After 15 years running Apple, Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO on September 1, 2026. Taking over is John Ternus, currently Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering.
Ternus is a 25-year Apple veteran who started out as an engineer working on external monitors and eventually oversaw the creation of the original iPad and AirPods. He also recently led the introduction of the MacBook Neo, Apple’s first low-cost MacBook.
Cook isn’t leaving entirely. He’ll stay on through the summer to help with the transition, then move into an executive chairman role where he’ll mainly engage with policymakers and government officials around the world, being essentially Apple’s global diplomat.
It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.
Tim Cook
John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future. I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman.
Ternus is a mechanical engineer by training, studied at Penn, and briefly worked at a VR company before joining Apple in 2001. Unlike Cook, who built his reputation mastering supply chain logistics, Ternus is a product guy who can get deep into chip specs and device internals.
He’s what you’d call a technical person whose detailed understanding of Apple’s hardware helped reverse a period of product quality decline.
People who’ve worked with him describe him as unusually warm; when offered a private office, he reportedly turned it down to keep sitting with his team.
I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward. Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another. I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come, and I am so happy to know that the most talented people on earth are here at Apple, determined to be part of something bigger than any one of us. I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century.
John Ternus
Also getting a promotion is Johny Srouji, the engineer largely responsible for Apple Silicon, including the M1 chip that cut Apple’s dependence on Intel.
He becomes Chief Hardware Officer and takes over the hardware engineering organization that Ternus is leaving behind. Tom Marieb, currently VP of product integrity, steps in as SVP of Hardware Engineering under Srouji.
Cook’s run had real highlights, including the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pay, iCloud, and a services business that now clears $100 billion annually. However, it also had its misses: the Apple Vision Pro hasn’t found mass adoption at $3,500, and the Apple Car was quietly canceled.
His biggest legacy is probably transforming Apple into a $4 trillion company with an iron grip on its supply chain and an ecosystem that’s hard to leave.
Ternus inherits a complicated picture. Apple has been criticized for being slow on AI and cautious about new product categories, and some of that caution is reportedly attributed to Ternus himself.
He’s also walking into ongoing uncertainty around US-China trade, where Apple still depends heavily on Chinese manufacturing even as iPhone market share in China slips.
READ: Why The US-China Trade War Will Only Make Things Worse For Apple
What he does have going for him is deep institutional knowledge, strong internal goodwill, and apparently a tabletop robot project in the pipeline. Only time will tell if that’s enough to define the next era of Apple.
