It looks like Tim Cook’s potential replacement is getting called up for a major league tryout. According to Bloomberg, John Ternus, Apple’s current head of hardware engineering, is having his role expanded and will now be handling design work within his unit. It’s the latest indicator that he could be next in line to take the top spot at the company when Cook decides to step down.
Per the report, Ternus first got the call to take on hardware design around the end of last year. That puts Ternus in a position to oversee both hardware and software, seemingly providing a test case to see what direction he might take the company—and see how the public responds to it. (It doesn’t seem like he is responsible for the “liquid glass” update that has been widely derided, so if he can figure out how to fix that, he’d be off to a great start.)
Ternus has been gaining momentum as the potential Cook successor for a while now. Earlier this month, the New York Times profiled him and documented some of his time at Apple, which he joined in 2001. It highlighted Ternus’ idea to add a small, photo-enhancing laser to high-end iPhones rather than all devices because die-hards would be willing to pay for it, while the average consumer wouldn’t care.
The suggestion seems to be that Ternus would be a pragmatic CEO, following more closely in the footsteps of Cook than the more vision-driven approach of Steve Jobs. One former Apple employee told the Times, “If you want to make an iPhone every year, Ternus is your guy.” Of course, that won’t exactly be music to the ears of people who believe Apple’s design approach has stagnated over the years and the company has lost some of the luster that Jobs was able to bring by introducing devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Bloomberg did note that while the role Ternus has been thrust into suggests a springboard to CEO-ship, it’s not a surefire guarantee that serving as the design overlord will get you the top spot. Jony Ive held down the seat for years before eventually departing from Apple in 2019, apparently over frustrations that the company stopped emphasizing innovation and started focusing on churning out replicable designs that drive profits. Jeff Williams most recently held the position, but he retired last year and was nearly the same age as Cook, so he wasn’t in line for a promotion.
Whether Ternus ends up the heir to Apple’s throne, we’ll have to see. But it sure looks like he’s being given first crack at it.
At a normal company, people come and go. Top executives leave and move on to other roles and companies. Lower-level employees find a better job and post a “life update” on Threads. It’s a pretty, well, normal thing that happens all the time.
Apple, on the other hand, seems to enjoy a remarkable level of stability in this regard. Obviously, Apple employs a lot of people, and I’m sure a lot of them are looking for a new job at any given time. Many of the people on the iPhone maker’s leadership page, however, have been there for a decade or more. Turnover at the top—with a few exceptions—is rare.
Partly that’s because the company’s history is one long case study in slow, deliberate succession. When Steve Jobs handed the CEO role to Cook in 2011, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone inside the company. The groundwork had been laid for years, and Cook had already stepped in as interim CEO once before.
Now, however, we’ve seen a handful of departures over the past few weeks, and some see it as a sign that there’s something wrong. First, there were reports that Tim Cook plans to step down in early 2026. Then, Jeff Williams, who had been Chief Operating Officer since 2015, retired. Alan Dye, the head of human interface design, left for Meta. John Giannandrea is leaving, as are Lisa Jackson and Kate Adams. And, former CFO, Luca Maestri, retired at the beginning of 2025.
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Then there were the rumors that Apple’s chip chief, Johnny Srouji, was looking to exit, though it seems that reporting may have been premature. Srouji told his staff he wasn’t “planning to leave any time soon,” but someone gave the idea to Bloomberg, who reported that he had been in conversations about going elsewhere.
Even if Srouji isn’t going anywhere, the collective exodus is hard to ignore. After all, if that many people are leaving, something must be up, right?
Maybe. On the other hand, the fact that a number of people are leaving doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. I’d argue it’s actually pretty normal. In fact, I think it makes perfect sense, especially if it’s true that Cook is planning to retire in the next 12 to 18 months. In that case, this looks like the change is probably the result of a CEO saying to everyone working for him that this is the time to get out if you’re going to go.
Tim Cook’s looming retirement caps a 14-year run defined by record growth and disciplined execution. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Apple CEO Tim Cook is poised to retire as early as next year after 14 years at the helm, according to a Financial Times report last week citing multiple anonymous company insiders. Rumblings about Cook’s exit come amid accelerated succession planning by the board and senior executives, the report says.
Some observers suggest Cook, 65, may not step away entirely, but could transition into a role as chairman of the board. Others, including Bloomberg editor Mark Gurman, believe the leak from unnamed insiders may be an intentional effort to prepare the market for a major leadership shift. Most experts don’t expect any changes before Apple’s next earnings release in January, but say a handoff could occur ahead of its mid-2026 developer conference and product launches.
What’s clear is that Cook, who succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, is nearing the end of his run as Apple’s longest-serving CEO, putting renewed attention on both his legacy and the question of who comes next.
Tim Cook’s unparalleled legacy
Apple’s growth under Cook has been staggering. The company’s market capitalization stood at $350 billion when he took over 14 years ago. Today, it’s approaching $4 trillion—more than an elevenfold increase. For comparison, the S&P 500 rose just over 460 percent in the same period.
Just a year into the job, Cook restructured Apple’s leadership team, dismissing senior vice president of retail John Browett and accepting the resignation of Scott Forstall, then senior vice president of iOS. He redistributed many of their responsibilities to existing leaders in an effort to ease internal tensions.
Cook has overseen the release of 48 iPhone variants—from the iconic iPhone 4 in 2011 to the bold iPhone 17 Pro this September—while steering the launch of major new product lines including the MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro. Under his leadership, Apple also introduced the M-series silicon chips, a multiyear transition that reshaped the performance and energy efficiency of the Mac lineup and reasserted Apple’s dominance in hardware design.
Beyond devices, Cook supercharged Apple’s services business, expanding the App Store ecosystem and launching new offerings such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+ and Apple Pay. These services have grown into a multibillion-dollar pillar of Apple’s business, helping the company diversify its revenue streams and build one of the most powerful subscription ecosystems in the world.
Cook has turned Apple into “the most valuable business in the world while keeping its products central to everyday life,” Natalie Andreas, communication management professor at the University of Texas, told Observer.
Still, Apple faces criticism for lagging behind rivals in the artificial intelligence arms race, even as its Apple Intelligence features roll out slowly. Many of the capabilities remain in beta. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Apple has shelved plans for a more affordable, lighter Vision Pro headset (codenamed N100) and is instead diverting resources toward building A.I.-powered smart glasses that directly target Meta’s Ray-Ban-style devices.
“Whoever takes the reins will face big challenges in artificial intelligence, immersive technologies like the Vision Pro, and increasing global regulation,” Andreas said.
Tim Cook’s successor
John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering and a direct report to Cook, is widely viewed as the leading candidate for the top job.
Ternus has been at Apple for more than two decades. He joined the product design team in 2001 after working as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems. In 2013, Ternus was promoted to vice president of hardware engineering under Dan Riccio, overseeing development across the iPad, Mac, and AirPods product lines. By 2020, he had taken on responsibility for the iPhone hardware, and in January 2021, he succeeded Riccio as senior vice president of hardware engineering. In late 2022, his purview expanded further when he was put in charge of Apple Watch hardware.
Under his leadership, Ternus has played a pivotal role in some of Apple’s most ambitious hardware efforts, including the transition of Mac computers to Apple Silicon. He has also regularly appeared at major Apple events, presenting new iMacs, MacBook Pros, redesigned iPads and other flagship devices.
Ternus is “one of the few leaders inside the company who blends engineering depth with the same person-first philosophy Apple was built on,” Steven Athwal, founder and CEO of The Big Phone Store, a refurbished tech gadget company, told Observer.
“He’s charismatic and well-regarded by Apple loyalists and trusted by Cook,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has written.“Apple probably needs more of a technologist than a sales or operations person.”
Ternus has also begun taking a more public, outward-facing role. He has appeared at high-profile product launches and greeted customers, including during the iPhone 17 launch in London. At 50 years old, he is about the same age Tim Cook was when he became CEO — a symbolic point often raised in succession discussions.
According to the Financial Times, Tim Cook may be ready to leave his position as soon as next year, and Apple’s board and senior executives have ramped up their preparations to secure his replacement.
Cook, who has been at the helm of Apple for more than 14 years, succeeded Steve Jobs and led the company to a market cap of more than $4 trillion. Cook’s tenure since 2011 has overseen the introduction of hardware, including Apple Watch, AirPods and Vision Pro, but also services like Apple Arcade and Apple TV+. According to the Financial Times‘s sources, Apple’s senior vice president of engineering, John Ternus, will most likely take on the CEO role, but this decision hasn’t been finalized yet. Ternus has been with Apple since 2001 as part of its Product Design team and eventually stepped into a vice president role within the Hardware Engineering division, where he played a heavy role in the company’s transition to Apple silicon.
According to the Financial Times, Apple isn’t planning to announce the new CEO before its January earnings report. However, the report also noted that this announcement would come earlier in the year to allow the leadership team to transition smoothly in time for all of Apple’s annual events. Earlier this year, Apple also announced Sabih Khan as the new chief operating officer, taking over for Jeff Williams.
