John Ternus became chief executive officer of Apple on September 1, 2026, and Tim Cook became executive chairman of the company's board of directors. Apple had announced the transition on April 20, 2026, setting the effective date more than four months out.
The board approved the change unanimously. Ternus joined the board on September 1 as part of the transition. Arthur Levinson, who had served as Apple's non-executive chairman for 15 years, became the company's lead independent director on the same date.
Who Ternus is
Ternus joined Apple's product design team in 2001, became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013, and joined the executive team in 2021 as senior vice president of hardware engineering. Across his tenure he has overseen hardware engineering across every product category the company sells, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods. Before Apple he worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems, and he holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Cook, who became CEO in August 2011 after Steve Jobs stepped down, will stay involved in specific areas of the company as executive chairman, including engaging with policymakers around the world.
What was said
"John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor," Cook said in the April announcement.
"I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple's mission forward," Ternus said.
Levinson said: "We believe John is the best possible leader to succeed Tim and as he transitions to CEO we know his love of Apple, his leadership, deep technical knowledge, and relentless focus on creating great products will help lead Apple to an extraordinary future."
What Ternus inherits
Ternus takes over a company that spent the past two years working through a public reset of its artificial intelligence roadmap. Apple's overhauled Siri did not ship on its original timeline: the company pushed the release back a second time in March 2026, then unveiled the rebuilt assistant at WWDC in June 2026 running on Google's Gemini models under a partnership first confirmed in January 2026.
Source: Apple Newsroom
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