Apple has faced a serious problem: key engineers working on the iPhone are leaving en masse for competitors — primarily OpenAI. According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, the company has decided to act and started offering large retention bonuses to stop the talent drain. The question is whether this money will be enough.
Apple has to spend big to retain people working on the iPhone. Image: appleinsider.com
Why Apple Engineers Are Leaving for OpenAI
Recently, Apple has lost a notable number of engineers and developers at the highest level. People have been leaving for Meta, Google, and especially actively — for OpenAI. The scale of the exodus was so significant that, as one source put it, the question arose: who is even left in Cupertino’s offices?
OpenAI is particularly attractive to former Apple employees — and not just because of the money. Tang Tan, a former Apple top executive, became the director of hardware engineering at OpenAI. Working alongside him are other veterans who participated in creating the iPad, Apple Watch, and even Vision Pro. On top of that, Jony Ive, Apple’s legendary designer, now collaborates with OpenAI through his studio LoveFrom. For Apple engineers, moving there feels almost like changing offices rather than companies.
What Bonuses Apple Is Offering iPhone Engineers
To retain Apple employees, the company has to pay them bonuses, and sometimes very substantial ones. Image: 9to5mac.com
According to Gurman, Apple has started offering retention bonuses ranging from $200,000 to $400,000. The payments are made not in cash directly but in company stock — and are spread over four years. This is a classic retention scheme: to receive the full amount, the engineer must stay at Apple for all four years.
The bonus size depends on the value of the specific specialist. At the same time, the final amount could grow if Apple stock appreciates during that period. For an ordinary person, the figures sound impressive, but in the world of Silicon Valley, this is a moderate offer.
Why Apple Won’t Be Able to Retain iPhone Engineers with Bonuses Alone
The problem is that competitors are willing to pay significantly more. According to the same data, OpenAI can offer a valuable engineer about $1,000,000 per year — meaning over four years, the difference compared to Apple’s bonus could be fourfold or more.
Money isn’t the only factor. OpenAI is currently at the peak of the artificial intelligence hype, and for an ambitious engineer, the opportunity to work on a new type of device (which OpenAI is developing together with LoveFrom) may be more attractive than yet another iteration of the iPhone.
How the Engineer Exodus Threatens Future iPhone Development
A talent drain of this scale isn’t just an HR problem. It’s an issue that directly affects what the new iPhone 18, the iPhone of 2027, and subsequent models will look like. It’s the hardware engineers who determine which technologies make it into the production device and which remain at the prototype stage.
The departure of engineers from Apple won’t affect the release of iPhone 18 Pro. Image: cnet.com
Mark Gurman notes that the current wave of departures is one of the largest in Apple’s nearly 50-year history. The company was slow to react to the exodus, and the current bonuses are essentially a belated attempt to stop the process.
For users, this doesn’t mean immediate problems — iPhone production has long been well-established, and the nearest models are already in the final stages of development. But in a two-to-three-year perspective, the loss of key specialists could affect the pace of innovation and the quality of engineering solutions.
Is It Worth Buying an iPhone in 2026?
Apple has a large team and will likely be able to fill the gaps. Image: apple.com
If you’re choosing a new iPhone right now — this news doesn’t affect your decision in any way. The iPhone 17 and its variations were developed long before the current wave of departures. But if you’re interested in where Apple is heading as a company, the situation is telling. For the first time in a long while, Cupertino finds itself in a catch-up position — not in products, but in the fight for the people who create those products.
And so far, the proposed bonuses look more like a gesture of goodwill than a serious counterargument against OpenAI’s million-dollar salaries. It remains to be seen whether Apple can offer its engineers something beyond money — for example, truly ambitious projects worth staying for.
