John Ternus Takes Over as Apple CEO, Facing AI and China Challenges

Tim Cook's fifteen-year run atop Apple formally ends on September 1, 2026. Taking the helm is John Ternus, the company's longtime head of hardware engineering, who from day one will have to answer how Apple closes its gap in artificial intelligence and holds its position in China.

The End of the Cook Era

Apple's board of directors unanimously approved the succession decision back in April 2026, giving Cook and Ternus several months to prepare a smooth handover. The change formally takes effect on Tuesday, September 1, when Ternus will also join the company's board of directors.

Cook has led Apple since 2011, when he succeeded Steve Jobs. Under his leadership, the company nearly quadrupled its revenue and expanded operations to more than 200 countries, while its market valuation grew from $350 billion to roughly $4 trillion. As executive chairman, Cook is expected to remain engaged with policymakers around the world, but day-to-day management of the company now passes to Ternus.

John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity - Tim Cook, executive chairman of Apple

Who Is the New CEO

The 51-year-old Ternus has been at Apple since 2001, when he joined the design team right after earning a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Over a quarter-century at the company, he rose to senior vice president of hardware engineering, overseeing development of the iPad, AirPods, iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch.

He led the Mac's transition from Intel processors to Apple's own chips and headed the team behind AirPods development. Analysts attribute the choice of a hardware engineer, rather than, say, software chief Craig Federighi, to the fact that physical devices still drive Apple's business.

Consumers are still buying hardware first, and it's going to be like that for a long time - Carolina Milanesi, technology market analyst

AI Delays

The biggest problem awaiting Ternus is Apple's position in the AI race. The company has been criticized for years over Siri's unreliability, an assistant that still mainly handles simple tasks like setting a timer or checking the weather, while work on its revamped version keeps running into further difficulties.

Apple has no large language model of its own that can compete with rivals' offerings and relies on outside models, integrating Google Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT. Ternus will have to decide whether that dependence on outside vendors is a sustainable strategy in the long run, or whether Apple should accelerate development of its own models.

China, Without Experience

The second minefield is China. The Greater China region remains Apple's third-largest market, generating $64.3 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2025, and in the most recent quarter sales there rose to $25 billion from $18.5 billion a year earlier. Even so, Ternus has no documented track record managing relations with that market, and the official announcement of his appointment does not mention any specific global market beyond Cook's role as executive chairman.

The new CEO must simultaneously deal with pressure from the administration in Washington, which is pushing for iPhone production to move to the United States, and with growing competition from local brands like Huawei and Xiaomi, which are bringing AI-enabled phones to the Chinese market faster. An added complication is that Apple Intelligence still doesn't work in China because of certification requirements from the country's Cyberspace Administration, while competitors are already integrating artificial intelligence into their devices.

First Test in Eight Days

Ternus won't have time to settle in. Just eight days after formally taking office, on September 9, he is set to make his public debut at Apple's annual iPhone launch, unveiling the company's first-ever foldable phone as well as a smart display that recognizes who is speaking to it and tailors content to that specific person. He began developing both products while still head of the hardware division, before becoming CEO.

For Polish businesses and consumers, the direction Ternus takes on AI carries practical weight. The pace at which artificial intelligence gets integrated into Apple's devices will determine how quickly features such as on-device language models or a more capable Siri reach Polish iPhone users, who today must rely on the same third-party solutions as the rest of the market.