Apple CEO Tim Cook this week announced his decision to step down as Apple CEO and that John Ternus will be taking over. The announcement is a huge shift for Apple as Tim Cook has been CEO of Apple since taking over for Steve Jobs in 2011. During Cook’s tenure as CEO, Apple has grown its market capitalization from just under $350 billion to today’s $4 trillion valuation. Industry experts have long speculated that the 51-year-old Ternus would become Cook’s eventual successor. When Ternus takes the reins this September, he will become the company’s eighth CEO. Apple says Tim Cook will become executive chairman of the board. Ternus, who was previously hardware engineering chief, will be replaced by Johny Srouji in an expanded capacity and Tom Marieb more directly.
Apple will launch iPhone 18 series under new CEO John Ternus
As announced in Tim Cook’s memo to Apple employees and in the company’s 8-K filing made to the SEC that John Ternus will take over as Apple CEO from September 1. Apple traditionally launches new iPhones in the second week of September, this means that the company will be launching iPhone 18 series under the leadership of the new CEO Ternus. Here’s what Apple’s 8-K filing to SEC reads: “On April 20, 2026, Apple Inc. (“Apple”) announced that Tim Cook will transition from his role as Chief Executive Officer to Executive Chair of Apple’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), effective September 1, 2026 (the “Transition Date”). On April 17, 2026, the Board appointed John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board, in each case effective on the Transition Date. Art Levinson, current Chair of the Board, will become Lead Independent Director on the Transition Date.”Tim Cook oversaw every iPhone release since the iPhone 4S, the introduction of Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pay, Apple Vision Pro, and the Mac’s transition from Intel to Apple silicon.
Apple picks an ‘Apple guy’ as CEO
With John Ternus as CEO, Apple is continuing a long-running tradition of internal promotion. Ternus is an Apple veteran and has been with the company for 25 years. As Tim Cook said in his memo, ‘John Ternus is a brilliant engineer and thinker who has spent the past 25 years building the Apple products our users love so much, obsessed with every detail, focused on every possible way we can make something better, bolder, more beautiful, and more meaningful. He is the perfect person for the job.’ Over the last two-plus decades, Ternus is said to have become a key architect of Apple’s robust product pipeline, managing hardware engineering for iPad, AirPods, and recent iPhone models.
Hardware remains key for Apple
The elevation of the hardware team head as Apple CEO also shows that ‘hardware’ remains the most important part of Apple’s business. As Morgan Stanley analysts wrote that “promoting him to CEO clearly shows Apple’s emphasis on product at the center of the flywheel will remain.”
John Ternus has also worked under Steve Jobs
John Ternus has not only worked under Tim Cook but also under Apple founder Steve Jobs. As John Ternus wrote in his note to Apple employees: “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.”
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