Apple has announced that Tim Cook has stepped down as the chief executive officer at Apple. He will be replaced by John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering at the company. While Cook will continue as the CEO through the summer to ensure smooth transition, John Ternus will effectively take over as the CEO on 1 September 2026.
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“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,” said Cook.
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After joining Apple in 1998, Tim Cook was named the new chief executive officer of Apple on 24 August 2011 after Steve Jobs resigned as CEO and became chairman of the board. On 29 October 2012, Cook announced significant changes to Apple’s executive leadership team. Scott Forstall stepped down as Senior Vice President of iOS following the poorly received launch of Apple Maps. He continued as an advisor to Cook for some time before eventually leaving the company in 2013.
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John Browett, who was serving as Senior Vice President of Retail, was removed from his role just six months after joining Apple and was granted 100,000 shares valued at around $60 million.
Following Forstall’s exit, his responsibilities were redistributed among several senior leaders. Design head Jony Ive took charge of Apple’s human interface team, Craig Federighi became the head of iOS software engineering, services leader Eddy Cue assumed responsibility for Maps and Siri, and Bob Mansfield, previously Senior Vice President of hardware engineering, was appointed to lead a newly formed technology group.
Under his leadership, Apple introduced various new categories such as Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, and services ranging from iCloud and Apple Pay to Apple TV and Apple Music. Apple says that under Cook’s leadership Apple has grown from a market capitalization of approximately $350 billion to $4 trillion, representing a more than 1,000% increase, and yearly revenue has nearly quadrupled, from $108 billion in fiscal year 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal year 2025.
Who Is John Ternus?
John Ternus joined Apple’s product design team in the year 2001 and in 2013, he was appointed Vice President of Hardware Engineering under Dan Riccio, where he oversaw the development of AirPods, Mac and iPad. In 2020, he also took on responsibility for iPhone hardware, which had earlier been directly overseen by Riccio. He was promoted to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering in 2021, succeeding Riccio, and later, in 2022, was given charge of Apple Watch hardware as well. Ternus has showcased new hardware at several WWDC events, where he unveiled updates to the iMac and MacBook Pro, the 2018 iPad Pro lineup, the iMac Pro, and the redesigned 2019 Mac Pro. He has since become a regular presenter at Apple events.
“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,” said Tim Cook about his successor.
“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” said Ternus. “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.”
