JURNALACEH.COM – A new era begins at Apple Park. After nearly 15 years leading one of the most valuable technology companies in the world, Tim Cook officially announced his resignation from the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple.
Based on a New York Times report compiled on Tuesday 21 April 2026, this leadership transition will take effect from 1 September 2026. The top position will be handed over to John Ternus, who currently serves as Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering at Apple.
Even though he is leaving his CEO position, the 65 year old man will not leave Apple completely. Cook will assume a new role as Executive Chairman on the company’s board of directors. Tim Cook took over the leadership baton on August 24 2011, shortly before the death of the legendary founder, Steve Jobs.
Initially, many people doubted Cook’s abilities. As a supply chain expert, he is considered to lack the “magical touch” of innovation like Jobs. However, Cook proved otherwise through phenomenal financial achievements:
Market capitalization jumped more than 1,000%, from 350 billion US dollars to 4 trillion US dollars (around Rp. 68,000 trillion). Annual Revenue skyrocketed from 108 billion US dollars (2011) to more than 416 billion US dollars in the 2025 fiscal year.
Product Innovation under his direction, Apple has successfully released new product lines such as the Apple Watch, AirPods, the transition to Apple Silicon (M-series), and the mixed reality device Apple Vision Pro. Expansion Services transformed the App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud into the company’s main revenue engines.
”It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be CEO of Apple and lead this extraordinary company,” Cook wrote in his open letter.
Get to know John Ternus: The Engineer Behind the iPhone and Mac
As successor to the throne, John Ternus is not new. Joining Apple’s product design team since 2001, Ternus is the central figure behind the hardware development of almost all of Apple’s major products.
Brief Profile John Ternus is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania who has served as Vice President of Hardware Engineering since 2013 and joined the executive ranks in 2021. He is responsible for the development of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and AirPods.
Tim Cook praised Ternus as a leader who has “an engineer’s mind, an innovator’s spirit and high integrity.”
Following this reshuffle, Arthur Levinson, who has served as Non-Executive Chairman for 15 years, will shift to Lead Independent Director. Meanwhile, John Ternus will automatically join the board of directors as of September 1.
The stock market reacted to this sudden announcement. The value of Apple (AAPL) shares reportedly fell by around 1% in the after-hours trading session, before finally returning to stability. ***
