Microsoft hires Apple 5G chief to develop new HoloLens and AI products

Most of Apple’s key executives and engineers are anonymous, never appearing on stage or in news stories, but Rubén Caballero is an exception — a long-term wireless engineering VP who helped develop multiple iPhones dating back to the original model, and reportedly red-flagged the iPhone 4’s antenna design internally before it became infamous. Now Caballero has joined Microsoft, his LinkedIn page confirms (via Bloomberg), and his new role could be significant: He left Apple during its 5G modem development drama, and is likely to bring significant cellular and related wireless expertise to his new employer. Caballero’s new position includes hardware design and technology engineering for Microsoft’s mixed reality and AI division, which he notes will include “HoloLens, Special Projects and more to come” — the sort of open-ended purview that suggests eventual involvement with many Microsoft-branded devices. During his 14 years at Apple, Caballero was significantly involved in the wireless chip and antenna components for not only iPhones but also iPads, Macs, recent Apple TVs, and the final AirPort wireless routers, which is to say that his work for Microsoft may eventually include improving the cellular or wireless performance of Surface computers and AI-fueled “smart devices,” in addition to mixed reality hardware.