John Ternus Teases 'Phenomenal' Launch in First Memo as Apple CEO

John Ternus sent his first company-wide memo as Apple's chief executive on Tuesday, September 1, thanking employees and his predecessor Tim Cook while teasing a "phenomenal" launch next week. The memo was obtained and published by 9to5Mac.



In the memo, Ternus thanked staff for their warm wishes and expressed his appreciation to Cook for sharing his knowledge and experience during the transition. He said Apple was "so lucky to have had a CEO who led with his values and with such decency and humanity," adding that he was grateful Cook would remain as executive chairman.


Ternus said he was honored to lead "the greatest company in the world" and pointed to next week's event as the company's immediate focus. "We have a huge launch next week that's going to be phenomenal," he wrote. The event, scheduled for September 9, is expected to bring the iPhone 18 Pro line and Apple's first foldable iPhone.

Looking further ahead, Ternus said he was excited about "the incredible products already in the works and the ones we haven't even imagined yet that we'll dream up and create together."

Here's the full memo:

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Team,


Today, on my first day as CEO, I just wanted to send a quick note to thank everyone for the warm wishes. I also want to extend my deep appreciation to Tim for sharing so much of his knowledge and experience during this transition, and more importantly, for everything he contributed to Apple over the years. We're so lucky to have had a CEO who led with his values and with such decency and humanity. We are all better for it, and I'm so grateful he'll be our executive chairman.

I'm honored to be stepping into this role at what is truly the greatest company in the world, and I am so excited about everything we have in store. We have a huge launch next week that's going to be phenomenal. Thanks for everything you've all done to make it possible.

I'm just as excited about what lies beyond that, including the incredible products already in the works and the ones we haven't even imagined yet that we'll dream up and create together. There's no team in the world I'd rather build the future with.

More to come. In the meantime, thanks for your excellent work!

John
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The note follows Cook's farewell message to employees on Monday. Ternus formally succeeded him on September 1, with Cook becoming executive chairman of Apple's board. A 25-year Apple veteran who previously led hardware engineering, Ternus was named Cook's successor in April, setting up Apple's first CEO transition since 2011.