His departure will follow that of Chris Weeldreyer, a user interface design manager who left Apple this month after eight years to become a design manager at Facebook.

Mansfield was hired by Apple not long after Steve Jobs returned to the company and was made CEO in the late 1990s. He worked with Jobs throughout the past decade when Apple introduced a string of breakthrough products that helped to redefined the cellphone and the personal computer.

Apple's stock performed well during that time, and two years ago Mansfield sold Apple shares worth more than US$10 million.

A certain amount of attrition among senior managers was inevitable following Jobs' , said industry analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies.

"While Jobs was there, there was this sense of anticipation and excitement, of being part of a once-in-a-generation type experience. It's easy to imagine that after his death it could become a bit anticlimactic."