Tim Cook Stepping Down as Apple CEO, John Ternus Taking Over

Tim Cook will step down as CEO of Apple. After 15 years leading the company, Cook will hand the reins over to senior vice president of Hardware Engineering John Ternus on September 1, 2026. Cook isn't leaving Cupertino entirely, however—he will transition into a new role as executive chairman of Apple's board of directors.



The transition doesn't come as a surprise to industry watchers. Over the past year, Apple has been quietly positioning Ternus for the top job. The 50-year-old executive recently absorbed oversight of Apple's design teams and has become a much more visible presence at major product launches. Cook, who actually shut down rumors of an imminent exit during a television interview earlier this year, will now spend the summer working directly with Ternus to manage the handover before shifting his daily focus to global policy and board duties.


In a statement addressing the transition, Cook called leading Apple the greatest privilege of his life. He praised his successor's character and track record, saying Ternus brings the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the absolute integrity needed to run the company.

Ternus has essentially spent his entire career at Apple, joining the product design team in 2001. He climbed the ranks to become a vice president in 2013 and took over as senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021. His work spans nearly every major Apple product released over the past decade. Ternus was a central figure in moving the Mac lineup to Apple Silicon and recently oversaw the launch of the more affordable MacBook Neo. His hardware teams also drove the overhauled iPhone 17 lineup, the ultrathin iPhone Air, and the shift to using 3D-printed titanium in wearables like the Apple Watch Ultra 3. He has also been credited with pushing Apple to use more recycled materials and making the hardware significantly easier to repair.

Ternus said he is humbled to step into the role, noting how lucky he feels to have learned directly under both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. He emphasized that he plans to lead with the same values and vision that have defined Apple's culture for the last half-century.

Cook leaves behind a massive, defining legacy. When he took over for Jobs in 2011, Apple's market cap sat around $350 billion. Today, it is approaching $4 trillion. Under his watch, yearly revenue nearly quadrupled to over $416 billion. While critics occasionally questioned Apple's pace of innovation under his tenure, Cook successfully built entirely new, multi-billion dollar categories from the ground up. He pushed Apple into wearables with the Apple Watch and AirPods, launched the Vision Pro, and turned Apple Services into a juggernaut that now pulls in over $100 billion a year.


He also radically reshaped Apple's corporate identity and global footprint. Cook made user privacy a core selling point that actively separated the iPhone from its Android rivals. He drove massive environmental initiatives, cutting the company's carbon footprint by more than 60 percent since 2015 even as device sales skyrocketed to an installed base of over 2.5 billion active devices. Under his guidance, Apple's retail and operational presence expanded heavily into emerging markets like India and Southeast Asia.

As part of the transition, Arthur Levinson will transition from his role as non-executive chairman to lead independent director. Levinson, who has held the chairman spot for the last 15 years, will stay on as lead independent director. Ternus will also officially join the board of directors when he assumes the CEO title this September.