This hardware engineer, John Ternus, was just named the new CEO of Apple

After serving 25 years in multiple roles at Apple, John Ternus, Senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple, is set to replace Tim Cook as CEO of the trillion-dollar company.

Effective September 1st, John Ternus will officially become the CEO of Apple, replacing Tim Cook, who has occupied the role for 15 years. Tim Cook is reportedly considered for the Chairman role in the big tech firm, a more reserved role than CEO.

John Ternus and Tim Cook have a fantastic relationship, as Ternus already reports to Cook long before the announcement was made. He is to become the third Apple CEO this millennium, following in the footsteps of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook.

When Did He Join Apple, and what are his projects

John Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as a member of the product design team, according to a TechCrunch report. He was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2021 and joined an elite list of speculated successors of Tim Cook. Ternus was the youngest on the list, which aligns perfectly with Apple’s strategy of hiring a CEO who will lead the company for many years.

Before joining Apple’s product design team, Ternus worked in a small-scale virtual reality device maker called Virtual Research Systems. The Apple Job was his second job after college.

The new CEO has worked on a number of projects, with the earliest being scrutinising parts for the Apple Cinema Display, an early desktop monitor. He has moved on to oversee a couple of major launches, such as the AirPods, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, playing a key role in these events as the Senior Vice President of Hardware.

He also played a pivotal role in Apple’s transition from depending on Intel chips to its own proprietary chips, Apple Silicon. In an earlier interview, Ternus revealed his admiration for Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs and his love for craftsmanship.

“[Jobs] was moving a piece of furniture, a chest of drawers, and pulled it away from the wall and looked at the back and was just reflecting on, you know, that the carpenter who made it had made it beautiful,” Ternus said.

“It finished the back as beautifully as the rest of it, even though nobody was going to see it, right? And I think about that all the time because I think that perfectly exemplifies what we do here.” He added.

Ternus heading the hardware department in Apple makes him a credible candidate for CEO, giving the unique hardware products the American tech company is known for.

Last updated: April 21, 2026