At Apple’s recent iPhone 16 launch event at Cupertino Park, three engineers of Indian origin took the spotlight with their groundbreaking contributions to the company’s latest technological marvel. The iPhone 16, Apple’s first smartphone with integrated artificial intelligence, owes much of its innovative edge to the efforts of these engineers, from advancements in camera technology to breakthroughs in chip design.
During the keynote, attention was centred on three key figures: product manager Piyush Pratik, camera hardware engineering manager Paulom Shah, and Sribalan Santhanam, vice-president of Apple’s silicon engineering group. Each of them played a critical role in the development of the iPhone 16, driving its cutting-edge features and performance.
Piyush Pratik, a gold medallist from IIT-Delhi, introduced a significant camera innovation in the new iPhone 16 series—a dedicated camera control button on the phone’s side. This button allows users to take photos with a click and adjust the zoom by sliding, while double-pressing enables easy switching between modes and settings. Pratik’s journey to Apple was anything but conventional. Starting as an associate consultant at Bain & Company, he later pursued an MBA at Stanford University, graduating in 2019 before joining Apple. His biography humorously captures his diverse experiences, from managing a $500 million housing project for the Ghanaian government to watching Avengers: Endgame over 10 times. Pratik credits his love of free food as a reason for sticking with tech post-Stanford and jokes about dedicating much of his income to streaming services just to have conversation starters.
The new camera innovations also include the iPhone’s return to a vertical layout for better spatial video, a brighter micro-lens display, and the widely popular “Dynamic Island” feature across models. Two new buttons—a capture button for more intuitive camera control and an action button—have also been introduced to enhance user experience.
Paulom Shah, who played a pivotal role in these camera developments, has grown from a camera design intern to managing the team responsible for the wide and telephoto camera designs on the iPhone. Before joining Apple, Shah worked at companies like Blackberry and Lytro, now a part of Google. A graduate of the University of Waterloo with a degree in Mechatronics Engineering, Shah expressed his pride on LinkedIn, saying he was honoured to represent the camera team on a global stage during the keynote, calling it a dream come true.
Lastly, Sribalan Santhanam, Apple’s vice-president of silicon engineering, took the stage to discuss the revolutionary ‘Apple Intelligence’ feature. Santhanam, who has been with Apple since the acquisition of PA Semi in 2008, leads the team behind Apple’s A-series processors, the powerful chips at the heart of iPhones. His long-standing career in the semiconductor industry dates back to the mid-1990s, with stints at Broadcom and PA Semi. Santhanam holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and an undergraduate degree from Anna University in Chennai.
Together, these engineers have helped shape the future of Apple’s product lineup, showcasing a mix of technical prowess and creative innovation that has cemented the iPhone 16 as a standout in the world of smartphones.
