<img decoding="async" class="lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601381" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-src="https://observer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/GettyImages-2234563479.jpg?quality=80&w=970" alt="Tim Cook holding an orange iPhone 17 Pro Max” width=”970″ height=”677″ data-caption=’Tim Cook’s looming retirement caps a 14-year run defined by record growth and disciplined execution. <span class=”lazyload media-credit”>Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</span>’>
Apple CEO Tim Cook is poised to retire as early as next year after 14 years at the helm, according to a Financial Times report last week citing multiple anonymous company insiders. Rumblings about Cook’s exit come amid accelerated succession planning by the board and senior executives, the report says.
Some observers suggest Cook, 65, may not step away entirely, but could transition into a role as chairman of the board. Others, including Bloomberg editor Mark Gurman, believe the leak from unnamed insiders may be an intentional effort to prepare the market for a major leadership shift. Most experts don’t expect any changes before Apple’s next earnings release in January, but say a handoff could occur ahead of its mid-2026 developer conference and product launches.
What’s clear is that Cook, who succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, is nearing the end of his run as Apple’s longest-serving CEO, putting renewed attention on both his legacy and the question of who comes next.
Tim Cook’s unparalleled legacy
Apple’s growth under Cook has been staggering. The company’s market capitalization stood at $350 billion when he took over 14 years ago. Today, it’s approaching $4 trillion—more than an elevenfold increase. For comparison, the S&P 500 rose just over 460 percent in the same period.
Just a year into the job, Cook restructured Apple’s leadership team, dismissing senior vice president of retail John Browett and accepting the resignation of Scott Forstall, then senior vice president of iOS. He redistributed many of their responsibilities to existing leaders in an effort to ease internal tensions.
Cook has overseen the release of 48 iPhone variants—from the iconic iPhone 4 in 2011 to the bold iPhone 17 Pro this September—while steering the launch of major new product lines including the MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro. Under his leadership, Apple also introduced the M-series silicon chips, a multiyear transition that reshaped the performance and energy efficiency of the Mac lineup and reasserted Apple’s dominance in hardware design.
Beyond devices, Cook supercharged Apple’s services business, expanding the App Store ecosystem and launching new offerings such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+ and Apple Pay. These services have grown into a multibillion-dollar pillar of Apple’s business, helping the company diversify its revenue streams and build one of the most powerful subscription ecosystems in the world.
Cook has turned Apple into “the most valuable business in the world while keeping its products central to everyday life,” Natalie Andreas, communication management professor at the University of Texas, told Observer.
Still, Apple faces criticism for lagging behind rivals in the artificial intelligence arms race, even as its Apple Intelligence features roll out slowly. Many of the capabilities remain in beta. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Apple has shelved plans for a more affordable, lighter Vision Pro headset (codenamed N100) and is instead diverting resources toward building A.I.-powered smart glasses that directly target Meta’s Ray-Ban-style devices.
“Whoever takes the reins will face big challenges in artificial intelligence, immersive technologies like the Vision Pro, and increasing global regulation,” Andreas said.
Tim Cook’s successor
John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering and a direct report to Cook, is widely viewed as the leading candidate for the top job.
Ternus has been at Apple for more than two decades. He joined the product design team in 2001 after working as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems. In 2013, Ternus was promoted to vice president of hardware engineering under Dan Riccio, overseeing development across the iPad, Mac, and AirPods product lines. By 2020, he had taken on responsibility for the iPhone hardware, and in January 2021, he succeeded Riccio as senior vice president of hardware engineering. In late 2022, his purview expanded further when he was put in charge of Apple Watch hardware.
Under his leadership, Ternus has played a pivotal role in some of Apple’s most ambitious hardware efforts, including the transition of Mac computers to Apple Silicon. He has also regularly appeared at major Apple events, presenting new iMacs, MacBook Pros, redesigned iPads and other flagship devices.
Ternus is “one of the few leaders inside the company who blends engineering depth with the same person-first philosophy Apple was built on,” Steven Athwal, founder and CEO of The Big Phone Store, a refurbished tech gadget company, told Observer.
“He’s charismatic and well-regarded by Apple loyalists and trusted by Cook,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has written.“Apple probably needs more of a technologist than a sales or operations person.”
Ternus has also begun taking a more public, outward-facing role. He has appeared at high-profile product launches and greeted customers, including during the iPhone 17 launch in London. At 50 years old, he is about the same age Tim Cook was when he became CEO — a symbolic point often raised in succession discussions.
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