Alan Dye, the man behind the now widely recognised Liquid Glass user interface on Apple products is now leaving Apple. Interestingly Alan Dye has left Apple to join Meta one of the biggest rivals of the Cupertino tech giant. This has been reported by Bloomberg and CNBC reports. The news of Alan Dye resigning comes as a major shock for Apple since Alan has been a pivotal design executive for Apple since the Steve Jobs era.
Who will replace Alan Dye at Apple?
The report of Meta poaching Alan Dye was first published by Bloomberg. Post which the departure of Alan was confirmed by a spokesperson, who confirmed that longtime designer Stephen Lemay will now be taking over Alan’s Job. Moreover Apple in an official statement from CEO Tim Cook told Bloomberg News: “Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999. He has always set an extraordinarily high bar for excellence and embodies Apple’s culture of collaboration and creativity.
Design is fundamental to who we are at Apple, and today, we have an extraordinary design team working on the most innovative product lineup in our history,” his statement added. Apple shares slipped nearly 1% to $284.15 in New York on 3 December, while Meta fell 1.2% to $639.60, Bloomberg reported.
Who is Alan Dye?
Alan Dye joined Apple in 2006, when Steve Jobs was CEO, and initially focused on refining the company’s packaging and unboxing experience. In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on 4 December, Apple Design said his work during this period “helped shape Apple’s first impressions.”
What important launches was Alan dye a part of?
In 2013, under Tim Cook’s leadership, Dye helped guide the redesign of iOS 7, contributing to its flat user interface, new iconography, updated typography, and refreshed layout.
By 2015, Dye had been appointed head of Apple’s user interface design team. Apple Design described him as the “core leader of Apple Watch UI,” responsible for watch faces, the small-screen user experience, and the overall interface.
In 2022, he co-led the creation of Apple’s Dynamic Island, a feature the company said “blurred the line between hardware and software.”
The following year, in 2023, Dye led UI design for Apple’s spatial computing platform and worked on making Vision Pro wearers’ eyes visible to people around them.
In 2024, he contributed to the Apple Vision Pro launch, helping integrate eye- and hand-based interactions and enhance immersion.
In 2025, Dye led the design of Liquid Glass, described as “Apple’s biggest cross-platform UI refresh,” unifying the design language across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
Apple Design shared a tribute to his career at the company, summarizing it as: “Alan Dye’s Apple Journey: A mind behind Apple boxes to iOS 7 flat design to Dynamic Island to Liquid Glass.”
What will Alan Dye do at Meta?
The report from Bloomberg mentioned that Meta will be putting Alan Dye incharge of its Design for Hardware, Software and AI integration of Meta interfaces.
In a social media post on 3 December, Mark Zuckerberg welcomed Dye to the company and said that he would lead up a new creative studio, adding that the plan is to “elevate design within Meta”. He although did not share any specifics.
