As of today, September 1, 2026, John Ternus is finally taking the reins as Apple’s CEO – a move that’s been a long time coming after the company’s board laid out a carefully thought out succession plan that Tim Cook had been a part of from the beginning. On the same day, Ternus joins the Apple Board of Directors, marking the beginning of what will be his eight year run as the company’s chief executive.
Cook is signing off after fifteen remarkable years at the helm, years that have seen Apple’s value leap from around $350 billion to become the second company in history to hit a $5 trillion market cap. You get the sense that this handover is the result of some very careful planning, rather than a sudden change of heart, and it should give John Ternus a strong foundation to build on.
John Ternus – A Builder’s Track Record
Ternus has spent 25 years working his way up inside Apple’s product development machine. He joined back in 2001, and then became the VP of Hardware in 2013 before being bumped up to SVP of the division in 2021. Along the way he’s been instrumental in creating some of the company’s most popular products, including the iPad and AirPods, guided several generations of iPhone development, and played a key role in getting Macs onto Apple’s own custom chip designs.
Cook described John Ternus as “the kind of person with the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity” when he announced the change, and that really does sum up why so many people inside Apple have seen him as the natural person to take the top spot. And at the end of the day, he’s not stepping into unknown territory – he helped build a lot of the company he’s now leading.
Good Vibes on AI
One of the most interesting things about this transition is the roll-out of the reworked Siri, which is finally being rolled out to the masses this month. Apple partnered with Google to bring in some of the best bits of Gemini into the new Siri, giving it the ability to have multi-turn conversations and work with different apps. So far, early impressions have been pretty positive, which is great timing for Ternus as he gets settled into his new role. Given his experience running hardware development, you can be sure that he’s going to make sure that future devices and the new AI software all work together seamlessly rather than feeling like separate systems.
No Grace Period
John Ternus isn’t going to have much time to ease into his new job, and to be honest that might be a good thing. Apple’s annual fall event, which is expected to kick off around September 9, is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious in the company’s history yet. The line-up is going to include the iPhone 18 Pro and a foldable iPhone (which he had a hand in developing), and there are also reports of other products still in the works, including AirPods with cameras that can sense your surroundings, smart glasses, and a home screen display. All of these are areas where Ternus already brings a ton of experience and knowledge from his previous role.
Cook’s not going anywhere either – he’s going to be taking on a new role as executive chairman. He will carry on serving Apple in managing the ties with policy makers and government heads world-wide and made very clear to Ternus that he will be a available to him during the transition. Board chair for many years is Art Levinson who takes over as the lead independent director which also adds much more experience guiding at this stage. All of this goes back to a company, which value new perspectives in leadership at the same degree they value old ones.