Does Apple have the resources for this project in particular? I really don't know. However in the general context, I think you lack understanding of two things:

Does Apple have the resources for this project in particular? I really don't know. However in the general context, I think you lack understanding of two things: 1. You cannot simply put your standard programmer(or any number of them) with undergrad (even with superb knowledge) of combinatorial algoritms in the former position of someone with a graduate degree that focused on algorithms engineering who didn't give a damn about even the smallest aspects of software engineering like version control or documentation. You have even less ability to do this on an embedded device for numerically sensitive algorithms. I've been in this position (except with a far broader background in mathematics and algorithms engineering) at least a couple times with other engineers with graduate degrees in the requisite areas and (I'm not exaggerating) it is truly a fucking nightmare. 2. Just because you are a VP doesn't mean your managers are willing to approve the amount money that goes into a number of algorithms engineers fixing or rewriting a product that just barely functions well enough. I am incredibly close to a couple people that are VPs at companies with ~10,000 people and you would be surprised with how little power they can have on hiring sometimes. Companies are not bottomless pits of money and the people at the top usually treat it as such.