Dorothy

Apple has hired Sebastiaan de With, co-founder of the iPhone camera app Halide and known for his work on third-party photography tools, joining its design team—a move confirmed by de With himself. This hire coincides with the release of Apple’s 2025 iPhone lineup, which includes new models such as the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and the newly introduced ultra-thin iPhone Air, according to The Verge. Additionally, Halide has launched a major update—Halide Mark III—with a public preview of its “Process Zero II” feature, enhancing HDR processing and user control over image capture. Apple has also continued supporting older iOS devices by renewing digital certificates to maintain functionality for core services like iMessage and FaceTime, a practice noted by Ars Technica as part of its long-term software maintenance strategy. While The Verge frames these developments as evidence of Apple’s aggressive innovation in both hardware and software, particularly highlighting the iPhone Air as a novel product category, Ars Technica offers a more measured view, focusing on incremental updates and infrastructure maintenance rather than disruptive change. The Verge also emphasizes the cultural significance of de With’s move from independent developer to Apple, portraying it as a sign of Apple attracting top-tier design talent. In contrast, Ars Technica does not comment on the hiring’s implications for Apple’s creative direction but instead details technical updates to Creator Studio subscriptions and legacy system support, suggesting a focus on stability over spectacle. No source disputes the core facts of the hire, product release, or certificate renewal—only their broader significance varies by perspective.