Tim Cook's replacement

John Ternus is a leading candidate to succeed CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Bloomberg .

Apple is entering the preparation phase for the most important leadership transition since Tim Cook replaced Steve Jobs in 2011. As Cook approaches the age of 65, many insiders and observers believe that John Ternus, Senior Vice President in charge of hardware engineering, is becoming the most serious candidate for the position of future CEO.

This assessment is reinforced by a new report from Bloomberg author Mark Gurman, who has closely followed Apple's operations for many years and often cites highly accurate inside sources.

Tim Cook's successor

Ternus’ interest in the company has increased significantly since Jeff Williams, a senior executive once considered a possible successor to Tim Cook, unexpectedly announced his departure from Apple at the end of the year. Williams’ withdrawal from the race has left Ternus as the most likely choice, especially given his deep engineering background and experience managing the entire Apple hardware portfolio.

Ternus, who joined the company in 2001 as a mechanical engineer on the product design team, has been involved in the development of most of Apple's flagship devices for more than two decades. His mark is present on every generation of iPad, new iPhones, AirPods, and especially the transition of Macs to silicon chips.

John Ternus is the man behind building Apple's product ecosystem. Photo: Bloomberg .

In recent years, Ternus has appeared more frequently at important events, playing a role in introducing major products such as the 2019 Mac Pro, 2018 iPad Pro, new iMac models or iPhone Air.

According to Gurman, Apple’s communications team has begun “focusing its attention on Ternus,” a move that analysts see as a sign of preparation for a transition of power. While Ternus is not in a top executive role, he has become deeply involved in product direction, feature selection, and strategic decisions that would normally fall to senior executives.

At 50, Ternus is considered young enough to take on the CEO role long-term, and is similar to Cook's age when he took over Apple in 2011. This fits with the board's desire to maintain long-term stability, especially in the context of Apple's increasing investment in new areas such as AI and mixed reality.

The right move for Apple

Ternus has steadily risen through the ranks over the past 20 years at Apple. He was appointed Vice President of Hardware Engineering in 2013, overseeing AirPods, Macs, and iPads, before expanding to iPhones in 2020. When Dan Riccio left the executive role in 2021, Ternus was promoted to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, a position he holds today.

Gurman said Ternus’ presence at recent product launches reflects his growing power to shape the product category, even taking over from CEO Tim Cook to lead the way for customers at the iPhone 17 launch at the Regent Street store in London in October.

Apple is considering options to succeed CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Bloomberg .

The succession process comes at a time when Apple is facing a high-level turnover. According to Bloomberg , several key leaders, including AI strategy chief John Giannandrea, hardware chief Johny Srouji, and environmental policy chief Lisa Jackson, are considering their futures. For a company that has been known for its stability under Cook, this is a sensitive time.

Meanwhile, Tim Cook has sent mixed signals. He once told CNBC that it was hard to imagine himself “doing nothing,” but Bloomberg sources said the Apple CEO could transition to the chairman role when the time is right, similar to the model of Jeff Bezos at Amazon or Bill Gates at Microsoft.

Ternus’s consideration for a successor reflects Apple’s continued trust in its internal team, people who have grown up in the company’s engineering culture. As Apple looks to refresh its product portfolio beyond the iPhone and compete more aggressively in AI, a leader with a strong engineering background like Ternus could be the best fit for the role.

Source: https://znews.vn/day-co-the-la-ceo-moi-cua-apple-post1603332.html