Who is the next Apple CEO, John Ternus?

Fifteen years later, Tim Cook will hand over the position of Apple CEO to John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. From September 1, Ternus will lead one of the world’s most valuable companies. But unless you’re a huge Apple fan, you’ve probably never heard of this guy who’s gone largely unnoticed until now.

How long has John Ternus worked at Apple?

Ternus has worked at Apple for almost half of his life. Now 51 years old, he has been with Apple for 25 years.

He joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 as his second job out of college (his first was at a small virtual reality device manufacturer called Virtual Research Systems). Until 2013, Ternus was Vice President of Hardware Engineering and was promoted to the SVP role in 2021.

Ternus, who is 15 years younger than Cook, is one of the youngest Apple executives to have been rumored as a possible successor, suggesting the company may be looking for someone to lead the company for a long time. After all, Apple has only had two CEOs in this new millennium, so leadership continuity seems important to the company.

Ternus reports to Cook, whom he considers a mentor and who leads all hardware engineering at Apple. For a company known for ubiquitous hardware like iPhones and MacBooks, this is a pretty big deal.

In a 2024 commencement speech at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Engineering, Ternus reflected on the lessons he learned at Apple, which perhaps tell us a little about his character.

“Always assume you are as smart as the other people in the room, but never assume you know as much as they do,” Ternus said in his speech. “With this mindset, you can find the confidence you need to move forward, but more importantly, the humility to ask questions.”

In a tech ecosystem filled with wild egos, it’s refreshing to hear Ternus say the word “humility.” What’s even better is that the person doesn’t seem to have an X account.

What projects did John Ternus lead at Apple?

Ternus’ early projects at Apple included scrutinizing components for the Apple Cinema Display, an early desktop monitor.

“At one point in my first year, I was at a supplier’s facility, far from home. I was up until past midnight using a magnifying glass to count the number of grooves on the screw head. And I got into an argument with the supplier because this part had 35 grooves. It should have had 25,” Ternus recalled in his commencement address. “I distinctly remember taking a moment to step back and think, ‘What am I doing? Is this normal?'”

As Ternus rose through the corporate ranks, his responsibilities grew. Although he no longer spends much time analyzing screws, he still seems to take pride in getting the little details right. In a recent interview, when asked about his favorite memories of Steve Jobs, Ternus cited the former Apple co-founder’s interest in craftsmanship.

“(Jobs) was moving pieces of furniture and dressers, pulling them off the walls, looking back and contemplating that the carpenter who had built them had made them beautiful,” Ternus said. “It turned out the back just as beautifully as the rest of it, even though no one saw it, right? And I think about that all the time because I think it perfectly exemplifies what we do here.”

He has since led hardware development for products across the Apple ecosystem, overseeing launches such as AirPods, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. He also worked on major technology upgrades at Apple, including Apple’s transition from Intel chips to its own proprietary Apple silicon.

Most recently, Ternus worked on the production of Apple’s new, affordable laptop model, the MacBook Neo, which lowers costs through clever compromises in hardware design, including using iPhone chips to power the device.

“We never want to ship junk products. We want to ship great products with the Apple experience and Apple quality. With Neo, we had to build something completely new, leveraging not only the technologies we’ve developed, like Apple silicon, but also the expertise we’ve developed over the years building Macs, phones, and iPads,” Ternus told Tom’s Guide.

As CEO, Ternus will have to lead Apple through the challenge of keeping up with the AI ​​race and figuring out what to do with Vision Pro’s underlying technology.

What else do we know about John Ternus?

Ternus was on Penn’s swim team. For his senior project, he created a feeding arm that people with quadriplegia could control with head movements.

Ternus donated $2,900 to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in 2021, according to public records of political donations.

Otherwise, Ternus kept a relatively low profile.