John Ternus took over as Apple’s chief executive on Tuesday, 1 September, beginning the company’s first change at the top in 15 years as Tim Cook moved into the newly created position of executive chairman.

Ternus, 50, takes control of one of the world’s largest companies after spending 25 years at Apple, most recently as senior vice president of hardware engineering. He also joins Apple’s board.

The board appointed Ternus on 17 April, with the transition taking effect on 1 September, according to Apple’s regulatory filing. Cook will remain closely involved, including in Apple’s relationships with governments and policymakers.

Arthur Levinson, who had served as Apple’s nonexecutive chairman for 15 years, becomes lead independent director.

Ternus inherits a company that is financially stronger than at any point in its history but under pressure to show that it can lead the next technological cycle rather than follow it.

Artificial intelligence is his most immediate challenge. Apple helped popularize the voice assistant with Siri in 2011, but the company has struggled to turn Siri into the kind of AI agent now being developed by OpenAI, Google and other competitors.

Apple reached an agreement with Google in January to use Gemini technology in an effort to improve Siri. The dependence on a rival’s models has intensified questions about whether Apple has fallen behind in developing its own generative AI capabilities.

Ternus has indicated that he will judge AI by the products it enables rather than by the technology alone.

“We never think about shipping a technology. We always think about how can we leverage technology to ship amazing products,” he told Tom’s Guide.

Next iPhone lineup

His first major public test will arrive quickly. Apple has scheduled its next product event for 9 September, eight days after the leadership change. The company is expected to introduce its next iPhone lineup and could unveil its first foldable iPhone, although Apple has not confirmed the products.

A foldable device would take Apple into a category led by Samsung and could provide a new source of premium iPhone sales. The September event will also show how visible Ternus intends to be as chief executive after keeping a relatively low public profile for much of his career.

Ternus joined Apple’s product-design team in 2001 and became a hardware-engineering vice president in 2013. He joined the executive team in 2021.

He has overseen engineering across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods. His most consequential work included the Mac’s shift away from Intel processors to Apple-designed silicon, improving performance and battery life while giving Apple greater control over one of its core technologies.

Ternus also helped develop the iPad and AirPods, oversaw the hardware behind the iPhone Air and led work on product durability, recycled materials and repairability, according to Apple.

He succeeds a chief executive whose operational discipline transformed Apple’s scale. When Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, Apple was valued at about $350 billion and generated annual revenue of $108 billion. By the time Apple announced the transition in April, its market capitalization was about $4 trillion and fiscal 2025 revenue exceeded $416 billion.

Cook expanded Apple beyond its dependence on the iPhone through products including the Apple Watch and AirPods and services such as Apple Pay, Apple Music and Apple TV. Services grew into a business generating more than $100 billion a year, while Apple’s active installed base rose above 2.5 billion devices.

Ternus must preserve that machine while finding new growth. Along with AI, he faces intense competition in smart glasses and other wearable devices, regulatory challenges surrounding the App Store and the continuing difficulty of reducing Apple’s dependence on China.

Apple has expanded manufacturing in India and Vietnam, but China remains central to its supply chain and an important consumer market. Managing relations with both Beijing and Washington will therefore remain critical, with Cook expected to support Ternus through his new board role.