Apple is getting a new boss, and this one comes straight from the product side.
John Ternus, Apple’s current senior vice president of hardware engineering, is set to become the company’s next CEO. That is a pretty big shift in style. Tim Cook built his reputation as the operations guy, the leader who helped Apple scale into an even bigger hardware and services machine. Ternus, meanwhile, is much more tied to the actual gadgets.
If you’ve watched Apple launches over the past few years, you’ve probably seen him already. Ternus has become one of the more visible faces in Apple presentations, especially on the hardware side. He helped present the iPhone Air last September, which was positioned as the standout new iPhone in the 2025 lineup. He has also been front and centre for Mac announcements, including Apple’s first Apple Silicon Macs in 2020, the 15-inch MacBook Air in 2023, and the M4 Mac lineup last year.
That matters because Apple is not just changing CEOs, it is putting a product guy in charge at a time when the company is still trying to define its next era.
Ternus is 50 years old and has spent 25 years at Apple. He joined in 2001 after working as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems, starting out on Apple’s product design team. According to reporting cited by The Verge, he moved into management only a few years later. One former boss described him as someone who preferred sitting with his team instead of moving into a private office after being promoted, which lines up with his internal reputation as a hands-on leader.
His climb through Apple has been steady. He became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013, then senior vice president in 2021 when he took over from Dan Riccio and joined Apple’s executive team.
During that stretch, Apple’s hardware portfolio changed a lot. Ternus oversaw development of the original AirPods, which launched in 2016 and went on to become one of Apple’s most important accessories. In recent years under his senior leadership, Apple moved the iPhone range to USB-C, gave the MacBook Air a major redesign, rolled out a thinner iPad Pro, and launched the Vision Pro.
Of course, not every bet under his watch was a W. He has also been linked to less-loved Apple ideas, including the Touch Bar MacBook Pro and the butterfly keyboard era. So yeah, his track record is not flawless.
Even so, Apple has reportedly been giving him more power internally for a while now. He became the executive sponsor for Apple’s design team, took on oversight of the robotics team after it was moved away from former AI chief John Giannandrea, and was also given control of Apple Watch hardware engineering last October.
Apple’s own announcement also credited Ternus with helping push materials and design changes tied to sustainability. That includes the use of 3D-printed titanium in the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and repairability improvements meant to extend the lifespan of some products.
Why should Malaysia and the wider SEA crowd care? Simple. Apple’s product direction affects a lot more than keynote hype. It shapes the iPhones people buy on telco plans, the MacBooks students carry to class, the AirPods you see in every cafe, and the creative gear many regional creators use for editing, filming, and content work. If Ternus really is more product-led, that could mean Apple puts more visible energy into hardware design, practical upgrades, and new device categories.
He is also inheriting the job at a very spicy time. Apple is rumoured to have several major products in the pipeline, including new smart home gear, a long-delayed Siri overhaul, touchscreen OLED MacBook Pros, smart glasses, and even a foldable iPhone that could arrive this fall.
Starting September 1, all of that lands on Ternus’ table. No pressure, bro.
Source: The Verge