Michael Jurewitz (left)

For seven years, Michael Jurewitz was the face of Apple to third party developers. He was frequently seen at Tech Talks and at WWDC each year meeting the many developers that made the trek to Cupertino. Today he announced though, that he has left Apple to become a partner with Black Pixel, the company behind applications including NetNewsWire and Kaleidoscope. Jurewitz said it all on his personal blog:

Today I am pleased to announce that I will be joining Black Pixel later this month in a new director-level position and as a partner. Black Pixel is one of the foremost iOS and OS X app consulting firms in the industry, and I am excited for the opportunity to help lead their development and consulting efforts alongside a skilled management team.

For the past seven years I have worked in Apple’s Worldwide Developer Relations team helping OS X and iOS developers build the best apps in the world. Working closely with many of you in the developer community has been the highlight of my career. I have loved every minute of helping to answer your technical questions, providing technical, business, or design guidance, planning and visiting with so many of you at WWDC, traveling around the world to share the Tech Talks with you, fielding bug reports, or just being someone at Apple for you to talk to. You have challenged me, helped me grow, amazed me, and inspired me. The iOS and OS X developer community is one of the best in the world. I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with all of you and I am excited to join your ranks.

This transition for Jurewitz marks him leaving his position to join the community he helped create while at Apple. He has been a large part of shaping the development ecosystem of iOS and OS X, and will surely be missed at Apple. To his colleagues there, he had this to say:

To my colleagues at Apple, I hope you share my pride in all that we have built. Apple is the greatest company in the world because of all of you. The culture at Apple owes itself to the people and the values each of you have helped solidify — The wisdom to care about what really matters, the courage to always forge ahead, and the patience to do things right. Your work has touched countless lives and changed how the world works. I look forward to whatever comes next. You are all truly remarkable.

We wish him the very best in his new endeavor.

Read his full post here: New Beginnings

Image Via: Mosche Berman