A New Era Begins at Apple as John Ternus Takes the Helm

John Ternus has taken over Apple after 15 years of Tim Cook’s leadership, promising employees that “We have a huge launch next week that will be phenomenal.” His first major test will come at the company’s Sept. 9 product event.

Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone at the annual presentation, nine years after Samsung introduced one. The company also faces intense attention over a redesigned version of its Siri voice assistant, as Apple tries to catch competitors that have moved further in integrating artificial intelligence.

Ternus, a trained engineer who joined Apple in 2001, is an established product specialist inside the company. He rose to become vice president of hardware engineering and contributed to the development of the iPhone, Apple’s flagship product, which sold nearly 250 million units in 2025.

“

We have a huge launch next week that will be phenomenal.

The transition keeps Cook closely involved. As executive chairman, he will handle political affairs, an area in which he has worked to balance relations with the U.S. and Chinese governments. Analyst Dan Ives said there was “no reason to change what works” in Apple’s supply chain, which Cook guided through the coronavirus pandemic and rising U.S.-China tensions.

Apple set Ternus’ target compensation at about $58 million for fiscal 2027, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, compared with nearly $47 million for Cook. Some analysts questioned the choice of a hardware-focused successor at a turning point for AI and said software chief Craig Federighi might have been better suited. Still, Apple remains defined by its devices, a product-first identity the company appears determined to preserve.

“

no reason to change what works