Tim Cook might not be bailing yet, but Apple's already setting the table for whoever's next in line.
Apple preps John Ternus for the big chair
Cook's restructuring the leadership deck
Apple preps John Ternus for the big chair
- Cook's been running Apple for over 10 years at this point, and whispers about him leaving kicked off back in November 2025
- Financial Times and another outlet floated 2026 as his exit year, but Mark Gurman from a business publication shut that down fast
- Gurman's still saying Cook isn't going anywhere right this second, but he agrees on one thing: John Ternus is the guy they want when the time comes
- Ternus already runs hardware, but late 2025 brought him a new gig as the executive sponsor for Apple's design crew
- On paper, the design team still answers to Cook, but Ternus basically sits at the top of that ladder in Cupertino now
- This move is dripping with symbolism because Apple's design leaders have always carried serious weight in the company
- If Cook wanted to signal his succession plans, handing Ternus design oversight is like lighting a massive signal fire
- Big design calls at Apple need buy-in from software engineering, marketing, and other groups, which means Ternus gets his hands dirty across the whole operation in this new role
Cook's restructuring the leadership deck
- Apple swapped out John Giannandrea, who was leading AI efforts, and brought in Amar Subramanya from Microsoft
- Craig Federighi, the software engineering boss, got broader control over AI strategy
- These shake-ups have injected fresh energy into Apple's AI plans
- The company just teamed up with Google to overhaul Siri, which could drop with iOS 26.4
- The revamped assistant will finally get in-app actions, personal context awareness, and on-screen awareness after a long wait
- Apple's plotting a standalone Siri chatbot for 2027 to go head-to-head with ChatGPT
- They're also cooking up a wearable AI pin to compete with whatever OpenAI's about to release for regular consumers
