John Ternus to Lead Apple Into the AI Era

John Ternus takes over Apple with barely a week to settle in before the company’s annual iPhone event on September 9. The event is expected to bring the unveiling of Apple’s first foldable handset, placing the new chief executive’s hardware background immediately in focus.

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Tim Cook left the house in phenomenal order. But now it’s about Ternus defining the AI chapter.

The 51-year-old engineer succeeds Tim Cook, ending Cook’s 15-year run. Cook built Apple’s global supply chain and managed the company’s relationships with Beijing and Donald Trump’s White House. Ternus, by contrast, built his reputation inside the company’s hardware organization.

Ternus joined Apple’s design team in 2001 and rose to senior vice president of hardware engineering. He led the teams behind the company’s product lineup, including the iPhone, which generates most of Apple’s revenue. He is also credited with efforts to make products more durable, reliable and resilient, as well as design work that reduced their carbon footprint.

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There’s no reason to fix what’s already working.

His central challenge is artificial intelligence. Apple remains powerful in smartphones but trails competitors in AI, and some analysts had viewed software chief Craig Federighi as the more natural choice for a company trying to catch up. Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies argued that consumers still adopt technology through hardware first. “Consumers are still buying hardware first, and it’s going to be like that for a long time,” she said.

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Consumers are still buying hardware first, and it’s going to be like that for a long time. You’re not going to discover the value of AI if you’re not interested in the hardware.

Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives & Co. said Cook had left Apple in strong condition, but Ternus must now define its AI direction. He expects the new chief executive to focus on hardware innovation while preserving Cook’s supply chain. That supply chain is gradually diversifying, with iPhone assembly shifting to India and other production moving to Vietnam, although China remains a major manufacturing base and consumer market.

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Even people that know him now don’t know him as a CEO. You might know him as the head of engineering, but once you’re CEO, things change. Your responsibility is bigger, your power is bigger. You’re dancing a different kind of dance.