Lyon shared the news in an interview with TechCrunch, where he said that he moved on to Astra because he was interested in Astra's vision as it works on small satellite deployment. "I think the Astra vision is this magical combination of fundamentally taking the rocket science out of space. How do you do that? Well, you better have a great foundation of a team, and a great foundation of core technologies that you can bring together in order to make a compelling series of products," he said.
Prior to leaving Apple, Lyon worked on the iPhone, input devices and sensor hardware, and finally, the Apple Car. In 2016, he was working under Bob Mansfield, but Apple Car leadership has since shifted to AI chief John Giannandrea. Prior to leaving Apple, Lyon was reporting to Doug Field, the former Tesla engineer serving as vice president on the project.
Lyon has been on the Apple Car team since 2014, and according to Bloomberg, weathered all of the changes in leadership until moving on to Astra this year.
Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking!
Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
well, given that they are working on this presumably for 5,6,7 or so yeas, I am sure that plans have changed jut as often and people get fed up with situations like that, not saying it's the case for this specific one ...
If I live long enough to see a Jetsons car come to fruition, I will be happy. lol Make it happen Apple.
When I read news like these sometimes I wonder if working for years on a project of which you cannot speak with anybody has something to do with the decision. Purely from a human, psychological, point of view. I think it can be frustrating at times to apply everything you know to something no one has seen and maybe won’t for a longtime
