- Ternus is credited with leading product innovations.
- He faces the challenge of integrating artificial intelligence into Apple products.
- Cook becomes executive chairman after overseeing historic growth.
Apple on Monday named insider John Ternus as its next CEO, tapping the longtime hardware chief to steer the company after Tim Cook as the iPhone maker prepares for an industry shakeup spurred by artificial intelligence.
Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001 and has been a quiet but steadfast presence behind the scenes in improving its products over the years, has played a key role in reviving sales of products such as Apple’s Mac computers, which have gained market share over PCs.
At 50, Ternus is the same age Cook was when he took over CEO duties from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He most recently showed off the company’s iPhone Air last fall, the biggest revamp of the iPhone since 2017 and a key testing ground for several new chips.
Despite its low external profile, Ternus has helped create now-ubiquitous products like iPads and AirPods. He will be tasked with helping Apple navigate a technology landscape enhanced by AI after losing its crown as the world’s most valuable company to Nvidia.
He also helped sharpen the distinctions between Apple’s product lines by introducing “Pro” models of Macs and iPhones that pushed their technological capabilities and prices to new heights, while also introducing offerings like the MacBook Neo and the iPhone “e” models at some of Apple’s lowest prices ever.
Ternus will have to fend off Nvidia, which has announced its own personal computer and is working on chips that can power laptops, as well as rivals such as Meta Platforms, whose augmented-reality glasses have become a surprise hit with a fraction of the capabilities — and price tag — of Apple’s Vision Pro headset.
“The promotion of Mr. Ternus indicates that the company will focus on new hardware devices such as folding phones, glasses, VR devices and AI pens,” said Gil Luria, CEO of DA Davidson & Co.
Perhaps the biggest challenge Ternus faces is how to integrate AI into the iPhone – the most successful consumer product in history – and the rest of Apple’s lineup. Earlier this year, Apple struck a deal with its longtime smartphone rival, Alphabet’s Google, to use Google’s Gemini in an effort to improve its Siri virtual assistant.
Despite introducing a form of artificial intelligence to the public imagination in 2011 with Siri, Apple has yet to score a hardware or software product focused on new AI technologies, while new rivals such as OpenAI have attracted hundreds of millions of users.
“I expect his biggest challenge and effort will be focused on getting a better AI story and offering together that relies more on Apple’s own capabilities and less on third parties,” said Bob O’Donnell, head of technology consultancy TECHAnalysis Research.
Cook oversaw historic growth
Cook will become the company’s executive chairman, Apple said in a statement. Apple shares have risen twentyfold since Cook took over as CEO in August 2011.
Cook was recruited by Jobs from Compaq at a time when the company was riding high on the PC boom of the 1990s, and Jobs was working to save Apple from the brink of bankruptcy.
While Cook gained his early fame at Apple by building its sprawling supply chain in China, over the years he became a celebrity executive in his own right. He was the first Fortune 500 CEO to come out as gay in 2014 and has taken public stances on issues such as workplace diversity and corporate sustainability.
Cook, who presented a custom gold plaque to US President Donald Trump, will also continue to engage with politicians, the company said.
In naming Ternu CEO, Apple is transitioning from a supply chain guru who helped turn Apple into a global brand that ships hundreds of millions of devices a year to an executive who has long focused on design and products.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consultancy Creative Strategies, said Ternus is well-liked at Apple and will bring fresh energy.”
Separately, Apple said Johny Srouji, who oversaw Apple’s custom chip and sensor design, has been named chief hardware officer. Srouji will continue to oversee that group, along with the hardware engineering group that Ternus once led, which will now be overseen by Tom Merieb.
