Secret team tackles Apple's 'moonshot' projects

A new report sheds light on the inner workings of the Exploratory Design Group.

Author

Lewis Wallace
February 27, 2023

Apple prides itself on innovation and secrecy, and the company’s Exploratory Design Group exemplifies both of those core values.

Operating like a well-funded startup within Apple’s Hardware Technologies group, XDG works on “moonshot” projects like bringing a reliable blood glucose monitor to the Apple Watch.

Our top story today details how this little-known group gets the job done.

Also in today's newsletter:

— Lewis Wallace, managing editor

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Tweetz o’ the day

One more thing ...

❝

We went through that stage in Apple where we went out and thought, ‘Oh, we’re gonna be a big company, let’s hire professional management.’ We went out and hired a bunch of professional management. It didn’t work at all…. They knew how to manage, but they didn’t know how to do anything. If you’re a great person, why do you want to work for somebody you can’t learn anything from? And you know what’s interesting? You know who the best managers are? They are the great individual contributors who never, ever want to be a manager but decide they have to be … because no one else is going to … do as good a job.

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