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Who will run Apple after CEO Tim Cook?

MacDailyNews

Oct 6

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Apple CEO Tim Cook first attended the Sun Valley Conference in 2012 and has been a consistent attendee ever since, save for a few years during the COVID-19 pandemic. DAVID PAUL MORRIS—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES — Apple CEO Tim Cook (photo: David Paul Morris — Bloomberg/Getty Images)

When Tim Cook leaves Apple, the key question is who will manage the company’s daily operations? In a crisis, new COO Sabih Khan and retail head Deirdre O’Brien are well-equipped to step in. However, for a formal CEO succession, hardware engineering chief John Ternus is the top candidate, according to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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There are a few reasons this makes sense. For one, Apple has limited options within its executive management team. Ternus is 50 years old — the same age Cook was when he took the role — giving him the potential to be CEO for a decade or more if things go well. The same can’t realistically be said for most of the other top executives who might be under consideration.
Second, Apple probably needs more of a technologist than a sales or operations person. Though Apple has grown tremendously under Cook in both product breadth and revenue — and the iPhone 17 is clearly resonating with customers — the company has struggled to break into major new technology categories.
Apple has had great success designing its own chips, but the company has stumbled in areas such as mixed reality, generative AI, the smart home and autonomous vehicles. That could lead the board to conclude that a product engineering leader like Ternus is the answer, despite him not being known internally as someone who pursues big bets.
Third, Ternus stands out. He’s charismatic and well-regarded by Apple loyalists and trusted by Cook, who has granted Ternus more responsibilities. The executive has emerged as a key decision-maker on product road maps, features and strategies, extending his influence beyond the traditional scope of a hardware engineering chief.

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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote in July:

For its NeXT CEO, Apple needs relative YOUTH, not another 50- or 60-something calcified company lifer who was part of the so-called team that blindly missed the GenAI paradigm shift.
Steve Jobs was 42 years old when he returned to Apple as interim CEO in September 1997. pic.twitter.com/Bk0kdul7QF
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) July 10, 2025

Apple’s next CEO doesn’t need to be Steve Jobs, but does need to be much better than Tim Cook.

What should happen at Apple:

Tim Cook retires (yesterday, preferably)
Cook does not get Chairman of the Board position
Apple hires a charismatic, visionary CEO in the mold of Jobs
Company returns to path of inventive innovation

What likely will happen at Apple:

Tim Cook hangs on for years
When he finally retires as CEO, he becomes Chairman
Apple hires another bland, myopic CEO in the mold of Cook
Company continues on path of iterative stagnation

MacDailyNews, July 16, 2025

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