John Ternus takes over as Apple CEO and Tim Cook becomes executive chair; sources say Laura Legros, an Apple hardware VP who retired in 2022, has rejoined Apple

Big technology and management changes are greeting John Ternus, whose long-serving predecessor, Tim Cook, will stay on as executive chair.

New York Times 2026-09-01 Kalley Huang

Context & Ripple Effects

Apple set this succession plan in April, naming its hardware engineering chief to take the top job on September 1 while retaining Cook as executive chair. The formal handoff completes the leadership transition Apple announced in April.

Ternus inherits the challenges identified ahead of the change: rising component costs, staff-retention pressure and an effort to catch up in AI. Colleagues had also told Bloomberg they expected a more decisive management style than under Cook's collective senior-executive approach.

First-order effects

Ternus takes responsibility for Apple's executive decisions amid component-cost, retention and AI pressures, while Cook shifts from CEO to the board's executive chair.
Sources' report that former hardware VP Laura Legros has returned is unconfirmed, but it places additional attention on continuity in Apple's hardware leadership bench.

Second-order effects

Cook's continuing board role gives Apple a mechanism for continuity in governance as Ternus sets operating priorities and manages the challenges he inherits.
A CEO drawn from Hardware Engineering puts Apple's product-development organization closer to the center of executive decision-making as it addresses AI and component-cost constraints.

Third-order effects

The transition separates day-to-day management from board stewardship without a clean break from the prior CEO, a succession model that preserves institutional continuity while elevating a product-and-hardware leader.
If Apple sustains this structure, its ability to turn AI ambitions into products will depend increasingly on coordination between hardware choices, component costs and software execution rather than on any one function alone.

The trend: Apple's succession points to hardware-led executive leadership becoming more central as AI ambitions and component economics converge in product strategy.

Discussion

@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
September brings refreshes to Apple leadership page. A few noteworthy items: - Ternus's contributions to Apple's environmental responsibility mission were highlighted via materials innovation and HW design. - Eddy Cue's plate continues to grow. Now oversees the App Store (from Ph…
@samifathi Sami Fathi on x
It's official. The start of a new era for Apple.
@chancehmiller Chance Miller on x
Apple has updated its Leadership webpage: John Ternus is officially CEO. Tim Cook is now Executive Chair. The Ternus era starts now.
@viticci Federico Viticci on x
The beginning of a new era: John Ternus is officially Apple's new CEO. https://www.apple.com/...
@johnternus John Ternus on x
hello
@tim_cook Tim Cook on x
Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO. My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I'm excited for the next chapter!
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Tim Cook will remain intimately involved at Apple after handing off the CEO role to Ternus, eager to fill his plate with responsibilities and to continue his relationships with Donald Trump and in China. He's far from saying goodbye.
@beffjezos @beffjezos on x
He came. He saw. He Cooked.
@apollozac Zac Hall on x
Tim Cook probably sleeping in till like 4:30 am tomorrow https://x.com/...
@neil_shah Neil Shah on x
End of an era as the most successful CEO for Apple to build upon Steve's unmatched vision and grow Apple into the world's most loved, used and valuable personal electronics company. 🫡 $AAPL
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
Foxconn CEO Terry Gou and his wife were in town for Tim Cook's final days:
@aravsrinivas Aravind Srinivas on x
Congrats Tim on an incredible journey at Apple. Few people have ever shipped at that scale without letting the bar for excellence slip. You've raised the standard for all of us to aspire to; thanks for everything.
@lukemiani Luke Miani on x
Tim Cook took Apple from $350B to $4T in 15 years without overtly taking advantage of customers to the degree that has become commonplace. He didn't fill every Apple product with ads, sell your data to the highest bidder. He didn't trap you in a dependency cycle where you have
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
As Tim Cook's tenure as Apple CEO comes to a close, you can sense in his tweet below the immense gratitude that he still holds today for Steve for giving him the opportunity to lead Apple. Like Apple has experienced every year of its existence, Cook had his doubters along the way…
@nbaidmehta Uncle Deng on x
Imo, he deserves the Bharat Ratna for ushering in a new renaissance for our manufacturing sector and giving us a crucial and highly labour-intensive + value-added export industry: electronics instead of volatile commodities like crude and gems& jewellery whose decline was
@samsheffer Sam Sheffer on x
legendary run tim cooked
@tushar15 Tushar Gupta on x
Tim Cook, the technocrat who mastered the art of diplomacy.
@leakerapple @leakerapple on x
Tim Cook will go down in the history books as one of the best CEOs of a megacorp in modern history. We will miss you Tim ❤️
@deryatr_ Derya Unutmaz on x
Thank you, Tim Cook, for maintaining and greatly enhancing the magnificent DNA of Apple set by Steve Jobs. He was right again in picking you to lead one of the greatest companies ever, of which I've been a fanatic fan for more than three decades. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 🙏👋
@mtslive @mtslive on x
SITUATION EXPLAINED: Today is Tim Cook's last day as CEO of Apple. - 2011: jobs resigns, cook takes over, iphone 4s - 2012: iphone 5, ipad mini, third-gen ipad - 2013: iphone 5s and 5c, dividends and buybacks begin - 2014: beats acquired for $3b, iphone 6, apple pay, cook comes
@sarahpereztc Sarah Perez on x
Tim Cook's parting message: Apple is in the hands of a product builder https://techcrunch.com/...
@trungtphan Trung Phan on x
Steve Jobs really pulled a reality distortion field to poach Tim Cook from Compaq (in 1998, it was worth $30B+ to Apple's $3B). All of Cook's friends and advisors told him not to join almost-bankrupt Apple. Cook says it took Jobs one meeting to convince him: “I had gotten a
@viticci Federico Viticci on x
My favorite @tim_cook moment: After I published my story on life after cancer in 2015, he wanted to talk to me about it and said Apple would continue doing as much as they could with Health and the Apple Watch. Thanks for the work, Tim. https://www.macstories.net/...
@classicii_mrmac Mr. Macintosh on x
In 1997, Tim was a VP at Compaq, which was the #1 computer maker in the world Apple on the other hand was in deep trouble. Steve Jobs personally recruited him away from Compaq. That decision helped reshape Apple's future. Today, Apple is the 2nd largest company in the world.
@alfred_lin Alfred Lin on x
@tim_cook Generational transitions are tough, and even tougher when it's for an already legendary company like Apple. Congrats on all you accomplished as CEO and before, and all you'll continue to accomplish.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
NEW: Tim Cook sends a final memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO. “I will miss this work in ways I can only begin to imagine, even as I remain completely at peace with my decision,” he says, adding he has “enormous comfort” with Ternus in charge. https://www.bloomberg.c…
@greg16676935420 Greg on x
🚨BREAKING: After 15 years, today is Tim Cook's last day as CEO of Apple
@chancehmiller Chance Miller on x
Tim Cook, in a memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO: “We have made it possible to leave our ‘dent in the universe,’ as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world. How fortunate we are. How
@sahilbloom Sahil Bloom on x
Today is Tim Cook's last day as CEO at Apple. I first met Tim in 2014 and I've been fortunate to call him a mentor and friend ever since. I want to share something about him that I've found remarkable. He's the best example I've seen of an old Zen saying: “What do you do
@ijustine @ijustine on x
I can't believe we are just one day away from Apple getting a new CEO! Wishing Tim the best of luck in his new role and congrats on the last 28 years at Apple!
@jonfortt Jon Fortt on x
Today is Tim Cook's last day as $AAPL CEO before he becomes executive chairman after 15 years at the helm. Here's #Apple revenue from before he took over, without FY 2026 included because it still has another month to go:
@chshersh Dmitrii Kovanikov on x
@unusual_whales Meanwhile, Apple products are worse than ever. Another sober reminder: shareholders' value doesn't always mean users' value.
@joshelman Josh Elman on x
I feel so lucky to have worked at Apple for 10% of its company lifetime. All in Tim's era. What is special about Apple is that it is grown to become a focused group of people focused on making the best technology in the world for people to use in their regular lives.
@joshelman Josh Elman on x
Instead of talking about market cap growth, what about talking about the impact of Tim's Apple on lives saved by Apple Watch, the number of people with new phones that went about their lives better, the amount of work that got done faster at higher quality on Macs and more.
@johnnie Johnnie Manzari on x
Steve Jobs' greatest product wasn't the iPhone or the Mac, it was Apple itself: the machine that makes the machine. When Tim Cook took over, conventional wisdom was that Apple would slide into irrelevance, because Steve's system required a singular product visionary driving the
Susan Li Susan Li on linkedin
End of an era at Apple 📲 — Today is Tim Cook's last day as CEO 📲 — I've had the chance to interview Tim several times over the years …
Felix Richter Felix Richter on linkedin
15 years after Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of #Apple and Tim Cook was named his successor on August 24, 2011, Cook's time at the helm of the company has drawn to a close. …
r/business r on reddit
Read Tim Cook's full memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO: “Today is my last day as CEO of Apple. As you know, I am not leaving Apple. …
r/apple r on reddit
Read Tim Cook's full memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO
r/technology r on reddit
Read Tim Cook's full memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO: “Today is my last day as CEO of Apple. As you know, I am not leaving Apple. …
@jasminecoded_ Jasmine on x
Time flies when you're having fun
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
One big difference between John Ternus and Tim Cook is that Ternus has a “Chief of Staff” like figure, former Apple hardware engineering VP Laura Legros. As reported one month ago: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
New Apple CEO posting on 𝕏
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@johnternus Congrats!
@vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x
Can't be Apple CEO without a presence on Twitter!
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
John Ternus has joined X @johnternus Tim Cook has updated his profile picture and bio @tim_cook
Illai Gescheit Illai Gescheit on linkedin
What I really like about Tim Cook's Community letter is he doesn't mention AI even a single time. — Tim's letter is deeply human. …
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Apple Ternus Touts Product Pipeline, ‘Phenomenal’ iPhone Launch in Memo https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
NEW: Apple's John Ternus touted a strong future product pipeline and teased a “phenomenal” new iPhone launch next week in his first remarks to employees as chief executive officer.
Gabriele Orrico Gabriele Orrico on linkedin
I have lived inside the Apple ecosystem for too long and too deeply to see this as a smooth CEO succession. …
@caro_milanesi Carolina Milanesi on x
This all transition has been so well orchestrated as to showcase the class and respect there is between the two leaders
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
Bay Area man grew his Twitter account from 0 to 100k followers within an hour after tweeting a simple “hello” with a simple trick The trick? Becoming Apple CEO
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
NEW: Apple sets pay for John Ternus and Tim Cook in their new roles. Ternus CEO target pay for 2027 is $58 million, while Cook as chairman is at $47 million. This is salaries + stock units that can fluctuate in value so could be higher (likely) or lower. https://www.bloomberg.com…
r/apple r on reddit
Apple Sets Pay Targets at $58 Million for Ternus, $47 Million for Cook
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Based on a quick search, Cook's $47 million pay package as chairman is basically unprecedented and double the highest chairman earners for public companies. It may speak to how involved Cook will actually be, as I alluded to the other day. This is high-end CEO compensation.

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