Cook Steps Down as Apple Enters the Ternus Era

Author: Yunpeng, Zhidx

Editor | Xinyuan

Cook bids farewell, but it's not "goodbye."

Zhidx, September 1 – Early this morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook officially posted a farewell message and issued a company-wide letter on his last day as CEO.

Apple is about to complete another core leadership transition in its history: Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus officially succeeds Cook as Apple's third CEO.

▲ John Ternus

The farewell tweet was very brief, but the company-wide letter was over a thousand words, full of emotion. Cook said what he is most proud of is something that can never be recorded on financial statements—the corporate culture of making the world a better place through technology.

Cook once again mentioned Steve Jobs, who described "leaving a dent in the universe."

Cook expressed great satisfaction in handing over to Ternus, saying Ternus deeply understands how to create products that change the world. The comments section, besides thanking Cook, was filled with nostalgia for his "Good Morning." But don't worry—Cook isn't really saying "Good Bye."

**After ending his 15-year tenure as CEO, Cook will transition to the role of Executive Chairman of Apple's Board of Directors. Bloomberg reported that after handing over the CEO role, Cook will remain closely involved with Apple and continue to maintain good relations with the Trump administration and China,** assisting with global policy matters.

At the 2026 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting, Warren Buffett praised Cook for carrying on Jobs' legacy.

During Cook's era, Apple's annual revenue grew about fourfold, and its market value soared 15 times. Although Cook never created the "next" iPhone, he launched successful products including AirPods and Apple Watch, as well as Apple Pay and Apple Music, pushing services revenue higher than the entire company's profit when he first took over.

On August 23, Apple held a farewell event for Cook at Apple Park, attended by over 200 people. **Jobs' widow, former COO Jeff Williams, and successor Ternus delivered speeches in turn.** Cook's favorite rock band OneRepublic also gave a celebratory performance.

After Ternus was promoted to CEO, his former hardware engineering division was handed over to deputy Tom Marieb, who will report to new Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji, unifying chip technology and hardware engineering.

Cook once said at an employee meeting, "There is no one in the world I trust more than John to lead Apple into the future."

Currently, the position information for Cook and Ternus on Apple's official website has not yet been updated; the formal update is expected on September 1 US time.

▲ Apple official website executive information

01. Pioneering New Categories in Watches and Earbuds, Building a Services "Empire"—Cook Takes Apple to New Heights

Although we are all very familiar with Cook, looking back at his youth and his 28 years at Apple is still moving.

Cook was born on November 1, 1960, in Mobile, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Robertsdale. His father was a shipyard worker, and his mother worked in a pharmacy.

In 1982, Cook graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering; in 1988, he earned an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, graduating in the top 10% of his class and earning the title of "Fuqua Scholar."

▲ Young Cook

Cook is a loyal fan of his alma mater Auburn Tigers football team and often attends games in person.

Before joining Apple in 1998, Cook had accumulated extensive hands-on experience in supply chain management in the tech sector:

IBM: Cook worked at IBM for 12 years, eventually rising to North American Fulfillment Director, responsible for manufacturing and distribution operations of IBM's personal computer business across North America.

Intelligent Electronics: Served as COO of electronics distributor Intelligent Electronics.

Compaq: In 1998, Cook joined Compaq, then the world's largest PC supplier, as Senior Vice President for Corporate Materials. However, only about six months after joining, he accepted Jobs' invitation to join Apple.

Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations, was promoted to COO in 2005, and succeeded Jobs as CEO on August 24, 2011.

In his early days at Apple, Cook shut down Apple's own factories, outsourced production entirely to professional contract manufacturers, and reduced inventory days from months to days or even hours.

In a 2018 exclusive interview with Axios, Cook mentioned that he wakes up before 4 a.m. every day and likes to spend the first hour handling user feedback emails and external messages. After an hour of email, Cook goes to the gym at 5 a.m. for an hour of exercise.

During Cook's 15 years at the helm, Apple's annual revenue surged from about $108 billion to nearly $416 billion, and its market value rose from $350 billion to successively break through $1 trillion, $2 trillion, $3 trillion, and $4 trillion, briefly surpassing $5 trillion this year, making Apple one of the most profitable companies in global business history.

▲ Apple's revenue growth curve over the past 20 years, source: Reuters

Cook proved that Apple still has the ability to create new categories after the Jobs era. During his tenure, Apple launched Apple Watch (the world's best-selling smartwatch) and AirPods (leading the wireless earbuds industry trend), and successfully built a hundred-billion-dollar services ecosystem including iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Music, and Apple TV+.

▲ Product launches in the Jobs era and Cook era, source: Reuters

Cook fully supported the implementation of the Apple Silicon chip strategy, completely摆脱 dependence on external chip manufacturers; at the same time, he set strict environmental goals, pushed Apple's global operations to achieve carbon neutrality, and committed to achieving carbon neutrality across the entire supply chain by 2030.

▲ Some key milestones for Apple over the past 26 years, source: Reuters

02. New CEO Faces Multiple "Tests" Immediately After Taking Over

At the time Ternus takes office, Apple is not in calm waters. Ternus will immediately face multiple challenges including the fall product launch event, AI transformation, and rebuilding the executive team.

The launch event is expected to introduce Apple's first foldable iPhone and a smart display that can recognize speaker identity and customize content. As hardware chief, Ternus previously participated in planning a range of products including AirPods with cameras, AI glasses, smart home security systems, home displays with robotic arms, and camera pendants that can be worn as necklaces or clipped to shirts.

▲ Rumored foldable iPhone render, source: X platform
 

For Ternus, the most pressing challenge is the new Siri AI system scheduled to roll out in September. After the pains of developing its own AI models, Apple currently uses Google Gemini as one of its underlying technology supports.

Bloomberg believes Ternus needs to prove that the new Siri can reverse its previous poor reputation, make developers and users truly recognize Apple AI, be willing to pay for it, and find a long-term commercialization model for the huge AI infrastructure investment.

According to reports, Apple has planned for years to launch AirPods with cameras and flagship smart home devices with screens, but had to repeatedly postpone releases due to shortcomings in AI software. The new Siri AI is expected to bring some changes, supporting new versions of Apple TV set-top boxes and HomePod mini.

Ternus said at an employee meeting, "I am particularly excited to take on this role at this moment, because I can tell you that we are about to change the world again." "We have an impressive product roadmap ahead of us."

Besides technology and products, another core task for Ternus is rebuilding Apple's executive bench.

Ternus faces a different situation than Cook did 15 years ago. At that time, Cook inherited a management team that was extremely loyal to Jobs and mostly in the prime of their careers. During Cook's 15 years at the helm, his management team remained highly stable.

Bloomberg reported that in the coming years, Apple's leadership may see "half of its members replaced." Several core veterans, including hardware technology chief Johny Srouji, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and retail and human resources chief Deirdre O'Brien, are expected to retire or step down in the coming years. Many of Cook's executive team members have stayed with the company into their early 60s or even near 70.

Just today, Phil Schiller, a heavyweight and high-profile executive in both the Jobs and Cook eras, is about to step down from his roles overseeing the App Store and product launch events. The 66-year-old Schiller served as Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing until leaving in 2022. This is part of a retirement plan, not sudden; Schiller will continue to stay at Apple as an advisor or in other needed capacities.

▲ Phil Schiller
 

Foreign media believe Ternus has less experience in other dimensions of the CEO role, such as finance, sales, legal affairs, government relations, and procurement, so he will rely heavily on other Apple executives.

Especially amid the current memory chip shortage, some executives are concerned about Ternus' ability to handle supply chain and logistics issues.

Ternus needs to quickly cultivate and establish new successors covering hardware, marketing, retail, HR, and the previously weakened design team. During the transition, Ternus will rely heavily on Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh, and services chief Eddy Cue.

Compared to rebuilding the executive team, talent drain is a more urgent issue. Hundreds of former Apple employees now work in OpenAI's hardware division, so retaining talent is a top priority.

03. Who Is Ternus, the Successor Who Inherits Jobs' "Obsessive" Spirit?

Compared to Cook, many people are unfamiliar with this incoming CEO.

John Ternus was born in May 1975. In 1997, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. While at Penn, Ternus was a member of the men's swimming team and won championships in the 50-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley at a college competition in 1994.

Ternus' senior design project was a "mechanical feeding arm" operated by head movements for quadriplegic patients.

Ternus is an outdoor enthusiast passionate about road cycling and motorsports. He often drives his Porsche at the famous Laguna Seca raceway in California and has led Apple colleagues to Washington state for off-road rally experiences.

In reports by Bloomberg and other foreign media, Ternus is described as "extremely affable and well-liked," and he has long worked alongside engineers in open office areas.

After graduation, Ternus' first job was as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems, mainly working on hardware development for early virtual reality (VR) headsets.

In 2001, Ternus joined Apple as a member of the Product Design Team, during the second innovation高潮 after Jobs returned to Apple. Ternus' first project was the Apple Cinema Display desktop monitor.

In 2024, Ternus gave a speech at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering graduation ceremony. In his speech, he mentioned his first project at Apple—the Cinema Display monitor—where he obsessed with the supplier over "the number of grooves on the screw head," whether it should be 35 or 25. He said it was something that seemed abnormal but was the right thing to do.

Some foreign media reports believe that Jobs' obsession with product details and strict requirements for cross-departmental collaboration are the roots of Ternus' engineering management philosophy.

iPad and Mac business lines (2001–2020): Ternus was deeply involved in the hardware architecture of the first-generation iPad and drove the implementation of Apple Pencil and its magnetic charging system. To fully unleash the iPad's hardware performance, he personally persuaded software engineering chief Craig Federighi to develop a separate iPadOS system for tablets.

Leading the Apple Silicon transition: After being promoted to Vice President of Hardware Engineering in 2013, Ternus became the core leader of Mac R&D. He led the hardware transition of Mac from Intel processors to self-developed Apple Silicon (M-series chips), completing the most successful architectural restructuring of Apple's computing platform in nearly two decades.

Full helm of hardware (2021–2026): In 2021, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, succeeding Dan Riccio. Since then, his scope of responsibility gradually expanded to include all Apple hardware product lines including iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Under his leadership, the team launched the ultra-thin iPhone Air.

▲ Ternus' main departments and personnel situation, source: Bloomberg
 

04. Conclusion: In the AI Era, Can Apple Lead Again?

Cook's 15-year tenure as CEO created a miracle in business history: Apple's market value soared from $350 billion when he took over to surpass the $4 trillion mark. Cook leaves behind ample cash flow, a massive services ecosystem, and an efficient global supply chain.

Ternus inherits a financially extremely robust empire, but he must answer the market's most pressing question: At this critical juncture of AI reshaping the tech industry, can Apple once again lead through technological innovation?