Who is Abidur Chowdhury? Apple iPhone Air designer leaves tech giant to join AI startup

A US-based technology giant, Apple designer Abidur Chowdhury, who was part of the team which developed the iPhone Air and even starred in the official launch video, has left the company to join an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, reported the news portal LA Times on Tuesday, 18 November 2025.

People aware of the development told the news portal that Abidur Chowdhury's move to quit his job at Apple has made waves internally in the company, given the backdrop of his rising profile within the design team of the tech giant.

The California-based iPhone maker picked Abidur Chowdhury to introduce the new iPhone Air at the company's September 2025 launch event, which featured a 2-minute video of him talking about the design process and the features of the newly launched device. Appearing in Apple's launch videos is a high-profile assignment which is entrusted to important people in the company.

According to the news portal's report, Apple's spokesperson refused to comment on the development.

Who is Abidur Chowdhury?

Abidur Chowdhury, who holds a Bachelor's Degree in Product Design and Technology from Loughborough University, England, started out his career as an Industrial Design intern at Cambridge Consultants in 2015.

After spending one year in his previous role, in July 2016, Chowdhury joined Curventa as an Industrial Design intern for three months. In August 2017, he joined Layer Design as an Industrial Designer and was there till January 2018.

Since January 2018, Abidur Chowdhury worked as a freelance industrial design consultant for nearly 13 months before finally joining Apple as an Industrial Designer in January 2019.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Abidur Chowdhury was born and raised in England and is now a designer based in San Francisco, United States. However, Chowdhury has not updated his LinkedIn profile so far, as it still shows he is working a the tech giant as of 18 November 2025.

What did Abidur Chowdhury do at Apple?

Abidur Chowdhury reportedly played a key role in developing the Apple iPhone Air while serving more than six years at the company. He also played a key role behind the marketing efforts in the company, according to the news portal's report.

His exit is unrelated to the debut of the phone, and the company plans to launch a second generation of the model in 2027, according to a Bloomberg report.

Chowdhury joined Apple around the same time design chief Jony Ive left the company ending an era which extended back to the founder Steve Jobs's period.