Apple Names Hardware Chief John Ternus as New CEO

Apple is about to get its first new boss since shortly before Steve Jobs' death. The company said Monday that longtime hardware chief John Ternus will take over as CEO on Sept. 1, with current CEO Tim Cook shifting to executive chairman, CNBC reports. Cook, 65, will stay in the top job through the summer "as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition," Apple said. The change ends an almost 15-year run that saw Apple's market value climb roughly 24-fold to $4 trillion and expand far beyond the iPhone into Apple Watch, AirPods, and the Vision Pro headset, though that last one has struggled to find a broad audience.

• "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," Cook said in a statement. "I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world."
• Cook praised Ternus, who had been widely seen as his heir apparent, as having "the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor." The 50-year-old, he said, "is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future."
• Ternus said he is "profoundly grateful" for the opportunity. "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. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another."

Cook, who joined Apple in 1998, became CEO in 2011 after Jobs stepped down for health reasons, the BBC reports. Ternus has spent roughly half his life at Apple, joining the company four years after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a mechanical engineering degree. As senior vice president of hardware engineering, he has overseen teams behind the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro.