After stepping into the post in 2011, Tim Cook is finally stepping down as Apple’s CEO.
Cook will be replaced by Apple veteran John Ternus on September 1, who has served as the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering since 2021, overseeing the design team.
Cook will stay on at Apple in a new role, acting as Apple’s executive chairman. The move was originally announced back in April this year, following widespread speculation he was set to replace Cook. Ternus already had a high profile at the company, unveiling the MacBook Neo at its launch event in New York in March, for example.
In his resignation letter, Cook called Ternus “a brilliant engineer and thinker,” adding that he is “obsessed with every detail.”
It’s unknown what Ternus’s reign could bring, but Apple commentators like Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have said Ternus “knows a major design shake-up is needed” at Apple, in contrast to Cook’s “historically limited presence,” citing sources within the company. Gurman has also reported that Cook is still expected to retain several key responsibilities, including maintaining relations with the White House.
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The change comes at a busy time for Apple. The upcoming iPhone 18 Pro launch event is pegged for 9 September, just under a week from now. This event could see the debut of Apple’s long-rumoured first foldable device, with a speculated premium price tag over $2,000, as well as a next gen Apple Watch.
Apple is still contending with issues like rising component costs due to the ongoing memory supply shortage, which has led to major price hikes across almost all of its products. The company still has an enviable position in the smartphone world. The iPhone 17 was the world’s best-selling smartphone in Q2 2026, commanding 6% of global sales according to statistics from Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Pro came in second and third.
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