(Image source from: Pcmag.com)
This could be the most significant change in leadership for this generation. Tim Cook will pass control of Apple Inc. to John Ternus, who will take over as Apple’s next CEO starting September 1. This planned leadership change has been officially announced following the company's 50-year anniversary. Cook will maintain his position as CEO for a few more months to assist Ternus in making the transition smooth, with Ternus beginning his role just before the annual iPhone event that month. Tim Cook will take on the title of executive chairman of Apple’s board. Currently, Ternus serves as the senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. Cook, aged 65, describes his time as CEO as the “greatest privilege of my life. ” He also expressed, “I cherish Apple deeply and feel so thankful for the chance to collaborate with an amazing team of brilliant, inventive, and caring individuals who are committed to improving our customers’ lives and creating the finest products and services worldwide. ”
Ternus, who is 50, states he is “deeply thankful for the chance to advance Apple’s mission” and adds, “Having spent nearly my entire career at Apple, I have been fortunate to work with Steve Jobs and have Tim Cook as my guide. It has been an honor to play a role in developing the products and experiences that have transformed how we connect with the world and each other. I feel hopeful about our future achievements, and I am excited to work alongside some of the most talented people in the world at Apple, all striving to be part of something greater than ourselves. ” “I am honored to take on this role, and I promise to lead with the principles and vision that have characterized this exceptional company for fifty years,” Ternus’s statement suggests a commitment to maintaining consistency. Ternus will also join the board of directors on September 1.
Tim Cook, whose full name is Timothy Donald Cook, became part of Apple in 1998 and stepped into the CEO position in 2011. Interestingly, he also assumed the CEO role shortly before a significant keynote event in October of that year, where the iPhone 4s was revealed. During his 14 years as CEO and 28 years at Apple overall, he has led the company to reach a remarkable market value of $4 trillion by October 2025. This figure reflects an increase of more than 35 times the stock price since Cook took over in 2011, with over 2.5 billion active Apple devices (including iPhones, Macs, iPads, and Watches) in use globally.
This describes how much Apple's system is part of everyday life around the world. To add more context to Cook's leadership — only 8% of CEOs in the S&P 500 have been in their roles for over 20 years, and the average CEO's time has decreased from 6 years in 2013 to around 4.8 years in 2022. By today’s measures, this is uncommon. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang (1993–present, over 30 years) and Salesforce's Marc Benioff (1999–present, over 25 years) are two other rare examples of long-term leadership.
"John Ternus has the intellect of an engineer, the spirit of an innovator, and the integrity to lead honorably. He is a visionary whose many contributions to Apple over 25 years are hard to count, and without a doubt, he is the right person to guide Apple forward. I have complete trust in his skills and character, and I am excited to collaborate with him during this transition and in my new position as executive chairman," said Tim Cook, expressing his admiration for Ternus. Over recent years, Ternus has accurately transformed Cook and Apple's product ideas into reality. The latest highly popular Apple MacBook Neo may come to mind quickly, but the range of MacBooks, the iPad series, the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the Mac Studio, which became the strongest Mac last year, are all significant achievements by Ternus.
When Cook became CEO, he was the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Leander Kahney, a seasoned tech journalist and the writer of the biography Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, described Cook as "the person who managed the supply chain. " Ternus, who is moving from his role as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, brings the essential combination of product and engineering knowledge—someone who understands the excitement seen when a new product is launched, as well as the deep work that happens in research and engineering labs to achieve that. This is likely what is needed right now. Ternus, who has already emphasized the importance of staying true to Tim Cook's vision for Apple over the years, faces the broad challenge of making sure key product lines remain appealing and successful, while also securing ongoing revenue from the Services business (which is now over a $100 billion industry, according to official figures). He must also develop new product lines. Cook oversaw the creation of many products and services, including new categories like the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, as well as services such as iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple TV, and Apple Music.
Apple shared that its market value reached $4 trillion in 2025, alongside an annual income of $416 billion in that financial year. A significant challenge for Ternus would be the company’s work in Artificial Intelligence (AI), given that Apple Intelligence is in competition with numerous AI competitors who frequently have much to express.
