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Apple's Hardware Chief John Ternus Tipped to Succeed Tim Cook as CEO
16 Nov
Summary
- Tim Cook expected to resign as Apple CEO as soon as next year
- John Ternus, Apple's hardware engineering chief, is the frontrunner to replace Cook
- Ternus has been with Apple for 24 years and played a key role in major product launches
According to recent reports, Apple is stepping up its succession planning as current CEO Tim Cook, who has led the company for over 14 years, is expected to resign from his position as soon as next year. Cook, who will be turning 66 in 2026, took over the tech giant from founder Steve Jobs and has overseen a period of tremendous growth and market dominance.
Now, the frontrunner to become Apple's third-ever CEO is John Ternus, the company's senior vice president of hardware engineering. Ternus, aged 50, has been with Apple for around 24 years and has played a key role in the development of many of the company's most successful products, including the iPhone, iPad, and AirPods.
Compared to Cook's operations-focused background, Ternus is more engineering-oriented, having graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering before joining Apple's product design team in 2001. He has steadily risen through the ranks, taking on increasingly prominent roles, and is now seen as the leading candidate to succeed Cook.
Ternus' potential ascension to the CEO role could signal a shift in Apple's priorities, as some have criticized Cook's leadership for a perceived slowdown in innovation. Under his tenure, the company has released numerous new products, but the upgrades have often been deemed incremental rather than revolutionary. Bringing in an engineer-first executive like Ternus, who has been involved in nearly all of Apple's major product launches, could help address these concerns and reinvigorate the company's innovative spirit.
