On September 1 2026 John Ternus was appointed as the new chief executive of Apple by the board of directors, concluding Tim Cook’s 15 years career as the CEO. It was the first time Apple had a new chief executive after Steve Jobs as he handed the position to Tim Cook, the COO, in 2011. The changeover was announced in April and unanimously approved by Apple’s board following a long-planned succession.
Cook remains with the company as executive chairman. Ternus, formerly senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, also joined the board on the same day he was named CEO. Ternus is a company lifer.
Born in May 1975 in California, he received a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, then for a short time worked for Virtual Research Systems and for12, before landing at Apple in the product design team in 2001. In 2013 he was bumped to vice president of hardware engineering, and in 2021, senior vice president.
In his career of over 25 years he has contributed to almost all of the physical products of Apple: multiple generations of iPhone iPad Mac, Apple Watch, Air Pods and Vision Pro, and the move to Apple silicon has.
Apple has acknowledged him as: ‘contributing to products like the Mac Book Neo and iPhone Air’. He is roughly the same age Cook was when he was appointed CEO, being about 51. Cook said he was a “dreamer” with “the brain of an engineer, the heart of an innovator, and the soul to lead honorably and with integrity.
” Ternus expressed his appreciation for having been mentored by Cook and having worked closely with Jobs. Ternus is a college graduate. He was born in California in May 1975. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Pennsylvania in 1997. After short working at Virtual Research Systems, Ternus joined Apple design team in 2001. He was appointed as vice president of hardware engineering in 2013 and senior vice president in 2021.
Has contributed to the shaped artifacts that constitute Apple: from the successive evolution of iPhone iPad Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro, to the transition to Apple silicon. Has been recognized by Apple for involvement in projects like the Mac Book Neo and iPhone Air. Has been working at Apple for almost 25 years, and is 51 age of cook when he was appointed as a CEO.
Cook described him as a visionary who had “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and honor.” Ternus said that he was “fortunate to have had Jobs as a boss and Cook as a mentor.
Cook won’t be walking away. As executive chairman he’s likely toremain engaged in some risky relationshipsnamely with policymakersand China, where Apple not only has most of its supply chain butalso Yes a good proportion of iPhone volume.
221 Armstron James Ternus was appointed to the board upon departure of long serving non-executive chairman, Arthur Levinson. Keeps continuity at a company whose market value grew to multi-trillions of dollars of value under Cook, while giving Ternus day-to-day control of products, strategy, and operations.
Ternus takes command of a company that remains a leader in the high-end smartphone market but has been viewed as falling behind in generative AI. His new mandate: integrate AI more seamlessly into Apple products while maintaining the hardware-centric approach which has underpinned its reputation.
He arrives just days ahead of Apple’s September fall product event scheduled for the 9th, where the company is expected to unveil a new iPhone family andbased on several reportsits first foldable iPhone.
Other upcoming hardware has been far more aspirational accessories and home devices. Those launches will also be the first real-world test of how Ternus introduces himself as Apple’s CEO.
As before, Apple again picked an insider instead of using an outside operator. Cook, like Ternus, is a supply-chain and operations maven who built up a product company from a humble start, while Ternus is a product and hardware wizard who has been called upon to take that same company into the world of AI.
We will see soon whether that experience is sufficient: first at the September event, then in whether the company can convert years of waiting into an actual product users want to buy.
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