GoKawiilJohn Ternus took over as Apple CEO on Tuesday, succeeding Tim Cook after serving as the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. His first day comes just over a week before the annual iPhone launch event on Sept. 9.
Under Cook, Apple became a $4 trillion company with an impressive, world-changing lineup of tech products, including every iPhone from 2012’s iPhone 5 onward, the Apple Watch, the AirPods, the Vision Pro and the HomePod, and services including Apple Music, Apple TV Plus and Apple Fitness Plus.
But what exactly is Ternus walking into? There are major challenges ahead, driven by the global RAM shortage, increasing smartphone competition and Apple’s struggles to keep up with the artificial intelligence race.
Farewell to Tim Cook
Cook, who took over as CEO two months before Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, reportedly held a farewell party at Apple Park last weekend to cap off his 15 years at the helm of the company. Around 200 people — mostly Apple employees, but also Cook’s partner and the band OneRepublic — attended the party, according to The Information, citing unnamed sources.
Ternus reportedly spoke at the event, along with Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs; Apple’s former COO, Jeff Williams; and head of Apple Services and Health, Eddy Cue.
According to that report, anonymous sources have said the transition from Cook to Ternus should be one of continuity rather than upheaval, with many things expected to stay the same.
During his final earnings call as CEO in July, Cook praised Ternus, saying, “There is no better person to take the helm of the company.” He also called Ternus “brilliant and wonderful and capable” in his farewell note as Apple CEO on Monday.
“Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does, and I could not be more excited for his leadership,” Cook wrote this week.
With Ternus as CEO, Cook now serves as executive chair of Apple. Keeping him on in a senior role means Cook will still have influence over where Ternus decides to take Apple, and he could continue to be particularly influential with the current presidential administration, with which he’s fostered a good working relationship.
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