John Ternus goes to be Apple’s subsequent CEO. And whereas outgoing CEO Tim Cook dinner was lauded for his method to logistics, Ternus’ historical past is that of a product individual.
Ternus, Apple’s SVP of {hardware} engineering earlier than being formally tapped to take excessive job, has been more and more within the public eye to assist Apple announce its newest merchandise. Ternus helped introduce the iPhone Air final September, its flashiest new iPhone of the 2025 lineup. He’s additionally been the face of saying new Macs for years, together with Apple’s first Macs with Apple Silicon in 2020 that profoundly reworked Apple’s pc lineup, persevering with by way of the 15-inch MacBook Air in 2023 and a suite of M4 Macs last year. Now, Ternus, who’s 50 years outdated and has had a 25-year tenure at Apple, goes to be the one in control of every part.
Ternus’ time at Apple has spanned each the Steve Jobs and Tim Cook dinner eras. It started in 2001 when he joined Apple’s product design group after just a few years as a mechanical engineer at Digital Analysis Programs. Ternus’ first boss at Apple, Steve Siefert, told The New York Times that Ternus grew to become a supervisor only a few years after getting employed at Apple. Siefert described him as “a person of the folks,” recalling how Ternus turned down transferring into his personal workplace when he was promoted, insisting on sitting alongside his group as an alternative. In 2013, Ternus was promoted once more, this time to VP of {hardware} engineering. In 2021, he grew to become senior VP of {hardware} engineering, taking over for Dan Riccio and formally becoming a member of Apple’s govt group.
Apple has seen vital change within the firm’s product lineup within the 13 years since Ternus rose to the management ranks of the {hardware} engineering division, together with the launch of totally new units. Notably, Ternus oversaw the event of the unique AirPods launched in 2016. In simply the final 5 years with Ternus in his SVP function, Apple has transitioned the iPhone lineup to USB-Credesigned the MacBook Air to pivot away from its old “wedge” lookrevamped the iPad Professional with a thinner design and launched the Vision Pro. Apple is rumored to be releasing its first foldable iPhone this fall.
However not every part he’s labored on has been a success. A Bloomberg profile in March about Apple’s inheritor obvious referred to as him a “driving drive” behind the MacBook Professional’s ill-fated Contact Bar, and his “subsequent typing fiasco,” the butterfly keyboard.
A few of Ternus’ contributions have been much less public, however nonetheless vital. Apple’s announcement that he shall be stepping in as CEO says Ternus “has additionally pushed a lot of Apple’s innovation in supplies and {hardware} design” to assist scale back its carbon footprint, like the usage of 3D-printed titanium in the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and “improvements in repairability which have elevated the lifespans of a number of Apple merchandise.”
Ternus has huge sneakers to fill: he in fact follows within the footsteps of Steve Jobs, however Tim Cook dinner carried on Jobs’ legacy to make the corporate the {hardware} and companies large that it’s at the moment. Apple is rumored to have a bunch of attention-grabbing new merchandise within the pipeline to shake issues up, together with new smart home hardware, a long-delayed revamp to Siri, OLED MacBook Pros with a touchscreenand even smart glasses. Beginning September 1st, all of these merchandise — and the way forward for Apple — will develop into the duty of Ternus.
