John Ternus has become Apple’s chief executive, succeeding Tim Cook after 15 years at the helm of the technology giant.
Ternus, previously Apple’s senior vice-president of hardware engineering, takes charge ahead of the company’s annual iPhone event on September 9. In his first message to staff as Apple CEO, he said the company had a major product launch approaching.
“We have a huge launch next week that’s going to be phenomenal,” Ternus wrote in a memo on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
The event is widely expected to feature new iPhones, with reports suggesting Apple could unveil its first foldable model. The company is also expected to expand the release of an updated version of Siri, as it seeks to bring its voice assistant closer to rival artificial intelligence chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
Ternus also pointed to Apple’s longer-term product plans, saying he was excited about “the incredible products already in the works and the ones we haven’t even imagined yet that we’ll dream up and create together”.
Apple is reported to be developing a range of products, including AirPods with built-in cameras, smart glasses and a laptop with a touchscreen.
Cook, who became Apple chief executive in 2011, expressed confidence in his successor in a message to employees on his final day in the role.
“I take enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John,” Cook wrote. “Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership.”
