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Apple Names John Ternus Chief Executive as Tim Cook Becomes Executive Chairman

The move signals continuity for Apple’s product roadmap as Ternus prepares to lead the company into a Sept. 9 product event.

Overview

  • Apple updated its leadership page on Sept. 1 to list John Ternus as CEO and to show Tim Cook in the new role of executive chairman, a change the company announced publicly that day.
  • Ternus immediately began public outreach, joining X and Weibo and sending an internal memo saying “next week we will have a huge release, it will be phenomenal,” making the Sept. 9 event his first major outing as CEO.
  • Apple has scheduled a fall product event for Sept. 9 with the theme “Surprise and shine,” and multiple reports say industry expectations point to an iPhone 18 Pro/Max and an Ultra-series foldable, which remain unconfirmed by Apple.
  • A Sept. 1 SEC filing disclosed Ternus’s 2027 target pay at about $58 million, with a $3 million base salary and roughly 75% of his equity award tied to performance measured against the S&P 500.
  • The leadership change brought an internal reshuffle: Luca Maestri’s enterprise services duties were reassigned to CFO Kevan Parekh and other senior executives including the COO and services head will take expanded operational roles.