John Ternus took over the leadership of Apple this Tuesday, succeeding Tim Cook as CEO of the Cupertino tech giant. At 51 years old, the new leader is a mechanical engineer by training, joined Apple in 2001 and spent more than two decades at the company, where he oversaw hardware engineering for several generations of the iPad, iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch, Vision Pro and led the Mac transition to Apple Silicon processors. Tim Cook will now serve as executive chairman of the board of directors, remaining connected to the company after 15 years at the helm of executive leadership.
Ternus's main challenge is accelerating in the artificial intelligence race, at a time when Apple is looking to consolidate Apple Intelligence as a central piece of its ecosystem. The company faces competition from groups like Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI, which are further ahead in this field. The new version of the Siri assistant presented in June has arrived with availability limitations and remains dependent on regulatory requirements in markets like the European Union and China.
On September 9, Apple will hold its annual event where it is expected to present the first foldable iPhone from the brand, which will be Ternus's first major stage as CEO. This launch would mark Apple's entry into a segment where Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Honor have been operating for several years. The new CEO will have to demonstrate that he can translate his deep hardware knowledge into a wave of innovation, after the company has been frequently criticized for presenting incremental evolutions.
In China, Ternus will face a complex equation. The country is simultaneously a fundamental market for Apple's sales and the main center of its production supply chain, but competition from local manufacturers has been increasing and tensions between Washington and Beijing create additional risks. Apple is reportedly developing a language model for the Chinese market with support from Alibaba, in an attempt to adapt Apple Intelligence to local rules and regain competitiveness.
