Apple names John Ternus as CEO to succeed Tim Cook effective September 1, 2026

Apple announced that John Ternus, SVP of Hardware Engineering, will become CEO effective September 1, 2026, replacing Tim Cook who will become Executive Chairman. The board unanimously approved the appointment following a long-term succession planning process. Ternus, 50, has been at Apple for 25 years and worked on every major product including iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, and the Intel-to-Apple-silicon Mac transition. Cook, who led Apple for 15 years, grew the company from a $1 trillion to $4 trillion valuation with annual profit quadrupling to over $110 billion. Arthur Levinson transitions from non-executive chairman to lead independent director. Ternus faces the challenge of pushing Apple deeper into AI where it has lagged peers, and following up on products like Vision Pro that have failed to inspire consumer demand.