John Ternus officially became Apple’s CEO on September 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook, who stepped down after 15 years at the helm and assumed the role of executive chairman of the board [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Ternus has been with Apple since 2001 and most recently served as senior vice-president of hardware engineering [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 10].

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple’s market value skyrocketed from under $350 billion in 2011 to approximately $4.5 to $4.7 trillion by 2026, with annual revenue rising from about $108 billion to $416 billion and profits quadrupling to $112 billion annually [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10]. The company expanded from focusing mainly on iPhones to include watches, AirPods, financial services, and proprietary silicon chips [1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11]. Cook earned $74.3 million in total pay in 2025 as CEO [12, 4].

As executive chairman, Cook will focus on government affairs and sustaining Apple’s global relationships, with an expected compensation package of around $47 million in 2027, including a $2 million salary and $45 million in stock awards [3, 4, 5, 9]. Regarding the CEO transition, Cook said, "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" [7].

Ternus is tasked with guiding Apple through the AI era while maintaining the innovation and financial discipline established under Cook [3, 5, 8, 9]. He faces challenges including managing recent executive departures, boosting the company's AI capabilities, and delivering strong new products amid criticism over slowed innovation in recent years [3, 5, 7, 8, 10]. Critics highlight Apple's lack of a new "game-changing" product comparable to past hits, placing pressure on Ternus to revitalize the brand, with one analyst saying, "Apple will have to face the question of ‘what's next?’" and that the CEO's goal is "to make Apple cool again despite being a multitrillion-dollar company" [3].

Apple’s official social media quickly shifted to endorse Ternus, unfollowing Cook and following the new CEO, who made his first Weibo post greeting Chinese users [11].

The company’s next major test under Ternus will come at the September 9, 2026 event, where Apple is expected to unveil a rumored foldable iPhone among other new products [1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10]. Ternus’s pay package starting in 2027 includes a $3 million base salary and $55 million in stock awards [12, 4, 9].