Several people on his team have left Apple for very lucrative careers as designers and engineers at hardware or design firms. It's a phenomenal boost to your career.
That's a valid point though. Somehow I confused him as someone senior, since you've said "designing the next iPad" - but then you've said roommate, which does not compute.
Then again, something else does not compute in this story. If I were Apple and were about talked-about level of secrecy, I sure wouldn't let people that are designing key products easily let go. On the other hand, if people that were involved in the process, but were not all that important, how lucrative would they be to the competition (since they weren't key in the process - so no lucrative know-how)?
edit: I apologize for word mess - I have a headache.
Spoken like someone who is punching the clock at Best Buy. If you are in a technical field that deals with anything of any significance, you will work like this for much less world changing projects. Most of the things you touch has a team of engineers that work like this behind it. It could be everyday things like bringing a subway motor , a glucose meter, or a police scanner to reality. Why? I have seen it. Actually, technical staff that work the front end of development the best work/life balance (note that I didn't say good). It the guys that work out the final kinks at the end in manufacturing or testing that really get the pressure. You or team members may not even believe in the project as you go on the death march. At least it sounds like the staff at Apple believe in the final goal.
Think of it as doing a post-grad degree. Games are often like this too. Each one is a masters, but if you do good work, the connections and portfolio can make the rest of your career significantly easier. Plus, you're hopefully working on cool stuff.
