Who is Adibur Chowdhury? The Bangladeshi-origin designer who took the stage to introduce Apple’s iPhone Air

Abidur Chowdhury/Linkedin

At every Apple launch, there’s usually a familiar rhythm. Tim Cook opens, senior executives follow, and the spotlight stays firmly on the top brass. But this year, when Apple pulled the covers off its iPhone 17 line-up, the spotlight shifted, onto a face most viewers had never seen before.

Meet Adibur Chowdhury, an industrial designer of Bangladeshi origin, who walked onto Apple’s stage to unveil the all-new iPhone Air. Calm, confident, and slightly poetic, he described the device as “a paradox you have to hold to believe.” And in many ways, that line summed up what the iPhone Air is meant to be: thinner, lighter, yet still powerful enough to rival Apple’s Pro models. His Linkedin profile says that he has been working with Apple for the past 6 years.

Chowdhury isn’t a household name,at least not yet. His story began far away from Cupertino, at Loughborough University in the UK, where he studied design and engineering. On his professional bio, he calls himself someone who loves to “develop innovative products and joyful experiences.” That philosophy feels tailor-made for Apple, a company that has always put design at the heart of its identity.

What makes this moment special isn’t just the phone. It’s that Apple let a designer, not a top executive, take center stage. It shows how much weight the company gives to the people who actually shape the products.