Apple has appointed its head of hardware engineering, John Ternus, as its new chief executive officer to succeed Tim Cook, marking a major leadership transition at the world’s most valuable technology company.
Tim Cook, 65, will step down as chief executive on 1 September after a 15-year tenure that transformed Apple into a 4 trillion US dollar company and strengthened its dominance in the global smartphone market. He will remain with the company as executive chairman.
John Ternus, 50, has spent more than two decades at Apple and currently leads engineering for core products, including the iPhone, iPad and Mac. He is widely regarded as a long-term internal successor and has played a central role in the company’s hardware development in recent years.
Apple said outgoing chairman Arthur Levinson will step down as non-executive chairman but will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.
In a statement, Cook described his time as chief executive as “the greatest privilege” of his life. He said he was grateful to have worked with “ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people".
Ternus said he was “profoundly grateful” for the opportunity to lead Apple forward and continue its mission.
Cook became chief executive in 2011 following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. He oversaw a period of significant expansion driven largely by the iPhone. Under his leadership, Apple became the first publicly traded company to reach 1 trillion, 2 trillion and 3 trillion US dollars in market value, with its current valuation standing at around 4 trillion US dollars.
However, in recent years Apple has faced increasing pressure over slower progress in artificial intelligence compared with rivals such as Nvidia, as well as reliance on external partnerships to enhance products including its voice assistant Siri.
The leadership change comes at a pivotal moment as artificial intelligence continues to reshape the global technology industry.
