Apple VP Bob Mansfield no longer an executive; will work on special projects

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Technologies Bob Mansfield is no longer said to be in the senior leadership team, after his name disappeared from the company’s executive website over the weekend.

MacRumors first reported the disappearance of Mansfield name and biography from Apple’s website, pretty much without explanation. Apple has now confirmed that Mansfield is no longer a member of the Cupertino-based company’s executive team. “Bob is no longer going to be on Apple’s executive team, but will remain at Apple working on special projects reporting to [CEO] Tim [Cook],” company spokesman Steve Dowling told AllThingsD.

Special projects coming up for Mansfield

Interestingly, it looks like there is something new cooking in the Apple office and Mansfield could be the master-chef behind this. Rumours were rife earlier this year that the former SVP could be working on developing the mythical iWatch. Some now suggest that he could have been pulled from his day-to-day activities to help develop an Apple TV product, a cheaper iPhone or even a larger-screened iPad.

Mansfield had earlier wanted to quit Apple and had announced his retirement as Senior Vice President of Hardware in June 2012, after dedicating 13 years to the company. Eventually, Mansfield reconsidered his decision to quit after much persuasion and took over the role as an SVP of Technologies. It took a great deal of effort to get Mansfield to stay on with Apple – a cash and stock package of about $2 million a month. Surely, Cook would want Mansfield to take up even bigger roles, nearly a year later. It’s not completely clear as to what role Mansfield will play within Apple now, but the fact that he’s going to be behind some special projects has intrigued us.