Apple announced this Monday (20) that John Ternus will assume the role of CEO of the company, replacing Tim Cook, who will act as executive chairman from September 1st.
According to the company, the succession was unanimously approved by the board and is the result of a long-term planning process.
Until the end of the summer in the northern hemisphere, Cook will continue to act as CEO and work together with Ternus for a “smooth” transition.
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The change marks the first succession of command at Apple since 2011, when Cook took over after the departure of Steve Jobs, shortly before the death of the company’s co-founder.
Since then, the company has seen its market value jump from about $350 billion to $4 trillion, while annual revenue has nearly quadrupled, from $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to more than $416 billion in 2025.
Cook was responsible for leading the expansion of Apple’s portfolio of products and services, with the creation of new categories such as Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, as well as the growth of services such as iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple TV and Apple Music.
Ternus joined Apple in 2001, initially on the product design team, and became vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013.
In 2021, he joined the executive team as senior vice president of the area. He has been involved in the development of several generations of iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, iPad and AirPods, as well as new products such as the MacBook Neo.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be CEO of Apple,” Cook said in a statement.
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He praised his successor, saying that Ternus “has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and honor” and called him “the right person to lead Apple into the future.”
Ternus, in turn, said he was “deeply grateful” for the opportunity to carry out Apple’s mission and recalled that he worked under both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. “I am full of optimism about what we can achieve in the coming years,” he said.
