Apple names John Ternus CEO, Tim Cook to become executive chairman

Apple turned to its longtime hardware chief to lead the next phase of a company worth about $4 trillion, naming John Ternus chief executive officer and moving Tim Cook to executive chairman in a carefully planned handoff that the board approved unanimously.

The change takes effect on September 1, 2026. Cook will remain chief executive through the summer to help ensure a smooth transition, and Ternus will join Apple’s board on the same day. Apple framed the move as the result of a long-term succession process, signaling continuity at the top even as the company faces one of the most demanding strategic moments in its history.

Ternus, 50, is an Apple veteran who has spent 25 years at the company. He joined Apple’s product design team in 2001, became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013 and advanced to senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021. Before Apple, he earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and competed on the varsity swimming team. He also worked as a mechanical engineer designing virtual reality headsets.

The promotion puts a product and hardware specialist in charge at a time when Apple is being pushed to prove it can keep pace in artificial intelligence. Reuters and other reports have described Ternus as a longtime insider being asked to guide the company through a market reshaped by AI, as rivals race to build AI-powered devices that could weaken Apple’s hold on consumer electronics. Apple has also been criticized for moving too slowly on breakthrough technologies.

Ternus’s elevation may also reflect where Apple sees its next opportunities. Bloomberg reporting said he has overseen AI-related hardware concepts including smart glasses, AirPods with cameras, a wearable pendant and a nearly 20-inch foldable iPad that could work as a laptop-tablet hybrid. He has also been overseeing what Bloomberg described as the biggest set of iPhone redesigns in the product’s history.

Cook’s exit from the CEO role closes a 15-year run that began in 2011, when he succeeded Steve Jobs. Under Cook, Apple grew from roughly $350 billion in market value to about $4 trillion, while annual revenue climbed from about $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal 2025. The company’s next chapter now rests with an executive whose career has been built inside Apple’s hardware machine, a choice that suggests the board is betting on disciplined continuity even as pressure mounts for a genuine product breakthrough.