❯ Cook Steps Down as Apple CEO on September 1, Ternus Takes Over and Joins the Board

HANDOVERTim Cook will officially step down as Apple CEO on September 1, with John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering, taking over and joining the board. The arrangement was announced in April and enters its execution phase this week. Cook remains executive chairman, primarily focused on engaging with policymakers in various countries.

SEND-OFFOn August 23 — the day before the fifteenth anniversary of Cook’s tenure as CEO — Apple held a send-off of about 200 people at the Caffé Macs restaurant on campus, with OneRepublic performing live and Laurene Powell Jobs and Ternus speaking in turn. The Information also reports that Cook’s assistant has already shifted to working with Ternus — the kind of detail that typically means a handover has reached the day-to-day level, not just a change of titles.

CHALLENGEIn fifteen years, Cook took Apple from $350 billion to the top of global market-cap rankings, built on supply chain and hardware gross margins. What Ternus takes over, though, is a company widely considered a generation behind in generative AI: the Siri overhaul has been delayed repeatedly, an in-house foundation model has yet to appear, and Apple Intelligence’s core capabilities still waver between external partnerships and self-development. The first call to make is build in-house or keep purchasing outside — and that is not something supply-chain management can solve the way swapping a chip can.

▪ SIGNALA hardware engineer takes the CEO seat at a company trailing in the software narrative — Apple is betting its in-house silicon can close the AI gap.