After 14 years reshaping Apple into the world’s most valuable company, Tim Cook hands off to a 25-year hardware veteran who helped build its most iconic products.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down, the company announced, with John Ternus, currently Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, named as his successor. Ternus will assume the role of chief executive and join Apple’s board of directors on September 1st. Cook, who took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, will become executive chairman.
Apple has also named Johny Srouji, previously SVP of hardware technologies, as the company’s first chief hardware officer, effective immediately. Srouji will take on an expanded mandate leading hardware engineering — the division Ternus most recently oversaw — alongside his existing hardware technologies organization.
Cook joined Apple in 1998 and presided over one of the most consequential runs in corporate history, overseeing the introduction of the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, iCloud and Apple Pay. Under his leadership, Apple’s services division grew into what the company describes as a business generating more than $100 billion in annual revenue. He will remain CEO through the summer as he works with Ternus on the transition. In his new role as executive chairman, Apple says he will assist with select company matters, including engagement with policymakers globally.
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Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as part of its product design team, became VP of hardware engineering in 2013, and was elevated to the executive team as SVP in 2021. Apple says he was instrumental in the development of the iPad and AirPods and worked across multiple generations of iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch.
In a statement, Cook said: “John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future.”
Ternus, in his own statement, acknowledged the weight of the moment. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor,” he said. “I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century.”
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Ternus also announced that Tom Marieb, currently Apple’s VP of product integrity in hardware engineering, will take over as head of hardware engineering, reporting to Srouji.
The succession had been widely anticipated. The Financial Times reported late last year that Cook was considering stepping down in 2026 and that Ternus was the leading internal candidate. Subsequent reporting from the New York Times and Bloomberg confirmed him as the frontrunner.
