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.
Apple bets on decisiveness with John Ternus as next CEO
Known internally as a “hardware guy,” Ternus has been deeply involved in the physical design, materials and performance of Apple’s devices, shaping the look and feel of the company’s most important products while managing large engineering teams responsible for bringing them to market.
And his management style is traditional, in that he’s willing to make clear, direct calls. His colleagues told Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman that “Ternus will make decisions.”
The current Apple CEO, Tim Cook, is more likely to build consensus among top Apple executives about the best course rather than making the call alone.
Under Ternus, the company is expected to move toward a more centralized structure, with greater authority concentrated in the CEO role. That approach, some observers note, may echo elements of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ leadership, which was defined by strong individual decision-making and a clear product vision.
- See also: Is Tim Cook Apple’s best CEO ever?
A decisive CEO more in the style of Steve Jobs?
As Jobs demonstrated, Ternus’ management style can be very successful — but only if the man making all the decisions is correct. Fortunately for Apple’s future, Ternus seems to make many of the right calls. He reportedly urged the company to make the MacBook Neo, the recently released entry-level notebook that’s become a runaway hit, for example.
The incoming Apple CEO also opposed efforts to build an autonomous car and create the Apple Vision Pro headset. Apple canceled its car project mid-development, and the Vision Pro continues to struggle to find a market, given its $3,500 price.
As noted, Ternus is considered a “hardware guy,” while Cook’s focus was on operations.
Ternus “is likely to keep a sharper focus on products and rely on deputies like Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan to help him run the business,” noted Bloomberg.
More about John Ternus
John Ternus built his career at Apple as a hardware specialist, rising through the ranks over more than two decades to become one of the company’s top engineering leaders.
Trained as a mechanical engineer, Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and spent years working on product design and hardware engineering. He contributed to cornerstone devices, including the iPod and multiple generations of the iPhone.
He later took on increasingly senior roles within Apple’s hardware organization, ultimately becoming senior vice president of hardware engineering, where he oversaw development of flagship products such as the iPhone, iPad and Mac. He managed the supremely successful transition of Macs from Intel processors to Apple silicon, injecting new life into the product line.
Ternus takes over as Apple CEO on September 1, 2026. At that same time, current CEO Tim Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
