Apple officially announces a leadership change: Tim Cook steps down as CEO, and Eddy Cue takes over.

A group photo of Cook and other Apple executives such as John Ternus. The picture is generated by AI.

On April 20 local time, Apple officially announced that the current CEO, Tim Cook, will assume the position of Executive Chairman of the Board. John Ternus, the Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will succeed as Apple's Chief Executive Officer starting on September 1. This decision was unanimously approved by the board of directors.

Thus, Cook, who has led Apple for 15 years, has made his last and most important decision.

This news is not surprising.

In the past six months, Apple has laid the groundwork for this transition. At the end of 2025, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams retired, followed by Lisa Jackson, the head of environment and policy affairs. Several core executives from the Cook era have gradually faded out.

Meanwhile, Ternus' public exposure has quietly increased. From personally introducing the iPhone Air on the stage of the product launch to frequently participating in media interviews, Apple has gradually pushed this successor into the spotlight.

At the all - hands meeting in February this year, Cook rarely took the initiative to talk about retirement and succession. He said that "it's natural for some people to choose to retire when they reach a certain age" and added that he had spent a lot of time thinking about "who will be sitting in this room in 5 or 10 years."

01 The End of the Cook Era

In 2011, Cook took over the leadership of Apple from the late founder, Steve Jobs. At that time, Apple's market value was about $348 billion, and its single - quarter revenue was less than $30 billion.

Fifteen years later, Apple's market value once exceeded $4 trillion, its single - quarter revenue exceeded $100 billion, and its annual revenue increased from $108 billion in fiscal year 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal year 2025. The number of active device installations exceeded 2.5 billion, and the service business scale exceeded $100 billion, equivalent to an independent Fortune 40 company.

What Cook has brought to Apple is not just numerical growth. He promoted Apple's strategic transformation towards self - developed chips, turned the Apple Watch and AirPods into new billion - dollar product categories, and deeply embedded values such as privacy protection and sustainable development into Apple's product logic and corporate culture.

However, external doubts have never stopped. The Apple Car project ended without success, the Vision Pro has received good reviews but poor sales, and Apple is generally considered to be half a step behind in the AI wave. Jony Ive, who once represented the design soul of Apple, switched to OpenAI, which has intensified the voice of "declining innovation at Apple."

After Cook assumes the position of Executive Chairman of the Board, he will continue to participate in foreign policy affairs, escorting his successor in the complex game of trade frictions and geopolitics. This is also regarded as his last key mission.

02 Ternus: A 25 - Year Long - Distance Run of a Product Person

Ternus was born in May 1975 in California and is now 48 years old. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He was also a member of the university's swimming team during his school years.

After graduation, he didn't go straight to Silicon Valley. Instead, he joined an early VR company called Virtual Research Systems as a mechanical engineer. Although not well - known, this company was a participant in the VR wave from the 1980s to the 1990s, focusing on the research and development of head - mounted displays and immersive technologies. This experience allowed Ternus to be exposed to cutting - edge display technologies and human - computer interaction interfaces in the early stage of his career, laying an important foundation for his later leadership in the development of the Apple Vision Pro.

In 2001, Ternus joined Apple's product design team in a relatively junior position, initially responsible for the development of external Mac monitors. At that time, Jobs had just returned, the iMac had revitalized the company, and Apple was gearing up to change the world.

About three years later, he was promoted to management and led the hardware engineering team in the research and development of the G5 series of iMacs. It was also during this period that he began to frequently travel to Asia to deal with suppliers and contract manufacturers, accumulating valuable manufacturing experience and gaining a deep understanding of the complexity of mass - producing Apple's designs.

In 2013, Ternus was promoted to Vice President of Hardware Engineering. Under the leadership of then - Hardware Chief Dan Riccio, he coordinated the Mac and iPad teams. In 2020, he further took over the iPhone hardware engineering that was previously directly managed by Riccio. In January 2021, after Riccio stepped down to focus on the Vision Pro project, Ternus was promoted to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, officially entering Apple's top management.

By then, his scope of authority had spanned almost all of Apple's core hardware product lines. "I started with product design, and mechanical engineering is my professional background. I've been fortunate to be involved in the development of almost every type of Apple product," Ternus once summarized in an interview. Foreign media once described him as "the youngest member of Apple's executive team" and said that he is "charming and well - liked by his colleagues."

Of course, his resume is not flawless. The Touch Bar is considered a product he strongly promoted, and this feature was eventually removed due to poor user feedback. The promotion of the butterfly keyboard also encountered complaints and lawsuits. Some people believe that these mistakes reflect his trade - off between cost - cutting and design investment, and also made his relationship with the industrial design team somewhat delicate.

However, the merits outweigh the demerits. In April 2025, with the organizational structure adjustment caused by the setback in the launch of Apple Intelligence, Ternus' authority was further expanded. The robotics business originally belonging to the AI team was also incorporated into the hardware department he leads. This is generally interpreted by the outside world as Apple consciously making the final preparations for him to succeed as the Chief Executive Officer.

03 The Formation of the New Team: A Carefully - Laid Chessboard

Ternus is not fighting alone. Apple has quietly built a new core team around him:

In the field of AI, Mike Rockwell takes over Siri. Amar Subramanya, a veteran technologist who participated in the Gemini and DeepMind projects at Google, is responsible for the overall AI strategy. Apple's shortcomings in intelligence are expected to be quickly addressed.

In the field of hardware and XR, Fletcher Rothkopf, after his promotion, leads the hardware engineering of smart glasses. It is reported that the screenless version of the Air headset is expected to be unveiled in 2026, and the full - version with a display will not be available until 2027.

In the field of design, Stephen Lemay, who replaced Alan Dye (who was poached by Meta), is a low - key UI designer who has been working at Apple since 1999. His name appears in hundreds of patents, and he has an excellent reputation within the company. Molly Andrews, the head of industrial design, is gradually stepping into the spotlight.

It can be said that the core product lineup of Apple in the post - Cook era has basically taken shape.

However, industrial designer Karim Rashid once mentioned an observation that internal successors who have stayed in a single system for too long tend to have a convergent mindset and are more inclined to maintain the status quo. This is a risk that Ternus needs to face.

On the other hand, the reasons are also valid. Apple has 2.5 billion active devices and self - developed chips, and Ternus has a background spanning engineering and products. In the stage where hardware and AI are starting to integrate, this combination may not be inappropriate.

This year marks Apple's 50th anniversary.

Jobs defined what Apple is, and Cook sold Apple products around the world. Now it's Ternus' turn to answer: What will Apple become?

Appendix: The Full Text of Cook's Public Letter

For the past fifteen years, I've maintained the same routine almost every morning. I open my email and read the messages from Apple users around the world from the previous day.

You've shared your daily lives with me and told me about the little things that Apple products have brought to you: Some people have saved their mothers' lives with the Apple Watch; some have taken perfect selfies on top of a dangerous peak with Apple devices; everyone thanks the Mac for changing their way of working; and occasionally, you've also been straightforward with your dissatisfaction, complaining about the malfunction of certain features you care about.

From each message, I can feel the sincere connection between people. This makes me feel an even heavier sense of responsibility, spurring me to work harder and continuously improve. But the deepest feeling is indescribable gratitude - gratitude for being fortunate enough to be the recipient of these messages and to lead a company that can ignite people's imagination and profoundly enrich the lives of millions of users. I will cherish this mission and honor for my whole life.

Today, we officially announce a new stage in my career at Apple. In the coming months, I will gradually complete the handover of work and step down as the Chief Executive Officer in September to assume the position of Chairman of Apple's Executive Board. The best job in the world will welcome a new helmsman, John Ternus. He is a highly talented engineer and strategic thinker who has been deeply involved in Apple's product R & D for twenty - five years, creating countless products loved by users. He is meticulous about every detail, exhausting all possibilities to make products more excellent, bolder, more beautiful, and more heart - warming. He is the perfect candidate to take on this job.

John deeply identifies with Apple's corporate core, adheres to Apple's mission, and cares about every user. He has good moral character, stays true to his heart, and has extremely pure leadership. I'm extremely proud to announce that he will become Apple's next Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, Apple will surely reach new heights. You will personally feel his dedication in every new product and service in the future. I sincerely hope that you can get to know and trust him as I do.

This is not a goodbye. At this moment of transition, I want to say thank you to everyone in person. This time, it's not on behalf of the company. All my colleagues at Apple are already filled with gratitude towards you users. This time, it's just on behalf of myself, Tim. An ordinary person from a remote town, born in an ordinary era, I'm fortunate to have led the greatest company in the world during this precious time.

Thank you for your trust and kindness; thank you for greeting me kindly on the street and in Apple stores; thank you for your cheers and support all the way when we launch new products and services; most of all, thank you for always believing in me and letting me lead this company that always puts users first. We think day in and day out just to make your lives a little better; and day after day, you've also made my life the most fulfilling one. Thank you all.

*Special translator Wuji also contributed to this article

This article is from the WeChat official account "Tencent Technology". Author: Xiaojing, Editor: Xu Qingyang. Republished by 36Kr with permission.