Apple Newsroom:

Apple announced that Tim Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors and John Ternus, senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will become Apple’s next chief executive officer effective on September 1, 2026. The transition, which was approved unanimously by the Board of Directors, follows a thoughtful, long-term succession planning process.

Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition. As executive chairman, Cook will assist with certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world.

And we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Monday is a day many of us have been hoping for. Ternus will be the new chief executive, and Johny Srouji will assume Ternus’s old position. Cook will remain on the Apple board as the executive chairman to help with politics, leaving Ternus to manage the day-to-day operations of the company. Ternus comes with decades of engineering experience: As senior vice president of hardware engineering, he most prominently remade the Mac during the transition to Apple silicon, among many other hardware innovations. Apple hardware is now the best it has ever been.

This is not to say that Apple’s hardware division hasn’t made mistakes under Ternus, namely the butterfly keyboard mechanism and ultra-thin MacBook Pro. But these, in my eyes, are emblematic of an Apple executive team that functioned without real engineering leadership at the helm — it was Cook’s job to realize the Mac needed work. With Ternus’ power expanding come September, I predict Apple’s overall product strategy will rely less on services and more on hardware and software, encouraging more frequent device upgrades from consumers.

Ternus will have certainly learned many lessons from Cook’s leadership, which undeniably was instrumental to Apple’s success. I can confidently say the iPhone and iPad wouldn’t have grown without Cook’s leadership and unmatched supply chain prowess. The Apple Watch wouldn’t have become the world’s most beloved fitness device if not for Cook’s obsession with health and exercise. AirPods wouldn’t have become the cultural icon they are today if not for Cook’s leaning into Apple as a services company through Apple Music. Apple’s market capitalization skyrocketed thanks to Cook, and Ternus will surely be intent on continuing this momentum

But I think Ternus also understands that Apple is no longer the most valuable company because it has failed to innovate substantially in the past few years. Apple Vision Pro was a misstep, the new Siri is nowhere to be found, and Apple’s insistence on nickel-and-diming third-party developers on the App Store has degraded Apple’s public perception and developer relations. And none of this is even considering the politics of its chief executive, which have turned many of Apple’s most fervent supporters — including myself — away from the company in recent years. Ternus, while this notion might be misguided, feels like “one of us,” and I think he has the experience to see where Apple needs a shake-up.

I’ll probably have much more to say about this soon, but these are my initial reactions to today’s jubilant news. I couldn’t be more excited for Apple’s next era.