Apple has officially completed its CEO transition, with John Ternus taking over from the company's veteran 15-year CEO, Tim Cook. But Who is John Ternus, the man tasked with leading one of the biggest consumer technology companies in the world?
Ternus is Apple's former Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, where he led the development of every hardware product the company sold, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro.
He became an Apple SVP in January 2021, succeeding Dan Riccio who moved over to a special project, that later became the Apple Vision Pro.
During his five year tenure as Apple's hardware chief, Ternus has revitalised the Mac lineup, oversaw the introduction of Apple's first augmented reality (AR) headset and has recently overhauled the iPhone lineup with new additions and design changes.
Products Under Ternus
MacBook Pro Redesign
John Ternus is credited, in part, for the return of ports to Apple's high-end MacBook Pro lineup.
In late 2021, just months into his new role, Ternus unveiled an all-new MacBook Pro that featured usb-c ports, a HDMI port, card slot, MagSafe 3 and dropped the Touch Bar for a row of physical function keys.
The new chassis design of the 2021 MacBook Pro was also chunkier, with less focus on the devices thinness, as seen under the tenure of Design Chief Jony Ive.
This was a major contrast to the devices predecessor, that featured a touch bar, thin, tapered design and just two usb-c ports.
iPad Pro (M4) & iPhone Air
Whilst there was less focus on the thinness of the MacBook Pro, Ternus has launched Apple's two thinnest products in history.
This began with the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro in 2024, that was thinner than iPod Nano at 5.1mm. Despite this, the iPad did not make many compromises for this design as seen in the past.
iPad Pro now has Apple's best-ever tandem OLED display, and remains the only iPad model with Face ID.
Last September, Apple's former CEO, Tim Cook, handed the keynote over to Ternus to introduce the company's all-new iPhone Air.
At 5.4mm, it is the second thinnest Apple product in history and extremely durable, potentially addressing the issues of iPhone 6 Plus all the way back from 2014.
MacBook Neo, Mac Studio & Studio Display
Ternus has also expanded the Mac into new markets, leading the hardware team as Apple unveiled all-new product lines, including Mac Studio, Studio Display, and most recently, MacBook Neo.
These devices address different markets, including professionals with the Studio Display and Mac Studio, which has since replaced the Mac Pro.
On the other end of the spectrum, the company has also unveiled it's first-ever budget MacBook, that was initially available to students from just £499.
Ternus' Tenure At Apple
Prior to becoming an Apple SVP, Ternus has worked at Apple since 2001 working on the product design team.
He began at the company working on products envisioned by Steve Jobs himself, including the Apple Cinema Display. He joined Apple's leadership team as a VP of hardware engineering under his predecessor in 2013, overseeing the development of AirPods, iPad and Mac.
AirPods went on to release as a major hit, in 2016.
Despite his lesser known profile compared to Tim Cook, he has worked at the company for a similar amount of time, joining 3 years after Cook.
Prior To Apple
Ternus has a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems, designing virtual reality headsets. This is over two decades before Apple would launch it's own headset, in 2023.
Personal Life
As usual with Apple executives, we have little public information on Ternus' personal life.
We know that he competed on the men's swimming team whilst at university, and is said to enjoy cycling and car racing, reportedly taking colleagues to Washington for rally racing, according to his Wikipedia Page.
Unlike Tim Cook, he does not have a social media presence.
