Apple’s presumptive future CEO, John Ternus, has a tough act to follow-awdailynews

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2025-11-22

Apple’s presumptive future CEO, John Ternus, has a tough act to follow

Tim Cook has been the CEO of Apple (AAPL) for 14 years. During that time, the company’s market capitalization has eclipsed $4 trillion, and its yearly revenue has expanded to nearly half a trillion dollars. Those are successes by any measure.

But at 65, Cook is approaching the end of his time at the helm of one of the world’s most powerful businesses. According to the Financial Times, Apple is preparing for Cook to step down as soon as next year to give his replacement a chance to acclimate to the role before being airdropped into major events like Apple’s WWDC software event.

Replacing Cook, who has been at Apple since Steve Jobs hired him in 1998, will be a tall task. But one name continuously climbs to the top of the list of potential successors: John Ternus.

Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, joined Apple in 2001 and has held his current position since 2013. Apple soothsayer Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman pegged Ternus as the likely future CEO, especially now that Jeff Williams, the company’s former COO, has retired and officially turned in his badge. Williams was previously considered the next in line for the chief executive position.

Ternus is 50 years old and, as an engineer, understands the tech behind Apple’s products. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked at Virtual Research Systems before moving to Apple.

06 June 2022, US, Cupertino: John Ternus, Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, introduces the new M2 microprocessor at Apple's WWDC 2022 developer conference at the company's headquarters, Apple Park, in Cupertino. The chip system is said to offer more performance than Apple's first M1 chip, even with the same power consumption. Among other things, the M2 has a quarter more transistors. Photo: Christoph Dernbach/dpa (Photo by Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty Images) — John Ternus, Apple senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, introduces the new M2 microprocessor at Apple’s WWDC 2022 developer conference at the company’s headquarters, Apple Park, in Cupertino. (Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty Images) · picture alliance via Getty Images

Cook’s steady hand at the helm gives Ternus the opportunity to begin his tenure as CEO on solid footing. The company is performing well and continues to grow. But there are some dark spots.

The Department of Justice has sued Apple for alleged antitrust violations, which could force the company to change a number of business practices. And it’s continuing to face criticism from Wall Street over its lack of AI capabilities compared to its competitors.

But according to experts, Ternus is well positioned for the challenge.

Apple’s next leader will almost assuredly come from within the company — Cook has said he’d like to see as much — which helps the case for Ternus.

Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster, a longtime Apple Watcher, agreed, telling Yahoo Finance that running Apple is akin to being the leader of a small country, and there are few people, if any, who could come in cold and run Apple.

“It has to be an internal person,” Munster said. “It has to be a person who’s already groomed and aware of all the nuances of running the company. And so I think [Ternus] is a great pick. I think he’s going to do a fantastic job. Right pick, but he’s the only pick.”

Ternus has already made several high-profile public appearances during Apple’s yearly product events, including at the company’s latest iPhone launch.

He’s also the kind of perfectionist Apple is known for. During his keynote address at The University of Pennsylvania’s Engineering Commencement in 2024, Ternus recounted arguing with a supplier over the number of grooves in the heads of screws that would sit in the back of his first Apple product, the Apple Cinema Display. The screws the supplier offered had 35 grooves, but Ternus demanded they stick to the 25 grooves Apple wanted.

“I distinctly remember stepping back for a minute and thinking to myself, ‘What the hell am I doing? Is this normal?’ And I thought about it, and I realized it might not be normal, but it’s right,” he said.

“It’s right because I’d already spent months working on that product, and if you’re going to spend that much time on something, you should put in your very best effort. Maybe a customer notices, maybe they don’t. But either way, whenever I saw one of those displays on someone’s desk, it mattered to me to know that my teammates and I had considered everything about it.”

Ternus has also worked across numerous businesses within Apple. He’s worked on the iPhone, iPad, and AirPods and is helping to shepherd Apple’s continued transition toward using more of its own silicon chips throughout its products.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Apple CEO Tim Cook holds up a new iPhone 17 Pro during an Apple special event at Apple headquarters on September 09, 2025 in Cupertino, California. Apple unveiled a new generation of iPhones and updated Apple Watches and AirPods during a special event at Apple headquarters. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) — Apple CEO Tim Cook holds up a new iPhone 17 Pro during an Apple special event at Apple headquarters on Sept. 9, 2025 in Cupertino, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) · Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

According to Munster, Apple likely began grooming Ternus for the CEO position roughly two years ago, though he disagrees with the Financial Times’s report that Cook will leave in the coming months.

Instead, Munster said he believes Ternus will hold a co-CEO role alongside Cook before Cook finally retires.

Whoever takes over for Cook will need to ensure the company keeps up the momentum it has seen under Cook.

During his tenure, Cook oversaw the launch of a number of new product lines, including the Apple Watch and AirPods, pushed Apple to produce its own chips for its Mac laptops and desktops, and, most importantly, made the company’s Services segment a $109 billion-a-year business.

But Cook has also faced some criticisms, including a lack of a true successor to the iPhone and the company’s current AI woes. And as of now, Apple’s next CEO will have to contend with the same issues whenever they take up the position.