According to "Business Insider", Tim Cook has been at the helm of Apple for more than 14 years, but he cannot remain CEO forever. With Apple undergoing leadership changes this year, including longtime No. 2 Jeff Williams announcing he would retire by 2026, multiple reports over the past year and a half have suggested hardware executive John Ternus is emerging as a contender for the top job.

Is Cook going to hand over the baton to Ternus?

The Financial Times recently reported that Cook, 65, may leave after Apple releases its new quarterly earnings report in January next year, and Apple has stepped up its succession planning.Bloomberg previously said that Ternus is the "most likely successor." Cook has previously said that his ideal CEO candidate should come from within Apple and that he is developing "several" employees who may succeed him.

Turnus has become more familiar to Apple fans and Wall Street as he makes public appearances at iPhone and other product launches. The following is a summary of Turnus' information from Business Insider:

who is he?

According to his profile on the professional social networking site LinkedIn, Ternus graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with an engineering degree, majoring in mechanical engineering.

Information on Apple’s official website shows that after graduation, Ternus worked as an engineer at Apple for four years before joining Apple’s product design team in 2001.

Turnus

In 2013, Ternus succeeded Dan Riccio as vice president of hardware engineering. He has been involved in the development of multiple Apple products, including every generation and model of iPad and AirPods.

Ternus has rich experience in the hardware field. If he becomes CEO, it will mark the return of Apple to a leader with a background in product design.

public appearance

As one of the most high-profile executive positions in the world, Apple's CEO often faces the media and hosts product launches.

Ternus has never shied away from the public spotlight, showing off new products at multiple Worldwide Developers Conferences and releasing new versions of the iMac and MacBook.

At Apple's "Let's Fly" special event held in May 2024, it was he who unveiled the new thin and light iPad Pro and iPad Air series. Entering 2025, Ternus has appeared frequently in the media and continued to explain Apple's strategic layout in the fields of Apple Intelligence and innovative hardware through a series of interviews.

After the release of the new iPhone Air, Ternus was interviewed together with Greg "Joz" Joswiak, senior vice president of global marketing, to demonstrate the durability of Apple's thinnest phone to date.

The interview video has been played nearly 350,000 times, and many comments are discussing whether the two executives will become Cook's successors. However, Joswiak is only three years younger than Cook.

Cook's tendencies

While Apple has been predictably tight-lipped about who will succeed Cook, Cook said in 2023 that the company would have a "very detailed succession plan" when he steps down. He did not disclose who was included in the plan.

Cook

In an interview with singer Dua Lipa in 2023, Cook said: "My responsibility is to cultivate multiple candidates with the ability to succeed, and I really hope that the successor will come from within Apple."

Cook added that his goal is to have multiple candidates for Apple's board of directors to choose from when he steps down. However, he also said that this does not mean that he will leave soon.

“I love this company and can’t imagine leaving,” Cook told Lipa two years ago, “so I’m going to be at the helm for a while.”

As of press time, Apple has not commented on this.