John Ternus is going to be Apple’s next CEO. And while outgoing CEO Tim Cook was lauded for his approach to logistics, Ternus’ history is that of a product person.
Ternus, Apple’s SVP of hardware engineering before being officially tapped to take over the top job, has been increasingly in the public eye to help Apple announce its latest products. Ternus helped introduce the iPhone Air last September, its flashiest new iPhone of the 2025 lineup. He’s also been the face of announcing new Macs for years, including Apple’s first Macs with Apple Silicon in 2020 that profoundly transformed Apple’s computer lineup, continuing through the 15-inch MacBook Air in 2023 and a suite of M4 Macs last year. Now, Ternus, who is 50 years old and has had a 25-year tenure at Apple, is going to be the one in charge of everything.
Ternus’ time at Apple has spanned both the Steve Jobs and Tim Cook eras. It began in 2001 when he joined Apple’s product design team after a few years as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems. Ternus’ first boss at Apple, Steve Siefert, told The New York Times that Ternus became a manager just a few years after getting hired at Apple. Siefert described him as “a man of the people,” recalling how Ternus turned down moving into his own office when he was promoted, insisting on sitting alongside his team instead. In 2013, Ternus was promoted again, this time to VP of hardware engineering. In 2021, he became senior VP of hardware engineering, taking over for Dan Riccio and officially joining Apple’s executive team.
Apple has seen significant change in the company’s product lineup in the 13 years since Ternus rose to the leadership ranks of the hardware engineering department, including the launch of entirely new devices. Notably, Ternus oversaw the development of the original AirPods launched in 2016. In just the last five years with Ternus in his SVP role, Apple has transitioned the iPhone lineup to USB-C, redesigned the MacBook Air to pivot away from its old “wedge” look, revamped the iPad Pro with a thinner design and launched the Vision Pro. Apple is rumored to be releasing its first foldable iPhone this fall.
But not everything he’s worked on has been a hit. A Bloomberg profile in March about Apple’s heir apparent called him a “driving force” behind the MacBook Pro’s ill-fated Touch Bar, and his “next typing fiasco,” the butterfly keyboard.
Some of Ternus’ contributions have been less public, but still significant. Apple’s announcement that he will be stepping in as CEO says Ternus “has also driven much of Apple’s innovation in materials and hardware design” to help reduce its carbon footprint, like the use of 3D-printed titanium in the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and “innovations in repairability that have increased the lifespans of several Apple products.”
Ternus has big shoes to fill: he of course follows in the footsteps of Steve Jobs, but Tim Cook carried on Jobs’ legacy to make the company the hardware and services giant that it is today. Apple is rumored to have a bunch of interesting new products in the pipeline to shake things up, including new smart home hardware, a long-delayed revamp to Siri, OLED MacBook Pros with a touchscreen, and even smart glasses. Starting September 1st, all of those products — and the future of Apple — will become the responsibility of Ternus.