Apple leadership has just marked one of its biggest changes in over a decade, following Tim Cook's transition out of the CEO role. Now, as a new person is charged with leading Apple, here's a look at the current executive team compared to Cook's long-term team & analysis of who could be next to leave.

Current Executive Team

Here's a look at the current Apple leadership team, as of the 1st September 2026:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

  • John Ternus

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

  • Sabih Khan

Senior Vice Presidents (SVPs)

  • Greg Joswiak: SVP Worldwide Marketing
  • Eddy Cue: SVP Services & Health
  • Johny Srouji: Chief Hardware Officer
  • Craig Federighi: SVP Software Engineering
  • Deirdre O'Brien: SVP Retail + People
  • Jennifer Newstead: General Counsel & SVP of Government Affairs
  • Kevan Parekh: Chief Financial Officer

Vice Presidents (VPs)

Note that not all VPs are listed by Apple on its leadership page.

  • Molly Anderson: VP Industrial Design
  • Mike Fenger: VP Worldwide Sales
  • Steve Lemay: VP Human Interface Design
  • Isabel Ge Mahe: VP and Managing Director of Greater China
  • Tor Myhren: VP Marketing Communications
  • Kristin Huguet Quayle: VP Worldwide Communications

Apple Fellow

  • Phil Schiller

Tim Cook's Team

Here's a look at the Apple leadership team from August 2024, ahead of transitions in preparation for the change of CEO:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

  • Tim Cook

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

  • Jeff Williams (retired July 2025)

Senior Vice Presidents (SVPs)

  • Greg Joswiak: SVP Worldwide Marketing
  • Eddy Cue: SVP Services (Took over Health late 2025)
  • John Ternus: SVP Hardware Engineering (transitioned to CEO September 2026)
  • Johny Srouji: SVP Hardware Technologies (transitioned to Chief Hardware Officer April 2026)
  • Craig Federighi: SVP Software Engineering
  • John Giannandrea: SVP Machine Learning & AI Strategy (retired December 2025)
  • Katherine Adams: SVP & General Counsel (stepped down as General Counsel March 2026)
  • Deirdre O'Brien: SVP Retail (took over 'People' in October 2024)
  • Luca Maestri: SVP & Chief Financial Officer (stepped down as CFO January 2025)
  • Sabih Khan: SVP Operations (Became COO in summer 2025)

Vice Presidents (VPs)

Note that not all VPs are listed by Apple on its leadership page.

  • Lisa Jackson: VP Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives (Retired early 2026)
  • Mike Fenger: VP Worldwide Sales
  • Isabel Ge Mahe: VP and Managing Director of Greater China
  • Tor Myhren: VP Marketing Communications
  • Adrian Perica: VP Corporate Development
  • Kristin Huguet Quayle: VP Worldwide Communications

Chief People Officer

  • Carol Surface (Left Apple October 2024)

Apple Fellow

  • Phil Schiller

What's Changed?

Apple's 'operations guy' CEO, Tim Cook, has been replaced by the 'product guy', John Ternus. The changes to Apple's leadership page also show a shift towards a more product and design focused leadership team, with new roles and executives being added to reflect this.

One of the biggest changes is the introduction of the Chief Hardware Officer role, with Johny Srouji taking on the position alongside his existing hardware responsibilities.

Apple now also lists its VP of Industrial Design and VP of Human Interface Design, with Molly Anderson and Steve Lemay both appearing on the leadership team.

In 2024, Apple did not list its design VPs on the leadership page. Instead, there was a bigger focus on the environment, with Lisa Jackson listed as VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. Her responsibilities have since been split across other executives, following her departure from Apple.

The leadership changes aren't just focused on products, with some of Apple's biggest corporate roles also changing ahead of the new CEO. Finance, operations and legal have all gone through major transitions, with Kevan Parekh replacing Luca Maestri as CFO, Sabih Khan replacing Jeff Williams as COO and Jennifer Newstead replacing Katherine Adams as General Counsel.

AI has also seen a major change. John Giannandrea, Apple's former SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, is no longer on the leadership team, with AI now being represented under Craig Federighi's software organisation through a dedicated AI leadership role.

Overall, Apple's leadership page now feels much more focused on the products it makes, with hardware, software and design taking a more visible position than they did during the Cook era.

Who Could Be Next To Leave?

Apple executives stay around for a long time, and become public faces of the company. For Example - former CEO Tim Cook's 'Good morning' has become a staple of every Apple Event, that will be missed.

Despite the amount of change Apple leadership has already undergone, more changes could come in the next few years. Here are a few names that are floating around with rumours of their upcoming retirements:

1. Deirdre O'Brien

Apple's retail and people chief is 60 years old and is reportedly planning to retire in the coming years, according to Bloomberg. She became an Apple SVP in April of 2019, succeeding Angela Ahrendts, the former CEO of Burberry.

2. Greg Joswiak

Apple's marketing chief is just two years younger than former CEO Tim Cook at 63 years old, and is therefore expected to retire in the coming years. Also known as Joz, Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing is one of the most public facing executives, making appearances in dozens of interviews at at every Apple Event whether it is hardware or software related.

3. Johny Srouji

Srouji, 61, has only recently received a promotion to Chief Hardware Officer, and is the man behind Apple Silicon. Bloomberg previously reported he was considering leaving the company, just months before his new title was announced.

Bloomberg says he is passionate about the Apple modem transition away from Qualcomm, and that he is expected to see through the full transition before considering retirement - this is expected to take a few more years.

Final Thoughts

Whilst Apple only announced their CEO transition in April, the transition began internally about a year ago, with the retirement of Jeff Williams, the company's former COO.

Moving forward, we expect the executive team to settle following the appointment of a new CEO, to avoid speculation and rumours about his leadership. Following this period, expect more changes potentially in late 2027 and moving forward.

The only changes coming up are the ones already in motion, including the retirement of the VP of Apple Pay and former General Counsel Katherine Adams, who retires in late 2026.