While Tim Cook‘s legacy and John Ternus’s effectiveness will be studied for years, right now Apple is making a change of CEO seem effortless. But never doubt that this will be a sea change for the company, eventually.

Tim Cook (right) and his successor John Ternus – images credit: Apple.

Tim Cook (right) and his successor John Ternus – images credit: Apple.
No question, John Ternus really became Apple’s CEO long before his official start date of September 1, 2026. It’s not as if Tim Cook went on gardening leave but this is not a job with a simple cutoff date.
Instead, it’s parallel running for a time, then it mixes from all Tim Cook to all John Ternus over at least many months. There is no possibility, for instance, that it was Tim Cook’s decision to lay off Apple Vision Pro staff.