break, according to TechCrunch. He helped launch the App Store alongside Steve Jobs in 2008 and took over running it in 2015. He gave up his job as senior vice president of marketing to Greg Joswiak in 2020, The Verge reported. In his time atop the App Store, Schiller fought Apple's long legal battle with Epic Games, which sued Apple in 2020 claiming its app fee system amounted to an illegal monopoly. A judge dismissed the monopoly claim and largely sided with Apple, but ordered the company to let developers link out to other payment options, a fight that is still going on, TechCrunch reported. The App Store brought in more than $1.4 trillion in transactions last year, according to The Verge.

A Reshuffled App Store

Carson Oliver, who has spent more than 14 years at Apple entirely within the App Store division, will now run the store day to day, Bloomberg reported. Ann Thai will continue handling app distribution tools and third-party marketplaces, and Alex Rofman, who leads Apple Arcade, will now report to Oliver, according to Engadget. The App Store is also moving out of Apple's marketing department and into the services division run by Eddy Cue, who ran the App Store himself before Schiller took over in 2015. Nola Weinstein, previously Schiller's deputy for product launches, will now lead Apple's events team under communications chief Kristin Huguet Quayle, Engadget reported. Her first event as leader comes September 9, when Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, new Apple Watch models and its first foldable iPhone.

Part Of A Bigger Exodus

Schiller's exit adds to a run of departures at Apple's top ranks as Tim Cook steps down as CEO and hardware chief John Ternus takes over. Chief operating officer Jeff Williams retired in December after 27 years at the company, and environmental policy chief Lisa Jackson also announced her retirement that month, TechCrunch reported. General counsel Kate Adams is leaving too, with The Verge reporting she will be replaced by former Meta legal chief Jennifer Newstead. Jennifer Bailey, who has led Apple Pay for more than 20 years, is set to retire in October. In June, Paul Meade, the vice president overseeing the Vision Pro headset, left to join OpenAI, and Apple has since cut roughly 100 people from that team, according to TechCrunch. Former chief financial officer Luca Maestri stepped down in January 2025, and design chief Alan Dye and AI head John Giannandrea have also left, The Verge reported. Apple did not immediately comment on the changes, according to The Verge and TechCrunch.