Apple is heading into a major reset.
Tim Cook will step down as Apple CEO this September, and current hardware chief John Ternus is set to replace him. On paper, that sounds like a normal executive handover. In reality, it feels much bigger than that. This is the clearest sign yet that Apple is moving into a leadership era that is no longer defined by people personally picked by Steve Jobs.
Cook has been CEO since 2011, taking over after Jobs. For years, Apple still had a strong layer of top executives with direct ties to Jobs, his style, and the company’s most iconic product launches. That group has been shrinking for a while, but Cook’s exit makes the shift impossible to ignore.
A few key names from that older generation are still around. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, joined in 1989 and has openly spoken about how close he was to Jobs. Phil Schiller, one of Apple’s best-known marketing leaders, helped launch products like the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. He stepped back into a smaller role in 2020, though he still oversees the App Store.
There is also Greg Joswiak, who joined Apple in 1986 and worked on launches including the original iPod and iPhone before taking over Schiller’s old marketing role in 2020. Craig Federighi, Apple’s software chief, also has deep roots connected to Jobs through NeXT, the company Jobs founded before Apple acquired it in 1996.
But a lot of the old guard is already gone.
Scott Forstall, once seen as a possible Jobs successor, was forced out early in Cook’s time as CEO after the troubled Apple Maps launch. Bob Mansfield, another major Jobs-era executive, finally retired in 2020 after helping lead work tied to the Mac’s move to Intel, Apple Watch, and the now-abandoned Apple Car effort. Doug Field also had a stop-start Apple journey, leaving for Tesla, returning, and then moving to Ford.
More recently, Apple lost more long-time veterans. Dan Riccio, a key hardware figure, retired in 2024. Jeff Williams, the former chief operating officer who helped execute Jobs’ vision for the original iPhone’s glass display, also left in recent years. And of course, legendary designer Jony Ive left Apple in 2019, closing another major chapter.
That is why Ternus matters.
He is not a total outsider to Apple’s older history, but he represents the bridge between two versions of the company. Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013 under Cook. His résumé includes major post-Jobs products, including AirPods and the iPhone Air. In other words, he is much more a leader shaped by the Cook era than by the Jobs era.
The same goes for other newer power players. Johny Srouji, now Apple’s chief hardware officer, joined in 2008 to work on the A4 chip and later led Apple’s first in-house Mac chip launch in 2020. Sabih Khan, who joined Apple in 1995, stepped into the COO role last year.
For readers in Malaysia and the wider SEA region, this is not just Silicon Valley drama. Apple’s leadership changes can affect the products people here actually spend big money on, from iPhones and Macs to wearables, chips, and services. That matters for students, creators, mobile gamers, and anyone deep in the Apple ecosystem. If Ternus pushes hardware in a different direction, or if Apple’s next leadership team changes priorities, SEA users will feel it too, whether through product focus, ecosystem strategy, or how Apple competes in a region packed with strong Android and gaming-first brands.
Cook leaves behind a company that became a $4 trillion giant during his time in charge. That alone is a mad legacy. But the next phase will be judged differently. It is no longer about preserving what Jobs built or proving Cook could keep Apple stable. Now it is about whether Ternus and the next wave of executives can define what Apple becomes next.
Source: The Verge