John Ternus is the CEO of Apple and serves on the company’s board of directors. He became CEO on September 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook, who moved into the role of executive chairman.
Ternus holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. after graduation, he worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems.
Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and steadily rose through the company’s product development ranks, building a reputation as a detail-oriented engineer and calm operator before becoming one of Apple’s most visible hardware leaders.
He worked on and later led teams responsible for major products across the lineup, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac and AirPods, and became known to the public through polished keynote presentations during Apple events.
In 2021, he was named Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, putting him in charge of nearly all of Apple’s core device engineering at a time when the company was transitioning Macs to Apple silicon and expanding its hardware ambitions.
Over the years, his role grew beyond pure engineering execution, reflecting Apple’s trust in his ability to oversee complex, cross-functional product efforts.
John Ternus took over the role of Apple CEO from Tim Cook in September, 2026.
As CEO, Ternus leads Apple at a time when the company is expanding its use of artificial intelligence while continuing to develop new hardware and services. His long background in hardware engineering makes him Apple’s first CEO with a career primarily focused on the development of its products since the company’s co-founder Steve Jobs.
Apple CEO John Ternus is reportedly spending far more time in the design studio than Tim Cook ever did. He’s there several times a week, sometimes more than once a day.
It’s clearly different from the Tim Cook era. Many people think design influence at Apple slipped after Jony Ive left the company back in 2019, but Ternus seems determined to fix that.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: New Apple CEO John Ternus reportedly wants to make Apple lean and agile. He wants to eliminate bloat — and push out more products at a faster tempo.
Is he tamping out his own “bozo explosion” at Apple? Or is the “hardware guy” just bringing a more engineering-focused eye to Cupertino’s top job? There’s plenty to discuss!
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
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Apple’s new CEO John Ternus is reportedly pushing for a leaner organization that can move faster and experiment more aggressively. He plans to focus on engineering and push to release more products, more often.
Ternus also could move the company away from its tradition of a few monumental product launches. Rather than concentrating major product announcements into a few annual events, he supposedly wants Apple to introduce products throughout the year.
The planned changes reportedly come with layoffs and other staff reductions as Ternus shakes up the ranks at Apple.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: New Apple CEO John Ternus steps into his role with a wealth of hardware experience and a supremely promising product pipeline. And he’ll lead his first Apple event next week.
What will he hit us with during the Surprise and Shine event? And how will he change Apple going forward? There’s lots to ponder.
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
John Ternus officially took over as Apple’s CEO on Tuesday, and his key challenge will likely be the classic “innovator’s dilemma.” Should he focus on maintaining Apple’s dominant position or ruthlessly cannibalize the products he helped develop during his 25-year career at Apple?
Ternus, a certified hardware guy, replaced operations whiz Tim Cook, who served as Apple’s CEO for 15 years after taking over from Steve Jobs. Apple updated its website’s leadership page to reflect this gigantic change — and it reveals some of Ternus’ top priorities going forward.
Apple TV isn’t going anywhere once John Ternus takes over as CEO. This week, he praised the streaming service’s momentum and promised to keep building on it.
Ternus takes the reins from current Apple CEO Tim Cook on September 1. His comments suggest Apple’s entertainment push will remain a priority, even though the streaming service reportedly loses money each year.
Apple has resisted putting a touchscreen on its laptops for years. But one of the most credible voices in the Apple supply chain rumor space declared that resistance officially over on Thursday. The long-rumored touchscreen MacBook is “100% confirmed,” they said.
Recently promoted Apple Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji will reorganize his division and shift oversight of product design in a move aimed at speeding up development of future devices, according to a new report Tuesday.
With John Ternus taking over as Apple CEO this fall, Tim Cook, the company’s current chief, revealed on Thursday what he told his successor.
It’s advice that should please any iPhone or Mac user.
Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus promises he will be just as much of a profit-focused bean counter as his predecessor, current CEO Tim Cook.
“As you know, one of the hallmarks of Tim’s tenure has been a deep thoughtfulness, deliberateness and discipline when it comes to the financial decision-making of the company,” Ternus said Thursday during Apple’s earnings call with Wall Street analysts. “I want you to know that it’s something Kevan and I intend to continue when I transition into the role in September,” Ternus added, referring to Apple CFO Kevan Parekh.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: Holy mackerel, Tim Cook really is stepping down from his CEO role at Apple! And it’s happening sooner than most of us thought. His replacement, John Ternus, sounds like a solid pick — a hardware guy with a long history in Cupertino.
Cook himself says he wants the four-month transition to be “a textbook succession plan, the best in the world.” So the big question is, what will this transition look like for Apple? We’ve got some thoughts. (Lots of ’em, actually.)
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
As the upcoming CEO of Apple, John Ternus is surely getting deluged with advice, and I do not have the hubris to tell him what he should do. But my decades of reporting on the tech business have shown me that there’s something he absolutely must not do … because it could ruin the company.
Do not ship anything before it’s finished. You’d think that would be obvious, but it’s a mistake companies make over and over. Even Apple has done it a time or two — and that includes with a product still in its lineup today.
John Ternus, the Apple exec slated to become CEO in September, said Tuesday that the company is “about to change the world once again.”
Ternus, currently Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, made the pledge to Apple employees during an all-hands meeting. During the talk, Ternus and retiring Apple CEO Tim Cook promised to work together to bring great new products and services to market.
Apple’s appointment of John Ternus as its next CEO signals a potential shift in leadership style at the company, with insiders pointing to his decisive approach to decision-making.
In contrast, outgoing CEO Tim Cook is more of a consensus builder.
Is Tim Cook Apple’s best CEO? No, that title belongs to Steve Jobs — but Cook definitely comes in a very close second.
In a remarkable 15 years at the helm of Apple, Cook oversaw extraordinary growth, released a string of innovative products, and instituted important internal changes.
He performed almost flawlessly, and, to my mind, has only done one thing wrong.
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a heartfelt letter of thanks to Apple users.
As Cook gets ready to step down as CEO on September 1, 2026, he expressed his gratitude to the Apple community for making his work meaningful.
It’s a nice, sincere note of appreciation — and typically humble. You can read the full text of Cook’s letter below.
Apple announced a sweeping leadership transition on Monday, naming longtime executive John Ternus as its next chief executive officer in September. Current CEO Tim Cook will move into a new role as executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors at that time.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” said Cook in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.”
iPad aficionados should be excited that John Ternus could someday take over as Apple CEO. As the head of hardware engineering, he’s been a sort of cheerleader for Apple’s tablet, including urging the company to develop new capabilities that push the iPad beyond being just a big iPhone.
If Ternus becomes Apple CEO — he’s apparently the frontrunner for the position — he’d have the authority to ensure the iPad fulfills its enormous potential.
John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, reportedly just added an even more critical role at the company, being put in charge of design for the first time.
The intent of the change might be to give Ternus the experience needed to someday become Apple CEO.
November 17, 2020: Apple releases the first three Macs powered by the company’s new M1 chip. The Apple silicon processor sparks a renaissance at Apple, with the excellent new computers surprising nearly everyone with their bold mix of power and efficiency.
The switch to Apple silicon could not have come soon enough for Apple. The era of Intel-powered Macs began promisingly enough, but went out with a long whimper. The stark contrast in Apple’s commitment to the platform, and the unbelievable value the new Mac models offered, made the Apple silicon era a golden age for the Mac.
Apple is preparing for a major internal reorganization ahead of COO Jeff Williams’ retirement later this year. As part of the rejig, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, will oversee the health and fitness team.
Meanwhile, leadership of the watchOS division will move to Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering.
With the surprise retirement of Apple COO Jeff Williams on Tuesday, all bets are off concerning the next CEO of Apple.
Williams, a 27-year Apple veteran, was widely regarded as the likely next CEO of Apple when Tim Cook eventually steps down.
But with Williams out of the running, Apple senior vice presidents John Ternus or Craig Federighi are now seen as the most probable candidates for the top spot.
But I think it could be someone else entirely — and it’s a pick I haven’t seen anyone else make.
Here’s who I think might be the next CEO of Apple, and why.
In another significant leadership reshuffle at Apple, a little-known robotics team will soon move from AI chief John Giannandrea’s oversight to John Ternus, Apple’s senior VP of Hardware Engineering, according to a new report Thursday.
This shift follows last month’s decision to remove Siri from Giannandrea’s responsibilities after concerns about execution on product development.
Popular tech influencer Marques Brownlee shared a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday from his visit to Apple labs that do durability testing like iPhone water testing. You’ve probably never seen iPhones this wet. And you’ve probably never subjected yours to such punishment.
Along the way, he fit in an interesting video chat with Apple hardware honcho John Ternus about product reliability versus repairability, below.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: With the many AI-powered features reportedly coming in iOS 18, a Siri revamp sounds possible — and promising! We talk about OpenAI’s startlingly good GPT-4o demos and wonder if Siri will ever amaze us like that.
Also on The CultCast:
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