Apple CEO Tim Cook to Step Down in September, Succeeded by John Ternus

Apple CEO Tim Cook has written a letter to the community as he prepares to step down from his role in September. "This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you," Cook writes. As part of the shift, John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, will take over for Cook, who will become executive chairman. Meanwhile, Johny Srouji is taking over for Ternus and has now been appointed chief hardware officer.

Apple has appointed Johny Srouji as its new chief hardware officer, "effective immediately," according to an announcement on Monday. He is stepping into the shoes of current hardware engineering head John Ternus, who will replace Tim Cook as CEO in September, while Cook becomes the chairman of the board.

Last December, Srouji reassured his team that he's not "leaving anytime soon" after a flurry of reports suggested he was "evaluating" his future with Apple. However, other notable executives have left Apple over the past year as rumors swirled about Cook's successor, with Sabih Khan taking over for Jeff Williams as chief operating officer and Amar Subramanya stepping in for John Giannandrea as the head of Apple's AI push.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down and will be succeeded by John Ternus, currently Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering. Ternus will take over as CEO and join Apple's board of directors on September 1st, 2026. Cook, who joined Apple in 1998 and took over as CEO from Steve Jobs in 2011, will become executive chairman of Apple's board.

Apple has also named Johny Srouji, previously Apple's SVP of hardware technologies, as the company's chief hardware officer, effective immediately. Srouji will "assume an expanded role leading Hardware Engineering, which John Ternus most recently oversaw, as well as the hardware technologies organization," Apple says.