"Apple has announced that Tim Cook will step down as chief executive officer and transition to the role of executive chairman of its board of directors.

John Ternus, currently senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will become the next CEO effective September 1, 2026.

The transition was approved unanimously by Apple's board.

Cook will remain in the CEO role through the summer, working closely with Ternus to ensure a smooth handover.

As executive chairman, he will continue to engage with policymakers globally and assist with certain aspects of the company.

The Cook era: a $4 trillion scoreboard Cook joined Apple in 1998 and became CEO in 2011.

Under his watch, Apple grew from a market capitalisation of approximately $350 billion to $4 trillion, a more than 1,000% increase.

Annual revenue nearly quadrupled, from $108 billion in fiscal year 2011 to over $416 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Beyond the financials, Cook expanded Apple's product categories into wearables (Apple Watch, AirPods), spatial computing (Apple Vision Pro), and supercharged its services business, which now generates over $100 billion annually.

The company now operates in more than 200 countries and territories, with over 500 retail stores and an active installed base exceeding 2.5 billion devices.

Cook also oversaw Apple's transition to its own silicon, a move that has defined the company's hardware performance story for the past several years.

On sustainability, Apple reduced its carbon footprint by more than 60% below 2015 levels even as revenue nearly doubled.

Who is John Ternus? Ternus joined Apple's product design team in 2001, became a vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013, and joined the executive team as SVP of Hardware Engineering in 2021.

He previously worked at Virtual Research Systems.

Over 25 years at Apple, Ternus has had his fingerprints on an unusually wide range of products: iPad, AirPods, multiple iPhone generations, Mac, and Apple Watch.

He is credited with driving Apple's innovation in materials, durability, and repairability, including the development of a new recycled aluminium compound used across product lines and the use of....