Mark Papermaster, the former IBM exec who sparked a lawsuit when he tried to move to Apple in 2008, has now left Apple for greener pastures. The New York Times confirmed with Apple that Papermaster was no longer working there, though it was unclear whether he had quit or was let go. Papermaster was Senior VP of Devices Hardware Engineering, and in charge of the hardware for the iPhone 4.

The grapevine suggests this break-out between Steve Jobs and his new VP were sparked by the iPhone 4 antenna issues that have been plaguing the new iPhone since launch, and had to be resolved by giving out free bumpers with every iPhone. This shrewd piece of media tagging remains unconfirmed though, as Mark Papermaster remains unavailable for comment. He worked for Apple for one year and three months.The Wall Street Journal claims that Papermaster had a “falling out” with Steve Jobs over corporate culture differences and had lost Jobs’ confidence “months ago.”