Apple has reshuffled its senior management team, with SVP of iOS Software Scott Forstall leaving the company, and fellow SVPs Jony Ive, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi stepping in to split his responsibilities.

Federighi will now oversee both iOS and Mac OS X; Cue will take on Siri and Maps as part of his online services role; and Ive will now oversee “Human Interface across the company” rather than just industrial design.

There is some reading between the lines to be done in Apple’s press release – talk of “even more collaboration” between its hardware, software and services teams could imply that Forstall had been an obstacle to such collaboration.

The Wall Street Journal has more detail though, suggesting that tensions over the botched launch of Maps – and an alleged refusal by Forstall to sign Apple’s public apology for it – were the trigger for his exit.

What’s more important is what happens now: will Cue improve Siri and Maps as well as he turned the ailing MobileMe service into iCloud? What will Ive’s design sensibility mean for Apple’s own apps and software? And where will Forstall pop up next?