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Received — 9 September 2026 ⏭

Tim Cook Steps Down as Apple CEO as John Ternus Takes the Reins

✇MacSources
By: Nicholas Calderone
1 September 2026 at 13:11

After 15 years at the helm of Apple, Tim Cook is officially stepping down as the company’s chief executive officer.

As of September 1, 2026, John Ternus takes over as Apple’s new CEO, marking the first major change at the top of the company since Cook succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011. Cook, however, isn’t leaving Apple. He will transition to the role of executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors, where he will continue to play a role in the company’s affairs.

The leadership change was first announced by Apple in April following what the company described as a carefully planned, long-term succession process. The transition was unanimously approved by Apple’s board of directors.

Tim Cook’s 15 Years as Apple’s CEO

Cook became Apple’s CEO in August 2011 after Steve Jobs resigned from the position because of his declining health. Taking over from one of the most influential figures in technology history was an enormous challenge, but Cook ultimately established a leadership style of his own.

Rather than attempting to replicate Jobs, Cook focused heavily on Apple’s operations, supply chain, services business, global expansion, and continued development of its hardware ecosystem.

During Cook’s tenure, Apple introduced several major product categories, including the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro. The company also significantly expanded services such as Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, Apple TV+, and the App Store.

Apple’s financial and global footprint also grew substantially during Cook’s leadership. When he became CEO, Apple had a market capitalization of approximately $350 billion. By the time he stepped down, Apple had grown to a company valued at roughly $4 trillion, while annual revenue had increased from $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal 2025. Apple’s active installed base also grew to more than 2.5 billion devices.

Cook also oversaw Apple’s transition toward designing more of its own technology, including the company’s custom Apple silicon. The move has become one of the most significant developments in Apple’s modern hardware strategy, particularly across the Mac lineup.

Under Cook, Apple also placed greater emphasis on privacy, accessibility, environmental initiatives, and the company’s services business, which has grown into a more than $100 billion annual business.

John Ternus Becomes Apple’s New CEO

Taking over for Cook is John Ternus, a longtime Apple executive who has spent nearly his entire professional career at the company.

Ternus joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 and became vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013. In 2021, he joined Apple’s executive team as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering.

That makes Ternus a particularly interesting choice to lead Apple.

While Cook built his reputation around operations, supply-chain management, and business execution, Ternus comes from a deeply technical and engineering-focused background.

During his time at Apple, Ternus has been involved with hardware development across virtually every major product category. Apple specifically credits him with work involving the iPad and AirPods, as well as numerous generations of the iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch.

His team has also played an important role in Apple’s recent hardware developments, including Apple silicon, improvements in product durability and repairability, and innovations in materials and manufacturing.

Ternus holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining Apple, he worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems.

Cook Isn’t Leaving Apple

Although today marks the end of Cook’s tenure as CEO, it isn’t the end of his time at Apple.

As executive chairman, Cook is expected to remain involved in certain aspects of the company. Apple specifically noted that he will assist with matters including Apple’s engagement with policymakers around the world.

That means Apple isn’t completely severing ties with the executive who has led the company for the past 15 years.

The arrangement could also provide Ternus with an experienced resource as he takes on one of the most demanding leadership positions in the technology industry.

Cook has already expressed strong confidence in his successor, describing Ternus as someone with “the mind of an engineer” and “the soul of an innovator.” Apple chairman Arthur Levinson similarly called Ternus the best possible leader to succeed Cook.

What Does Ternus’ Leadership Mean for Apple?

Perhaps the biggest question now is what an engineer at the top of Apple could mean for the company’s future.

Ternus has spent 25 years working on Apple’s products, giving him an unusually deep understanding of the company’s hardware development process and product philosophy.

His promotion comes at an important time for Apple.

The company is facing increasing pressure to demonstrate that it can compete effectively in artificial intelligence, while also continuing to develop new hardware categories and maintain the enormous ecosystem that Cook helped build.

Apple’s AI efforts will be particularly important. The company has been working to expand Apple Intelligence and improve Siri as competition from companies such as OpenAI and Google continues to accelerate.

At the same time, Apple is expected to continue exploring new hardware categories and product designs. The company’s next generation of products could give Ternus an opportunity to put his hardware expertise directly into the CEO role.

That could make the transition more than a simple change in management. It could eventually signal a renewed emphasis on Apple’s product and engineering culture.

A New Era for Apple

Tim Cook’s departure as CEO represents the end of one of the longest and most consequential leadership eras in Apple’s history.

He inherited a company that had already become one of the world’s most important technology companies, but he leaves behind an Apple that is considerably larger, more diversified, and more deeply integrated into the lives of its customers around the world.

Now John Ternus has the difficult task of determining what comes next.

Unlike the transition from Steve Jobs to Cook, this change has been carefully planned and does not represent a sudden change in Apple’s leadership. Ternus has worked alongside Cook for years and has already spent more than two decades helping shape Apple’s products.

That could make the transition considerably smoother.

But the expectations will be enormous.

Ternus is taking control of Apple at a time when the company must navigate artificial intelligence, changing consumer expectations, new hardware categories, increasing competition, and the continued evolution of its enormous services business.

For now, one thing is certain: September 1, 2026, marks the beginning of a new chapter for Apple.

Tim Cook’s era as CEO is over.

John Ternus’ era has officially begun.

Received — 25 July 2026 ⏭

Advertising Cognitive Dissonance

✇Michael Tsai
By: Michael Tsai
24 July 2026 at 19:09

John Gruber (Mastodon):

This to me is proof that Apple leadership is suffering from cognitive dissonance over their slide into advertising. They’re conflating cause and effect. The Apple brand stands for high-quality superior user experiences because the devices and software Apple makes traditionally deliver high-quality superior user experiences. The work Apple ships is what makes the brand what it is. But now they’re stricken with the mindset that it’s the Apple brand that makes something a high-quality superior experience.

[…]

If you refuse to admit that the ads make these services worse, you also can’t admit that there’s a reason to offer an ad-free experience. So the thinking is something like “Apple always focuses on the user experience, and never deliberately makes the user experience worse. Therefore, if an Apple service shows ads, those ads are high quality and don’t detract from the quality of the product or the experience of using it. Therefore, there’s no reason to offer users a paid ad-free tier, because there’s no reason to want to avoid Apple’s ads.”

What a brand stands for can change over time. It’s eventually determined by the products, not the mantras.

  • “It just works.”
  • “A thousand no’s for every yes.”
  • “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.”
  • “Music runs deep in Apple’s DNA.”
  • “Design is how it works.”

Manton Reece (2010):

I feel bad admitting it, because some of my friends are betting on iAd revenue to feed their family, but I’m just not on board with Apple running an advertising network. I don’t want to see ads in my apps, and I don’t want Apple to ever lose even a little of what it means to be a product-driven company.

Previously:

Update (2026-07-28): John Gruber (Mastodon):

The whole thing is funny because at a fundamental level we all just know in our bones that Apple never even considered putting “Intel Inside” stickers on Macs.

[…]

Apple still treats its hardware with that level of respect. With reverence. iPhones don’t even say “iPhone” on the hardware. No model or serial numbers. No small print. Just an Apple logo on the back.

[…]

Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store? We know the honest answer. But the answer evidenced by the actual App Store is “Two really big ones, including one in the first spot.”

At least you could peel off the stickers.

Jason Snell:

While Apple can spin adding ads to Apple Maps as a revolutionary new way for businesses to be discovered, it’s telling that its initial announcement was hidden inside a press release about an entirely different product, and introduced as “Enhanced Discoverability in Apple Maps.” Those choices show that this isn’t something Apple is actually proud of—and that the people in charge of communicating and explaining Apple’s decisions to the world are at odds with those who are making the decisions about expanding revenue.

[…]

To this day, you’re confronted with an ad for Creator Studio every time you create a new document in those apps, and their default toolbars contain buttons that won’t work unless you subscribe to the bundle. As a result, Apple has essentially turned its free productivity suite—software that was designed to enhance the inherent value of Apple’s products—into a freemium package with upsell to a creative professional subscription bundle that’s irrelevant (and a terrible value!) for most of its existing users.

[…]

There are many more examples. Using notifications to promote subscriptions and badging the Settings app to push AppleCare plans are among the ways Apple has chosen to intervene in the user experience to drive revenue. I’m actually not opposed to the idea that Apple should communicate opportunities for its customers to get more out of their devices—but it should be careful not to cross the line into actively annoying those customers. If someone doesn’t want to see what you offer, you need to accept that and go away—not keep needling them. Apple often falls on the wrong side of that line.

[…]

It makes me wonder if the people making these decisions at Apple have lost track of the Apple brand and what it stands for.

John Gruber:

What Snell’s column makes clear is that the incremental revenue Apple is gaining from putting shitty ads in its software comes at a price. They’re withdrawals from Apple’s brand equity. And I would argue that the value they’re detracting from the brand far out-values the dollar amount they’d padding to Apple’s bottom line.

[…]

If your competitors’ stores all smell like dogshit, don’t aim to have the store that smells the least like shit. Aim to have a store that smells pristine. “Our stores only carry a vague whiff of dogshit” is not insanely great.

Hotelling’s Law, like I was saying.

Adam Chandler:

This is not an “update”. This is an advertisement.

Update (2026-07-29): John Gruber:

The people haven’t changed, but Apple has. Strong leaders inevitably shape the personality — the spirit — of organizations over time. Apple in 2011 was peak Steve Jobs Apple. Apple in 2026 is peak Tim Cook Apple. But it was Cook who popularized the “you’re not the customer, you’re the product” argument against “free with ads” online services. But that was in 2014.

Marcin Wichary:

“Slippery slope” is a perfect term. But I wanted to add something here. In my experience, in the realm of UI, there is no middle notch. I’ve seen it time and time again… the moment you open the door to One, Infinity starts exerting its pull[…]

Previously:

Update (2026-08-03): Jon Snader:

I HATE, HATE, HATE having ads pop up when I’m trying to do something else. It’s bad enough on Web sites where at least they have the excuse of having to make money some how but it rises to intolerable when they put them up on a device I’ve already paid for.

The annoyance is reason enough to dislike Apple’s ads but for me the worst thing is that they’re corrupting and inevitably lead to the user being replaced by the advertiser as the customer.

Update (2026-08-05): John Gruber:

Only search engines that agree to pay Apple for the traffic are in the list, and there’s no option for users to add custom ones.

Tyler Hall:

It says a lot about modern Apple that I can’t find an unsubscribe link in this marketing email.

John Gruber:

Apple News ads have been going down the toilet for years, but it didn’t used to be literal.

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