The speculation has been going on for a while, and on Monday night it became a reality. After 15 years as CEO, 65-year-old Tim Cook, who in turn took over from Steve Jobs after the co-founder's death in 2011, is choosing to step down from the CEO role.
The replacement will now be a veteran within the company but relatively anonymous outside Apple. He is only the eighth CEO since the company was founded 50 years ago.
Successful swimmer
After studying at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he was also an accomplished swimmer, John Ternus joined Apple in 2001, entering the company's design department. Alongside Tim Cook, he has in recent years presented Apple's various product initiatives, such as new versions of the MacBook Pro and iPad.
This has happened at the same time that Apple has grown to become the world's third-largest company by market capitalization. The company reported revenue of a staggering $143 billion in the most recent quarter.
However, behind the numbers are challenges that will now be John Ternus's task to address when he takes over this fall.
The company that revolutionized the technology world with its iPhone has certainly had a number of successful innovations in recent years, such as the Apple Watch and wireless AirPods. John Ternus himself was behind the budget version of the laptop, the MacBook Neo, which launched this spring and was a success.
Severe delays
The company's attempts to launch so-called smart glasses have fared even worse; they are now expected not to be presented until 2027. A home-use robot has also been significantly delayed. The big challenge, however, is AI development, where the company has deliberately chosen a different strategy than Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, which have invested hundreds of billions of dollars.
Instead of its own AI solution, Apple's customers have to use services such as ChatGPT or Claude.
"He must resist the temptation to take the baby steps that have characterized Apple, but instead define Apple's future as frantically as he defends its origins," writes the consulting firm Forrester Research in a comment about the new CEO that Bloomberg has seen.
According to another person Bloomberg spoke to, however, they hope for something different - clearer leadership under John Ternus.
"If you suggest A or B to Tim Cook, he can't choose. Ternus will make the decision," the person says.
