Microsoft hires Apple veteran Ruben Caballero for hardware, AI division

Ruben Caballero was one of the founding leaders of the iPhone hardware team and later expanding his role to include iPad, Apple Watch, Macintosh and all other hardware products

Microsoft has hired former senior Apple executive Ruben Caballero for its hardware division that makes HoloLens Mixed Reality headsets.

An Apple veteran, Caballero has joined Microsoft as Corporate Vice President Engineering - Hardware Design & Technology at its Mixed Reality and AI Division which is responsible for the development of HoloLens and other "Special Projects".

Caballero worked as Vice President of Engineering at Apple for nearly 14 years on the strategy, roadmap and design of products, including the first designs of the iPhone and iPad.

He was one of the founding leaders of the iPhone hardware team and later expanding his role to include iPad, Apple Watch, Macintosh and all other hardware products, according to his LinkedIn bio.

In addition, he became the product leader for the last two generations of Apple TV and Airport devices.

Microsoft's HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, which was introduced at Mobile World Congress in February last year, is now available to purchase.

The next-generation AR headset is built off a Qualcomm system-on-a-chip and is targeted at enterprise, not mainstream customers.

The headset offers a new time-of-flight depth sensor, combined with built-in artificial intelligence and semantic understanding to enable direct manipulation of holograms in a more realistic fashion.

Microsoft is offering three pricing options for HoloLens 2: A $3,500 HoloLens 2 developer edition (available with financing for $99 per user per month); a HoloLens 2 device-only SKU for $3,500; and a HoloLens 2 subscription version (with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist preloaded) starting at $125 per user per month.

Additionally, the tech giant is also working on a custom US military version of the HoloLens.