in January 2009 that allowed Papermaster to begin his stint with Apple in April of that year. In his position, Papermaster oversaw the engineering of two of Apple's four revenue pillars: the iPhone and the iPod. In the second quarter of 2010, those two lines generated 44% of the company's total income.

Papermaster's departure immediately ignited speculation that it was connected to what Apple CEO Steve Jobs called "Antennagate" last month.

Shortly after the iPhone 4's late-June launch, buyers griped that signal strength plummeted and calls were interrupted when they touched the external antenna, a new design feature of Apple's popular . Days after Consumer Reports magazine said it the iPhone 4 because of the antenna and reception problems, Jobs hosted a hastily-called press conference, where he said Apple would supply to iPhone 4 owners through September.

Many felt botched its initial response to the problem when it told users to buy a case or hold the iPhone 4 without touching a small gap on the lower left side of the phone.

Patrick Kerley, senior digital strategist with Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based crisis management firm, said Apple had been caught by the mess, and gave the company only a "C" grade for how its handling of the problem.