John Ternus will become Apple’s next chief executive officer on September 1, 2026, the company announced Tuesday, as Tim Cook moves into a new role as executive chairman following a unanimous vote by Apple’s board of directors.
The board approved the transition after what Apple described as a thoughtful, long-term succession planning process. Tim Cook will continue as CEO through the summer and will work closely with John Ternus on a smooth transition; Ternus will join the board of directors effective September 1, 2026, and Arthur Levinson will become Apple’s lead independent director that same day.
The numbers underline the scale of the handoff: Ternus has been at the company since 2001, a tenure Fortune reported as 25 years, and Fortune reported he is 50 years old. Tim Cook led Apple for 15 years after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs and, Fortune reported, turned Apple into a $4 trillion tech colossus during his run.
Tim Cook framed the choice in personal and professional terms in Apple’s announcement, saying, "John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor." Cook added, "He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future."
Ternus, whose work Fortune reported has included oversight for the past five years of the engineering that underlies the iPhone, iPad and Mac as well as projects such as the Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, said he was moved by the responsibility. "I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward," he said. "Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor." He added, "I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century."
Arthur Levinson, who has served as Apple’s non-executive chairman for the past 15 years and will become lead independent director on September 1, 2026, praised Cook’s tenure and endorsed Ternus in his statement: "Tim’s unprecedented and outstanding leadership has transformed Apple into the world’s best company." Levinson added, "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."
Context for the change follows directly from the company’s recent history: Tim Cook has been chief executive since 2011, after Steve Jobs’s death, and John Ternus has spent almost his entire career at Apple, joining in 2001 and rising to oversee core hardware engineering work. The company said the move follows long-term planning; Cook will assist with certain aspects of the company as executive chairman, including engaging with policymakers around the world.
The timing sharpens a practical tension for the company. Fortune reported that Apple has fallen behind in the artificial-intelligence race and that earlier this year Apple turned to Google to help make Siri more conversational and versatile. That reality sits uneasily beside Apple’s long claim to technical self-reliance and the board’s insistence on a seamless handoff between two leaders who have spent decades inside the company.
The board’s unanimous approval and the staging of roles — Cook remaining through the summer, Ternus joining the board on September 1, 2026, and Levinson shifting to lead independent director — are meant to blunt that tension with continuity. But the most consequential question now is whether Ternus, described by Cook as an engineer and an innovator with deep institutional experience, can close gaps flagged by observers in AI and other strategic areas while maintaining Apple’s product focus.
The leadership change will be visible in corporate governance and in the company’s product roadmap; for customers who see Apple first through the Apple Store, the handoff will be the start of a new chapter rather than an overnight change. What happens between now and September 1 will determine whether the transition looks like the capstone of a carefully managed plan or the beginning of a more fraught era of catch-up.
