Apple on Monday named longtime hardware chief Tim Cook to replace Tim Cook at the company’s helm and named insider John Ternas its next CEO, as the iPhone maker prepares for an industry transformation fueled by artificial intelligence.
Mr. Ternas, who joined Apple in 2001, has been a quiet but steady presence over the years in improving the company’s products, playing a key role in reigniting sales of products such as Apple’s Mac computers, which took market share against PCs.
Mr. Tarnas, 50, is the same age Mr. Cook was when he took over the CEO job from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He recently showed off the company’s iPhone Air last fall. It’s the biggest iPhone overhaul since 2017 and a key testing ground for some new chips.
Despite his low international profile, Ternas has helped bring to life products that are now ubiquitous, such as the iPad and AirPods. He will be tasked with helping Apple, which lost its place as the world’s most valuable company to Nvidia, navigate a technology landscape transformed by AI.
He also helped sharpen the differentiation between Apple’s product lines by introducing Mac and iPhone Pro models that pushed technology and pricing to new heights, and helped bring products like the MacBook Neo and iPhone “e” models to Apple’s lowest prices ever.
Ternus must fend off rivals such as Nvidia, which has announced its own personal computer and is working on chips that can power laptops, and Meta Platforms, whose augmented reality glasses have become a surprise hit with a fraction of the features and price of Apple’s Vision Pro headset.
“Mr. Turnus’ promotion signals the company’s focus on new hardware devices such as flip phones, glasses, VR devices, and AI pins,” said Gil Luria, managing director of DA Davidson & Co.
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Ternus is how to incorporate AI into the iPhone, the most successful consumer product of all time, and the rest of Apple’s lineup. Earlier this year, Apple signed a deal with long-time smartphone rival Alphabet’s Google to use Google’s Gemini to improve its virtual assistant Siri.
Despite introducing a form of artificial intelligence to the general public with Siri in 2011, Apple has yet to score a hit with any hardware or software product centered around the new AI technology, while emerging rivals such as OpenAI have attracted hundreds of millions of users.
“I expect his biggest challenges and efforts will be focused on delivering better AI stories and delivering products together that rely on Apple’s own capabilities rather than third parties,” said Bob O’Donnell, head of technology consulting firm TECHAnaracy Research.
Mr. Cook oversaw historic growth.
Apple announced in a statement that Cook will become the company’s executive chairman. Since Cook took over as CEO in August 2011, Apple’s stock price has soared 20 times.
Mr. Cook was hired by Mr. Jobs from Compaq at a time when Compaq was riding the PC boom of the 1990s and Mr. Jobs was working to save Apple from the brink of bankruptcy.
Mr. Cook made his early name at Apple by building a vast supply chain in China, but over the years he became a famous CEO in his own right. In 2014, he became the first Fortune 500 CEO to come out as gay and take a public stance on issues such as workplace diversity and corporate sustainability.
Cook, who presented President Donald Trump with a custom-made gold plaque, will continue to engage with policymakers, the company said.
With the appointment of Ternus as CEO, Apple is transitioning from the supply chain guru who built Apple into a global brand that produces hundreds of millions of devices a year to a leader with a longstanding focus on design and product.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consulting firm Creative Strategies, said Ternus has been well received within Apple and will bring new energy.
Separately, Apple announced that Johny Srouji, who has overseen the design of Apple’s custom chips and sensors, has been named chief hardware officer. Srouji will continue to oversee Ternus’ previous hardware engineering group, which will now be overseen by Tom Merieb.
