GoKawiilOn September 1st, 2026, John Ternus will officially become Apple’s CEO. Here’s why that timing maters for both Ternus and Apple.
Apple’s annual September event
First and foremost, John Ternus will officially start as CEO less than two weeks before Apple will likely hold their annual September event. While this event is always a major one for Apple, this year’s is set to be particularly significant, as it should finally introduce Apple’s first foldable iPhone.
Foldable iPhone
As previously mentioned, this fall Apple is expected to finally announce their first-ever foldable iPhone. While this is certainly a significant launch for Apple, it is even more significant for John Ternus in particular. According to today’s Power On newsletter from Mark Gurman, “Ternus oversaw the engineering and product development of the device”, so it makes sense that he would be the face of the new product. Similarly, last year, he was the one to introduce the iPhone Air.
While at Apple, Ternus has spent much of his time working on the iPad to improve performance, battery, and reliability. This has certainly been on display with recent iPad models, particularly the latest iPad Pro models. In fact, Gurman reports that “the idea that Ternus drove this whole process will be put front and center during the launch period”. Since last year, Ternus has had an increasingly large presence in interviews, including ones regarding the launch of the iPhone 17 lineup. All things considered, Ternus will likely have an even larger presence in this year’s iPhone launch.
Going into the holiday quarter
Taking over on September 1st means that Ternus will become CEO just a few weeks before Apple’s holiday quarter begins in late September. This quarter is always Apple’s largest, considering it covers the yearly iPhone launch and the holiday season. And this year should be no different, with Apple expected to beat previous holiday quarter records, with nearly $150 billion in revenue. This will give Ternus a strong and positive start to his tenure.
A strong product lineup
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman notes that when Tim Cook took over as CEO in 2011, Apple had a strong product lineup both at the time and in the pipeline. The iPad 2 had recently launched, the iPhone 4S with Siri launched shortly after, and the next year brought many great products such as iPhone 5, iPad mini, and the MacBook Pro with Retina display. John Ternus is in a similar position: the latest iPhone lineup is clearly their strongest yet, every MacBook was just refreshed with incredible new chips, and MacBook Neo is helping Mac reach more people and shatter records. And down the line, Apple is expected to enter multiple new product categories with exciting new products.
... continue reading