The Tim Cook era at Apple has ended: John Ternus takes over as CEO

The Tim Cook era at Apple, which began in 2011, has officially come to an end. John Ternus, the company's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, took over as CEO effective September 1, 2026.

The leadership change, which Apple announced in April, was completed following a planned transition process unanimously approved by the board of directors. Tim Cook will not be leaving the company; he will continue to remain at Apple with the title of executive chairman.

It was noted that Cook managed the transition process by working closely with Ternus throughout the summer, and he will continue to support the company in the new era, particularly in areas such as relations with policymakers. Arthur Levinson, who has served as independent chairman of the board for 15 years, also became lead independent director as of September 1. Ternus joined the Apple board of directors on the same date.

COOK'S LEGACY AND TERNUS'S TEST

Tim Cook transformed Apple into a much larger company on a global scale after taking over from Steve Jobs. During the Cook era, new product and service categories such as Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pay, and Apple Vision Pro came to the fore. The company also achieved a significant performance transformation on the Mac side with the Apple Silicon transition.

It is stated that during this period, Apple's market value rose from approximately 350 billion dollars to 4.6 trillion dollars, while annual revenue increased from 108 billion dollars in the 2011 fiscal year to over 416 billion dollars in the 2025 fiscal year. It is noted that items on the services side, such as the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Pay, have exceeded 100 billion dollars annually.

The main challenge ahead for John Ternus will be to strengthen Apple's perception of innovation while maintaining the financial stability of the Cook era. The company has recently faced comments that it has fallen behind its competitors, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence. The expected foldable iPhone and deeper artificial intelligence integration into products at the September hardware event are seen as among the new CEO's first major tests.

WHO IS JOHN TERNUS?

John Ternus, who joined Apple's product design team in 2001, became Vice President of Hardware Engineering in 2013 and Senior Vice President in 2021. Ternus managed hardware engineering processes for many generations of iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Ternus is known to have worked at Virtual Research Systems before Apple. Within the company, he stood out for his work in areas such as the revitalization of the Mac, product durability, repairability, and the reduction of the carbon footprint.

''Being the CEO of Apple has been the greatest privilege of my life. John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the spirit of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity. I have no doubt that he is the right person to carry Apple into the future.''

Ternus, upon taking over the role, emphasized that he has spent almost his entire career at Apple. Stating that he had the chance to work with Steve Jobs and consider Tim Cook his mentor, Ternus said he would lead with Apple's values.

According to analysts, Ternus's success will depend on Apple both maintaining its current business model and initiating a product cycle that will strongly recapture consumer interest. For this reason, eyes are turned to the new CEO's artificial intelligence moves and potential form changes on the iPhone side during his first term.

News Source: 12punto