John Ternus, senior vice chairman of {hardware} engineering at Apple Inc., throughout an Apple occasion in New York, US, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Adam Grey | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
Apple stated on Monday that John Ternus is succeeding Tim Prepare dinner as CEO, with Prepare dinner assuming the position of govt chairman on Sept. 1.
Ternus, a senior vice chairman of {hardware} engineering, will be a part of Apple’s board of administrators when he turns into chief. Apple’s non-executive chairman Arthur Levinson will develop into the iPhone maker’s lead unbiased director at the moment.
“Prepare dinner will proceed in his position as CEO via the summer time as he works intently with Ternus on a easy transition,” Apple stated in a press launch.
It is the primary CEO transition for Apple since Prepare dinner, now 65, succeeded Steve Jobs on the helm in 2011, shortly earlier than Jobs’ loss of life. Ternus will develop into Apple’s eighth CEO.
“It has been the best privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to guide such a rare firm,” Prepare dinner stated in a press release. “I really like Apple with all of my being, and I’m so grateful to have had the chance to work with a group of such ingenious, progressive, inventive, and deeply caring individuals who have been unwavering of their dedication to enriching the lives of our clients and creating the very best services on the earth.”
Apple additionally stated that Johny Srouji will develop into chief {hardware} officer, taking up for Ternus in an expanded position. Srouji, who most just lately served as the corporate’s senior vice chairman of {hardware} applied sciences, may even lead {hardware} engineering.
Apple’s market cap elevated by roughly 24-fold on Prepare dinner’s watch, closing on Monday at $4 trillion. Prepare dinner took dwelling $74.6 million in whole compensation final yr, together with a $3 million base wage and thousands and thousands extra in inventory awards, in keeping with current regulatory filings. Forbes estimates his web value at near $3 billion.
Nevertheless, as Prepare dinner exits, Apple faces quite a few challenges, together with an more and more complicated provide chain, geopolitical tensions, the Trump administration’s tariffs and a reminiscence crunch tied to hovering demand for AI chips.
Ternus, who’s about 15 years youthful than Prepare dinner, has been Apple’s {hardware} boss and has labored at Apple for about half his life, becoming a member of simply 4 years after he graduated from the College of Pennsylvania with a level in mechanical engineering. He is been broadly considered as subsequent in line, with current profiles in The New York Instances and Bloomberg. His portfolio has included oversight of the {hardware} engineering groups behind the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and Imaginative and prescient Professional.
Revamping the provision chain
Throughout his nearly 15-year tenure, Prepare dinner oversaw Apple’s leap into wearable know-how, with the rollout of the Apple Watch, AirPods and the digital actuality headset Imaginative and prescient Professional, which has struggled to search out market adoption since its launch in 2024.
Income nearly quadrupled beneath Prepare dinner, climbing to over $400 billion within the newest fiscal yr. Prepare dinner is greatest recognized in Silicon Valley as an operations guru, revamping Apple’s provide chain after becoming a member of in 1998 as an govt vice chairman of worldwide gross sales and operations. When he arrived, Apple was close to chapter.
Prepare dinner grew to become one in every of Jobs’ loyal lieutenants and was elevated to the position of Apple operations chief in 2005. Earlier than becoming a member of Apple, Prepare dinner lower his enamel within the tech business spending 12 years working at IBM, serving to the corporate manufacture computer systems. He additionally spent a brief stint at former PC maker Compaq as a vice chairman of company supplies. Prepare dinner obtained his faculty diploma at Auburn College in 1982 and an MBA from Duke College in 1988.
Tim Prepare dinner, chief govt officer of Apple Inc., middle, and Jalen Brunson, basketball participant for the New York Knicks, proper, through the first day of in-store gross sales of Apple’s newest merchandise at Apple’s Fifth Avenue retailer in New York, US, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. The brand new iPhone 17 is seen as probably the most vital improve Apple has delivered to its iPhone lineup in years, with a refreshed design and souped-up digital camera system. Photographer: Kena Betancur/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
For Ternus, maybe probably the most essential facet of his job might be pushing the corporate deeper into synthetic intelligence, the place it is lagged a lot of its megacap friends.
Whereas the iPhone 17 has finished properly, Apple has confronted criticism from traders and technologists for a perceived lack of cutting-edge AI know-how. That criticism grew after Apple final yr delayed an improve to its Siri voice assistant. In December, Apple revamped its AI management, changing its former chief with a Google veteran.
The corporate has stated it’ll launch an up to date model of Siri this yr primarily based on a Google Gemini AI mannequin.
In recent times, Prepare dinner acted as a public statesman to advance Apple’s pursuits, assembly with each international and home leaders. Initially, he pushed for elevated web privateness protections around the globe. In 2016, he notably clashed with the U.S. authorities over whether or not Apple must assist unlock an encrypted iPhone utilized by a prison gunman in San Bernardino, California.
Prepare dinner stated to take action would threaten Apple customers’ privateness, and the FBI finally discovered a special technique to unlock the system. Of late, a lot of Prepare dinner’s public lobbying has centered on President Donald Trump, who has threatened and repealed a number of tariffs on imports from China and different Asian nations that would deeply influence Apple’s enterprise.
Prepare dinner attended White Home occasions and promised to make investments within the U.S. In August, Prepare dinner visited the White Home, showing with Trump, to trumpet an announcement that Apple would spend $600 billion within the U.S. over the following 5 years.
On the August assembly, Trump learn an inventory of Apple’s commitments subsequent to Prepare dinner and stated, “I really like that you just’re doing this.”
That is breaking information. Please refresh for updates.
— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.
WATCH: Apple executives Johnny Srouji and John Ternus on its rising chip enterprise.
