“So long, Tim Apple:” What’s next for Tim Cook?
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from his role, but that doesn’t mean that he’s leaving the company.
Image by Reuters.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from his role, but that doesn’t mean that he’s leaving the company.
- Tim Cook will step down as Apple's CEO, and John Ternus will take over on September 1st, 2026.
- Cook will stay at the company as executive chairman.
- During Cook’s tenure, Apple’s market value surged from about $350 billion to over $4 trillion.
- Cook’s legacy includes maintaining Steve Jobs’ vision while expanding into new technologies, such as Apple Silicon, and devices like Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
- Ternus’s candidacy has been the subject of speculation since last year.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Apple announced that Cook will be stepping down as the company’s chief executive and will become the chairman of its board of directors, effective September 1st later this year.
John Ternus, the current vice president of hardware engineering, will replace him as the new CEO, Apple said in a blog post. Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer and work closely with Ternus on “a smooth transition,” the company said.
Cook started his career at Apple in 1998. In 2011, he became the company’s CEO.
During that time, Apple has introduced new services, such as iCloud, Apple Pay, and Apple TV, as well as products, including Apple Watch, AirPods, and the Apple Vision Pro headset.
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Under Cook’s leadership, Apple has grown from a market capitalization of approximately $350 billion to $4 trillion. Its yearly revenue grew from $108 billion in fiscal year 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal year 2025.
“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.
Ternus said he is “profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” adding that he has spent almost his entire career at Apple, working under Steve Jobs and Cook as his mentor.
Indisputable legacy
Cook’s management wasn’t always smooth sailing. There was, for example, a buggy Apple Maps release in 2012, followed by controversies over digital privacy and ethical concerns about production. However, his legacy is indisputable.
One of the most significant Cook legacies was that he kept alive the “Apple narrative,” or Jobs' vision, notes Alex Kantrowitz, the host of the Big Technology Podcast, in a conversation with Joanna Stern, a technology journalist.
Both experts agreed it will be interesting to see whether the new CEO will maintain the Apple story.
Stern also noted that Cook doesn’t get enough credit for Apple’s well-known products.
The tech journalist said that the innovations that occurred during Cook’s tenure changed the computing industry, highlighting the capabilities of the company’s current computers, which are powered by Apple Silicon chips.
Who is John Ternus?
Ternus has been with Apple since 2001. His appointment to become Apple’s new CEO shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Speculations about Cook stepping down have been circulating since last year.
Cybernews previously reported that it was not yet known when the change would take place, but that the efforts to find Cook’s replacement had already “intensified.”
At that time, Ternus had already been named a possible candidate for Apple's CEO.
During his 25 years at the company, Ternus has overseen popular Apple products such as iPad and AirPods. He also introduced the iPhone Air and MacBook Neo.
One of his significant contributions as a senior vice president of hardware engineering was to shift Apple’s computer processors to those the company made itself.
This way, the company no longer needed to rely on Intel, the American manufacturing giant.
The new CEO is already being compared to Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs, for focusing on devices rather than just software, thereby prioritizing the customer experience over technology itself, reports Reuters.
What’s the difference between the roles?
The changes at Apple also sparked online discussion.
“So long, Tim Apple,” wrote one netizen.
Some users were curious to understand the difference between the executive chairman and the chief executive officer.
As executive chairman, Cook will lead the board of directors and oversee the company’s governance, strategy, and shareholder relations.
Meanwhile, as a new CEO, Ternus, who's been with Apple for 25 years, will oversee daily operations and report to the board.
“Someone show me the difference between corporations and monarchies?” wrote one user.
“The board members elect the CEO. CEO isn't a title passed down to your first male born,” replied another Redditor.
Tim Cook will step down as CEO of Apple on September 1, after 15 years in the role. Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus will take over as CEO, while Cook will assume the role of Executive Chairman.
by u/Goosedukee in Fauxmoi
Some users also noted certain changes the company made to its products that they weren’t keen on.
“Can we get our headphone sockets back now? I've had roughly 12 worn out headphone dongles over his tenure, and I still wish we could send 58 garbage trucks full of worn out dongles straight to his house,” wrote one Redditor.
The company replaced the 3.5mm headphone jack in 2016 with the release of the iPhone 7. Since then, users of earlier iPhone models have had to use a USB-C-to-headphone-jack adapter.
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