Steve Wozniak is open to returning to Apple

WASDted 1 315 Views

Super engineer and friend of DaniWeb, Steve Wozniak , told Reuters on Friday that he would consider returning to Apple, or more accurately returning to an active role at Apple if asked. With Steve Jobs on an indefinite medical leave (his third since 2004), the possibility of the other founding "Steve" coming back is something that excites many Apple fans. Those who know Woz, however, know that he is not at all like Jobs. If Woz was to return to active duty at Apple I would imagine him heading up the engineers. What would be even more amazing is if Jobs recovers and the founders are reunited at Apple.

Woz is currently , the company that is setting the standard for super speed server storage.

Of course, this is all hypothetical as all Woz said was "I'd consider it, yeah."

Read the full interview at Reuters .

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This thread raises the practical question behind the headlines: if Steve Wozniak actually moved from being a public supporter of tinkering to active duty inside Apple, what would realistically change — and what probably would not. ’s firsthand notes about Woz’s supportive, community-minded approach and ’s point about “proprietary-isms” set the right tone: think incremental cultural nudges, not overnight product revolutions. ’s enthusiasm and ’s caution about founder relations capture the mixed expectations in this thread.

Concrete areas where his influence would be felt most are culture and engineering priorities. Woz’s strengths are hands-on hardware and making things approachable; inside Apple that could translate into stronger internal support for prototyping, clearer hardware documentation for developers, more visible mentorship programs, and policies that make hobbyist/educational use easier. Those are changes that improve the developer and maker experience without necessarily upending Apple’s supply chain, ecosystem rules, or business model.

How that influence is delivered matters. An advisory or ambassador role focused on internal R&D, education initiatives, and public-facing engineering outreach would let him leverage credibility without becoming a bottleneck in day-to-day product decisions. Concrete steps that match his style: company-sponsored hackathons, an internal “maker lab,” more transparent developer resources, and championing engineering training inside the company.

A final note of caution: a founder’s return tends to be symbolic more than transformative unless backed by management and board authority. Expect nudges toward openness and tinkering, not an immediate reversal of long-standing strategic choices. Given the neighborhood of reactions in this thread — excitement, skepticism, and curiosity — that balance is the most plausible outcome.

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Steven_B 0 Light Poster

I wonder if the way things were run at Apple would change if he came back... Like propriety-isms!

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jingda 135 Industrious Poster

Maybe if he return, apple will have a cooperation with daniweb. That means maybe all daniweb members will get a freee ipad 3. I am still thinking when that would come out.

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Steven_B 0 Light Poster

That would definitely be awesome jingda. How much of a friend is the Woz to Daniweb exactly?

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jingda 135 Industrious Poster
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WASDted 184 Practically a Master Poster

Woz believes in a more "open" type of system where people can modify things they way they like. Perhaps he might influence Apple to make their products more open. That could be very cool and I'm sure many more people would switch to the Apple standard if their systems were a bit more flexible.

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Steven_B 0 Light Poster

I was hinting at what WASDted said: openness. Its tiring to have to have apple-only things like cables/chargers..
The interview was pretty cool but beside the fact that he was willing to sit down with DaniWeb and do an interview, I didn't conclude anything about how close he actually is/isn't with DaniWeb.

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WASDted 184 Practically a Master Poster

Steven_B, Woz and I consider each other friends for several years now. He is a very giving person and he generally supports such great, open forums like DaniWeb. He agreed to do an interview and answer questions for us and also while I was having dinner with him and his wife last year I was telling him about DaniWeb and he expressed that he appreciates this type of community. In that sense he is a "friend" to DaniWeb and to engineers and techies in general. He is a very kind and friendly person.

Edited by WASDted because: n/a
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Steven_B 0 Light Poster

That I must say is pretty awesome WASDted! I wish I had a friend like Woz!

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cretaros 0 Junior Poster in Training

Woz's a great man.

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jingda 135 Industrious Poster

Agreed

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darrylpatterson 0 Light Poster

It'd definitely be exciting if the Woz comes back. I'm not too sure about his relationship with Jobs (is it acrimonious?) but his influence on the company are sure to have good effects. At least that's what I think anyway.

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renaldocreative 0 Newbie Poster

I hope he come back.

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