Apple Inc. has expanded the job of hardware chief John Ternus to include design work, solidifying his status as CEO Tim Cook’s most-likely successor.
Cook, who has led the iPhone maker since 2011 and turned 65 in November, quietly tapped Ternus to manage the company’s hardware and software design teams at the end of 2025, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people aware of the matter.
That widens Ternus’ role to add one of the company’s most critical functions. He is now the “executive sponsor” of Apple’s design teams—on paper, the teams still report to Cook.
To be sure, there are no signs of Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO any time soon. The only other viable CEO candidate is COO Sabih Khan.
Apple’s design team has been overseen by the most prominent figures in the company’s history—iPhone designer Jony Ive until 2019, Cook between 2015-2017 and former COO Jeff Williams from 2019 to 2025.
Ternus now joins that list.
John Ternus: A brief profile
Ternus joined Apple in 2001 on the product design team to work with external monitors. He rose steadily through the ranks to become the vice president of hardware engineering in 2013. He oversaw the development of the iPad and AirPods in this role.
By 2020, Ternus was looking at iPhone hardware as well. The following year, he was promoted to senior vice president of hardware engineering—a position he currently holds on paper—and joined the executive leadership team, reporting directly to Cook.
An engineering graduate from Penn University, Ternus is credited with leading the complex transition of the Mac line-up to Apple Silicon from Intel chips—widely regarded as one of the pivotal moments in Apple’s storied history.