Apple's highly-anticipated leadership transition officially begins on September 1, 2026, when John Ternus becomes the company's eighth chief executive, succeeding Tim Cook, who moves to executive chairman. Ternus, aged 51, joined Apple in 2001 as a product design engineer, and he has worked as senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple since 2021. He has had charge of development for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and Apple Watch, making him crucial to product strategy at Apple for a long time now.

Ternus has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania. This move, which was unanimously agreed upon by the board back in April, had been in the making for years now. Cook was appointed as the CEO of Apple in August 2011, only months before the death of Steve Jobs, who was a co-founder of Apple. During Cook's tenure, Apple has transformed itself into one of the world's most valuable corporations, expanding its product lineup and establishing an extensive service business.

Ternus brings a reputation for engineering perfectionism to the role. During a 2024 commencement speech, he recalled arguing with a supplier over the number of grooves in screws for his first Apple product, the Cinema Display, demanding they stick to the 25 grooves Apple wanted instead of the supplier's 35. He said: "Maybe a customer notices, maybe they don't. But either way, it mattered to me."

The new CEO of Apple is regarded as charismatic and well-liked by his colleagues at Apple, and he happens to be the youngest member of the company's executive committee. He is fond of cycling and Porsche racing at circuits such as Laguna Seca in California. Arthur Levinson, who was the non-executive chairman for 15 years, will act as lead independent director, while Johny Srouji has been promoted to the position of hardware leader.