Apple chose insider John Ternus as its next CEO. John Ternus is the Senior Vice President of hardware engineering. He has long been mentioned as a strong successor to Tim Cook. Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998. Then in 2011, after Steve Jobs stepped down, he became CEO. At that time, many people worried about Apple without Jobs. But Apple grew very big in the Cook era. During this period, Apple released new products like Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro. John Ternus led the development of iPad and AirPods during this time. He also has been in charge of developing iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. This appointment is seen as a sign that Apple has started preparing for its next era.
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Why did Apple put a 'product engineer' after an operations expert?
This news is interesting not just because the CEO changed. Who comes after Tim Cook is a clue that shows what kind of company Apple wants to become in the future. After Cook, who was strong in supply chains and service expansion, Apple chose John Ternus, an engineer who has made products inside the company for more than 20 years.
Simply put, it is like this. If Apple in the Jobs era was 'a company that throws out products the world had never seen,' Apple in the Cook era was 'a company that grows those products into a huge ecosystem and a system that makes money.' But now a new turning point is coming, with AI, semiconductors, and spatial computing. So people are saying maybe Apple wants to put product-centered judgment forward again.
John Ternus is not an outside star manager. He is someone who has handled core products like iPad, AirPods, Mac, iPhone, and Apple Watch inside the company for a long time. In a company like Apple, where secrecy is strong and hardware, software, and chips are tightly and complexly connected, choosing someone who knows the inside structure through real experience may be more convincing than bringing in a flashy person from outside.
Apple looks like it is preparing for the 'era of product engineering' after the 'era of operations.'
The choice of John Ternus looks like a decision that carries expectations for the next product turning point, more than simple stability.
Jobs, Cook, Ternus — how has the leadership Apple wants changed?
| Category | Steve Jobs | Tim Cook | John Ternus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core strengths | Product vision and category innovation | Operations, supply chain, and service expansion | Hardware engineering and product quality |
| Typical image | The founder who showed the future on stage | The operator who grew the company into a huge platform | The internal engineering leader who makes products actually work |
| The problem Apple had to solve at that time | Opening a new market | Proving continued growth after Jobs | Finding the next product in the era of AI and spatial computing |
| How the organization works | Strong top-down decisions | Systemization, expansion, and monetization | Balancing technology and product experience |
| If you understand it from the reader's view | The person who made you think, 'Wow, this is possible too?' | The person who 'turned that possibility into a huge business' | The person who 'has to turn the next possibility into a real product' |
What did John Ternus make at Apple?
| Area | Ternus's role | Why is it important? |
|---|---|---|
| iPad | A key engineer who led the development of several generations of iPad | It means he worked for a long time on balancing the tablet's design, battery, and performance. |
| AirPods | Involved in developing the 1st generation AirPods | He has experience solving hard problems like wireless connection, battery, and comfort even in small devices. |
| iPhone | Led key hardware projects such as the iPhone 12 lineup | It means he directly handled the biggest pillar of Apple sales. |
| Mac | A key leader in the Apple Silicon transition | He went through the major surgery of moving from Intel chips to in-house chips. |
| Current overall scope | Overall engineering for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro | It means he holds almost the whole hardware map tied to Apple's today and tomorrow. |
Why can the hardware chief become a CEO candidate — the money involved is just too big
This is based on Apple FY2024. If you look at the numbers, you can quickly see why the hardware chief is not just a simple tech leader.
This role matters because it is connected not to just a 'pretty product,' but to Apple's whole money flow.
Apple's hardware engineering chief is not just someone who picks parts. This role is responsible for whether the product actually works well like the iPhone's heat, the Mac's performance, the Apple Watch's battery, and the AirPods' fit. On the outside, design comes first, but when the customer pays money, in the end, quality decides the game.
More important is the scope. Based on FY2024, iPhone sales alone are 2,012hundred million dollars. If you add Mac, iPad, and wearables, the sales base connected to the hardware organization is overwhelming. So the hardware chief is a 'technician' and at the same time the person responsible for a huge business.
It is similar to a picture where, at a car company, the person who oversees the engine, body, and driving performance all becomes the next CEO.
From Jobs's Apple to Cook's Apple, and now to Ternus's Apple
The leadership change at Apple did not break all at once. It continued as the way the company grew changed.
Stage 1: 1998~2011, the time when Jobs and Cook built the foundation together
Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998 and strengthened its supply chain and operations. In front, Jobs led product innovation with things like the iMac, iPod, and iPhone. Behind the scenes, Cook made it possible to sell those products in large volumes and in a stable way.
Stage 2: 2011, the test of 'Apple without Jobs' begins
When Jobs stepped down and Cook became CEO, many people thought Apple's innovation would end too. That was because people had seen Apple for too long as something tied to Jobs's personal sense and style.
Stage 3: 2014~2024, Cook grew Apple into a bigger system
With Apple Watch, AirPods, services, payments, and even the shift to in-house chips, Apple became both a product company and a platform company. It was not just about selling one iPhone and stopping there. Apple built a structure where the subscriptions and ecosystem after that also make money.
Stage 4: 2026~, now the question is the 'next product transition period'
Apple choosing John Ternus can be read to mean that the next era's test is not operations but products. In a market shaken by AI and spatial computing, the key question has become whether Apple can create another strong hardware experience.
What Tim Cook grew was not one iPhone but the 'Apple ecosystem'
Service revenue is the number that best shows how Apple moved from a hardware company to a platform company.
If the Jobs era was 'one big innovation,' the Cook era was 'a system of recurring revenue'
When people think of Apple in the Steve Jobs era, they usually first remember symbolic moments like the iPhone. But the real change in the Tim Cook era was in something a little less flashy. It built an installed base, meaning a huge group of users already using Apple devices, and on top of that it grew recurring revenue from things like the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, and payments.
If we compare this in a familiar way, it is like not stopping after one big sale of a popular phone, but building a structure that also connects mobile fees, content, memberships, and payments. So Apple's Cook era became both an 'innovative company' and at the same time a 'mega platform company,' and John Ternus now has the task of proving product innovation again on top of this huge system.
Service revenue grew from a single-digit billion-dollar scale in the early 2010s to about 96.2 billion dollars in 2024.
This number is the proof that 'Apple is no longer only a hardware company.'
Apple Watch, AirPods, Vision Pro, did they really become a 'second iPhone'?
| Product group | Numbers and status confirmed in research | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | About $200.6 billion in FY2023 revenue | It is still the main pillar of Apple's revenue structure. |
| Wearables·Home·Accessories | About $39.8 billion in FY2023 revenue | Apple Watch and AirPods contributed a lot, but it is still smaller than the iPhone division alone. |
| Vision Pro | Apple does not disclose separate revenue, so it is still hard to compare with numbers. | It has big symbolic meaning, but at this stage it is safer to see it as a niche new product. |
It was not the same kind of success — the report card for Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro
| Product | What kind of success was it? | What are the limits? |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Watch | An ecosystem-style success that expanded health, fitness, and the wearables market | It is not a single revenue pillar that carries the whole company like the iPhone. |
| AirPods | A consumer product-style success with strong mass appeal, repeat purchases, and market share | Rather than being an independent platform, it works more as glue for the iPhone ecosystem. |
| Vision Pro | An experimental platform attempt with strong symbolic value in technology | The price is high and mass adoption is still at an early stage, so it is far from being 'the second iPhone.' |
What does Apple under John Ternus need to prove first?
Now one question remains. Is John Ternus a great product manager, or a leader who can open a new era? The homework Tim Cook left is clear. The iPhone is still huge, but the market is mature, and AI is trying to change the next interface after the phone.
So the first test of the Ternus era will likely be 'how Apple turns AI into a hardware experience.' It could be smart glasses, a next Vision device, or a completely different personal device. What matters here is not a tech demo, but whether Apple can make a product in its own way that is expensive but still makes people want to buy it, and uses complex technology but is easy to use.
There is also a reason this news is interesting from Korea. Samsung is pushing foldables and the device ecosystem, Google is pushing AI, and Meta is pushing smart glasses. Apple's choice of the next CEO is connected in the end to the answer to 'where is the next battlefield?' So this appointment is not just news about changing a person. It is closer to a signpost for the direction of the IT world for the next 10 years.
Can AI be tied together not as a software feature but as a hardware experience?
Can the spatial computing strategy after Vision Pro be expanded into mass-market products?
Can it reduce dependence on the iPhone while still keeping Apple's premium profit structure?
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