Apple named John Ternus as its next CEO on April 20, with the 25-year company veteran scheduled to officially succeed Tim Cook on September 1. Cook will remain CEO through the summer before becoming executive chairman of the board, concluding a 15-year tenure during which Apple’s market value increased by roughly $3.6 trillion. Ternus joined Apple in 2001 after earning a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013 and senior vice president in 2021, overseeing the iPhone, iPad and Mac product lines. Apple’s board unanimously approved the appointment as part of a long-term succession plan. Reports from mid-2026 indicate Ternus has already started restructuring Apple’s design team, which had lost influence after Jony Ive left in 2019 and engineers gained greater leverage. He has also brought Laura Legros, a former vice president of hardware, back from retirement. Ternus is reportedly pursuing a more assertive management style than Cook’s consensus-driven approach, while Cook’s continued presence as executive chairman could offer continuity or create a two-center-of-gravity leadership dynamic.