what does he inherit and what will be his legacy?
Updated ,first published
During the 15 years he has led Apple, Tim Cook has accomplished what many thought was impossible. But when he leaves the top job this year, his hand-picked replacement will face an unprecedented challenge, plunging a giant of classical computing into an uncertain age of artificial intelligence.
How will John Ternus, a quiet hardware engineer known for his meticulous and careful attention to detail, shape the massive company over the next decade as he adapts (or not) to an upheaval that some believe requires a complete reset of the way we understand computing?
Who is John Ternus?
Ternus, 50, has spent half his life working at Apple. He joined the company in 2001 as part of the design team and in 2013 was appointed vice president of hardware engineering, responsible for Mac, AirPods and iPad. He succeeded his mentor Dan Riccio as senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021, at which time he was also responsible for iPhone and Apple Watch.
Ternus is deeply interested in the technical details of the company’s products. Every time I’ve been to Apple Park over the past four years, he’s been at background briefings as an executive answering my questions about new devices and features. Contrary to some clichés about Apple in the 2010s, he immediately emphasizes that stylish design should not compromise performance and longevity, and talks about preferring the type of artificial intelligence that is invisible behind the scenes to the type that is at the center.
If you look at Apple’s product lineup over the last five years (the period during which Ternus played a senior role in hardware engineering), you can see models that could address its priorities. More functional improvements have been made over game-changing innovations, with an emphasis on battery life, longevity and robust design.
The standard iPhone has become much more advanced and has closed the gap between it and the Pro models; This has become a testing ground for new buttons, interfaces, camera technology and powerful processors. On the other hand, Apple has also produced “cheaper” models than before, with the latest iPhone 16e and MacBook Neo.
Not everything produced under Ternus’ watch has been a slam dunk. Long-time MacBook users will remember the touch bar and butterfly keyboard mechanism that are missing from current devices, and for good reason. But he’s also known for helping facilitate the Mac’s transition to Apple Silicon chips, which was a massive success, and enriched the iPad lineup with features like desktop-style features, magic keyboards, and OLED displays.
Apple’s new era
If you divide the last 30 years of Apple into two equal parts, you can of course call them the Jobs and Cook eras, respectively. The first period in which the company’s co-founder returned was marked by a series of new products that are now considered revolutionary. Jobs was a visionary and an expert in product development and marketing. Under his watch, Apple returned to relevance by predicting what consumers would want before they knew what they wanted.
Throughout the following period, Cook faced constant questions about whether he could keep up with Jobs’ innovation. But that’s not his superpower. Having already reorganized Apple’s supply chain as COO, he continued to improve strategy and finances, preserve Apple’s culture, and lead smart, iterative advances to market while strengthening the company’s digital services branch. During his time as president, Apple’s value rose from $350 billion ($489 billion) to $4 trillion ($5.6 trillion). Shares rose nearly 2,000 percent.
Ternus is young enough to serve as Apple’s chief executive for the next 15 years. But if so, how can his era be marked?
You can see it as a safe pair of hands. With Apple’s dominance established and supply chains perfected, this may be the age of preserving the consumer tech giant rather than reinventing it. But it is now difficult to ignore voices predicting that artificial intelligence will necessitate reinvention and that technology may present unforeseen obstacles.
Apple has been criticized for failing to compete with Google and OpenAI with its own core AI models, and its Apple Intelligence suite isn’t always as present on its devices as AI is on Android phones and Windows PCs. Ternus could lead an Apple that turns this around, or one that shows there is another path forward. Or from those left behind.
On a more existential level, given that half of Apple’s revenue comes from device sales, the combination of advances in artificial intelligence and network infrastructure could push consumers away from hardware devices and local computing power altogether. If conversational AI begins to replace phones and laptops, Apple will need to compete with smart glasses and AI wearables to sustain its high-margin services and subscription business.
Rumors suggest that Apple already has glasses and a wearable AI in development, with Ternus likely overseeing it since its inception. Other so-called devices in Apple’s product line include home robots that act as AI-powered assistants and smart security sensors. In the near term, Apple is predicted to release updates such as the foldable iPhone, touch-screen Mac and large foldable iPad.
Josh Gilbert, market analyst at investment platform eToro, said any change in senior leadership at a company this size would bring some uncertainty, but Apple has been in this situation before.
“When Cook replaced Steve Jobs in 2011, many questioned what the future of Apple would be without its visionary founder. Cook’s results were clear,” he said.
“Ternus has inherited a business that generates more than $400 billion in annual revenue with some of the most loyal customers on the planet, but the AI chapter is still being written. Whether it can accelerate the AI story will be the big question over the next 12 months, and it will face pressure to deliver from day one.”
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Tim Biggs is a writer covering consumer technology, gadgets, and video games.Connect with: X or email.
