On September 1, 2026, John Ternus took over from Tim Cook as Apple’s CEO and joined the board. The appointment put a mechanical engineer with a background in product development in charge of the company’s financial performance, services, software and hardware.
The following week, at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, he introduced the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone. That makes the Duo an early test of his leadership. Timing alone doesn’t tell readers much about the choices he made as chief executive.
A student project built around the person using it
Ternus graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. He also rowed for Penn, His senior project was on a real-world problem: how to allow a quadriplegic person to eat independently.
In collaboration with fellow students and researchers, including Vijay Kumar, he helped build a feeding aid controlled by head movements. The mechanism, which contained no motors or electronics, guided the spoon. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with project team member Paul Feehery, who said Ternus placed priority on the Jack simulation program to ensure it could be used by a human.
Prior to Apple he worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems. He joined Apple’s product design team in 2001.
Promotions brought responsibility for more products
Ternus became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013. On January 25, 2021, he was promoted to senior vice president and joined Apple’s executive team. Dan Riccio was reassigned to a new project.
His responsibilities are given in a dated account in Apple’s announcement at the time. He was credited with leading the hardware team for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, helping to manage the Mac’s transition to Apple silicon and overseeing the engineering for the first AirPods and every generation of iPad released up to then.
The last assignment drew a link between product engineering and a change in computing architecture. M1 was announced on November 10, 2020, integrating processing, graphics and other functions into one chip. The unified memory enabled these components to operate on the same data without copying between separate memory pools. In this regard, coordination of the computer hardware design with the processor design became particularly relevant.
The responsibility for that work was spread among different people. While Ternus helped develop the computers that used its technology, Johny Srouji was the head of Apple’s chip organization. On April 20, 2026, Apple appointed Srouji as its chief hardware officer, merging his Hardware Engineering and Hardware Technologies duties.
Cook retains a formal role
Apple announced the CEO succession on April 20, 2026, more than four months before it took effect. Cook became executive chairman, with responsibilities that Apple said would include engaging with policymakers. Arthur Levinson moved from nonexecutive chairman to lead independent director.
Hardware experience meets a large services business
Apple announced the CEO succession on April 20, 2026, more than four months before it takes effect. Cook will assume the role of executive chairman, which will include policy engagement, Apple said. Arthur Levinson moved from non-executive chairman to lead independent director.
A major services company meets hardware experience
Apple’s net sales for the fiscal year ending September 27, 2025 was $416.2 billion. Services generated $109.2 billion, or roughly 26.2%. And finally, the iPhone brought in $209.6 billion, or approximately 50.4%. These figures represent the business before Ternus’ appointment as CEO.
Products had gross margin of 36.8%, services had gross margin of 75.4%. Gross margin is the revenue remaining after the cost of sales but before expenses such as research and administration. This is why the role of the CEO transcends designing the next device.
Advertising, cloud services and the App Store are the main drivers of growth in services, according to the filing. The management of those companies adds another layer of responsibility to the product engineering work that has been the focus of much of Ternus’ career.
What the $58 million pay figure measures
An amended SEC filing dated Sept. 1 shows that Ternus makes an annual base salary of $3 million. Apple also approved an equity award with a $55 million target value for fiscal 2027, of which 75% of the value is based on Apple’s total shareholder return versus other S&P 500 companies.
The $58 million figure is the combination of the stock award target value and base salary. How much he actually gets depends on the terms of the award and the value of the shares. We expect the remaining annual equity award to vest over a four-year period. As Chief Executive Officer in fiscal 2026, Apple granted him a pro-rata stock award with a target value of $2.5 million.
John Ternus first launch has delivery dates ahead
As of September 13, the iPhone Duo was a product that had been announced and was waiting for release. The starting price will be $1,999 in the United States, Apple said, with preorders starting on October 16 and deliveries on October 23.
Software has its own schedule. Apple said Siri AI will start a beta rollout on September 14 for supported English-language devices. Siri AI will leverage personal information and on-screen content to answer queries and perform actions. Availability of iOS in the European Union is not part of the initial rollout. Apple said the Duo would later in 2026 work with Apple Pencil. These limitations are important to customers who are weighing the capabilities Ternus demonstrated at its debut against the functionality that will be available to them.