Jin Daily Tech Trivia: Apple gets a new CEO - John Ternus
John Ternus, currently Apple’s head of hardware engineering and a 25-year veteran of the company, will take over from Tim Cook on 1 September.
Cook has led Apple since 2011, after the late Steve Jobs stepped down due to health reasons.
So who is John Ternus, and how did Apple move from the Jony Ive industrial design-first era to a hardware-technology-first era?
Ternus began his career at Virtual Research Systems as a mechanical engineer, where he worked on headsets and accessories in the early, rapidly evolving VR space.
As you might guess, that background connects naturally to the eventual development of Apple Vision Pro. Ternus has long been deeply involved with Apple’s hardware teams, and I even had the chance to be in the same meeting with him on the iPad manufacturing floor.
He also played a key role in one of Apple’s biggest transitions - moving the Mac lineup from Intel processors to Apple Silicon. During this period, he became a prominent figure in keynote presentations, explaining the shift to Apple’s in-house chip design.
In January 2026, Ternus’ responsibilities expanded even further, albeit more quietly. The design team, previously overseen by COO Jeff Williams, was handed over to him by Cook.
And now, at the age of 50. He is the new CEO of the largest tech company in the world.
