A long-time Apple product and marketing executive who worked on things like GarageBand, Logic, iTunes, and the iPod has recently departed the company, 9to5Mac has learned. Xander Soren first joined Apple in 2001 and describes himself as one of the co-creators of GarageBand.
Soren held a number of different titles over his 21 years at Apple, most recently serving as the company’s “Director of Product Marketing for Pro Apps.” He originally joined Apple after a stint as a product manager at Sonic Foundry. He departed in November 2022.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Soren was one of the “co-creators of GarageBand,” which Apple formally introduced in 2004. At the time, he was a product manager working on the GarageBand and iPod teams. For context, GarageBand was developed under the leadership of Gerhard Lengeling, who came to Apple following the company’s acquisition of audio company Emagic.
Shortly after the initial introduction of GarageBand, Soren was promoted to become the company’s “senior product line manager for consumer audio applications.” In addition to his work on GarageBand and the iPod, Soren also worked closely on other iLife apps, iTunes, Logic Pro, Voice memos, and more. He also helped produce some of the first ringtones for the original iPhone.
Over the years, Soren presented on-stage at various Apple events. He appeared alongside Steve Jobs to demo GarageBand features a few times, including in 2010 at Apple’s “Back to the Mac” event and in 2011 to show off GarageBand for the iPad on the iPad 2.
In more recent years, Soren served as an advocate for Apple’s “Pro Apps” software category. Apple’s “Pro Apps” package includes things Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage. In interviews last year, for example, he heralded the Mac Studio and Studio Display as being created based on feedback from Pro users.
Through his work on apps like GarageBand and Logic Pro, plus the early days of iTunes and the iPod, Soren helped Apple facilitate relationships with artists and musicians. A “farewell” video put together by some of his Apple colleagues includes messages of support from a slew of different artists and producers.
Soren officially departed Apple in November and doesn’t appear to be planning any sort of moves in the technology or music industry. Instead, his LinkedIn says he’s launching a wine business this year. The departure appears to have been completely amicable and on good terms.
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