Who is John Ternus, the Apple exec tipped to take over from Tim Cook?

John Ternus is Apple’s head of hardware engineering.

Tim Cook has been running Apple for more than 12 years, but he won’t be CEO forever.

The 63-year-old is not expected to leave the role anytime soon, but several Apple execs were identified earlier this year as potential successors by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.

The two names at the top of his list were chief operating officer Jeff Williams and John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering.

But in a newsletter published on Sunday, Gurman wrote that he believed Ternus would get the nod, with Cook moving to executive chairman. The reporter’s view is noteworthy because he’s considered to have good insight into the notoriously secretive company.

He studied engineering

Ternus graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, according to his LinkedIn profile. He majored in mechanical engineering.

He then worked for four years as an engineer before joining Apple’s product design team in 2001, per its website.

Ternus became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013, taking over from Dan Riccio. He’s worked on various Apple products including every generation and model of iPad, as well as AirPods.

Public speaking experience

Ternus does not shy away from the spotlight as he also has experience presenting new products and revealing new versions of the iMac and MacBook at past Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) events.

At Apple’s “Let Loose” event in May, Ternus unveiled new, thinner iPad Pro and iPad Air models.

John Ternus at Apple’s WWDC event in 2017.

He’s been described as a well-respected manager

A person who knows Ternus told Bloomberg in 2020 that he’s remained unassuming despite rising through the ranks, and is a well-respected manager.

In May, the outlet said that an unnamed person close to Apple’s executive team said Cook “likes him a lot” as Ternus can deliver “a good presentation, he’s very mild-mannered, never puts anything into an email that is controversial and is a very reticent decision-maker.”

However, another Apple insider said Ternus, 49, was “too junior” to become CEO.

It’s not clear why Ternus may now have overtaken Williams as the exec most likely to replace Cook.

Tim Cook introducing Apple WWDC 2024.

Other possible but less likely successors to Cook named by Gurman in May included Craig Federighi, the senior vice president of software engineering responsible for developing iOS and macOS; and retail chief Deirdre O’Brien.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from B-17, sent outside normal working hours.