John Ternus, Apple’s new CEO, will helm the company’s annual showcase of new iPhones and other products on Wednesday. It will be the first time the public will get a feel for the executive, who is filling the shoes of Tim Cook and his predecessor, Steve Jobs, at the $۴.۵tn tech giant.
Not much is publicly known about Ternus’s leadership style, even though he has worked at Apple for ۲۵ years. He has kept a low profile and is known for a calm manner and attention to detail. Ternus started at the company in ۲۰۰۱ and in ۲۰۱۳ became the vice-president of hardware engineering. By ۲۰۲۱, he was heading the entire hardware department.
In Apple tradition, Ternus, as the CEO, will kick off Wednesday’s keynote address and cue up the gadget reveals. Apple is expected to make big announcements at its “Surprise and Shine” event in Cupertino, California, including its first foldable phone and major upgrades to its iPhone and Apple Watch lines.
“While products like the expected foldable iPhone have been in the works for some time, the fact that, as the new CEO, John Ternus gets to introduce it to the world, is hugely symbolic because it shows off how a new era of more interesting new products for the company is kicking off under his leadership,” said Bob O’Donnell, the president and chief analyst of Technalysis Research.
Jobs, Apple’s greatest showman, was known for his commanding stage presence, donning his black turtleneck and blue jeans uniform. When he debuted the first iPhone, he paced back and forth on the stage, drumming up suspense, then said: “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” The crowd went wild.
Cook had a much calmer demeanor, often holding his hands as if clasped in prayer and repeating a similar mantra during Apple’s iPhone events: “We think you’re gonna love it,” and: “This is the best iPhone we’ve ever created.”
Under Cook, Apple became a hardware juggernaut, and he turned the company into the world’s first trillion-dollar business. Although he was not considered a visionary like Jobs, Cook was credited with the pragmatism that made Apple a lucrative success.
When the company announced in April that Ternus was taking over from Cook, Ternus said he was “profoundly grateful” to “carry Apple’s mission forward”.
“Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor,” he added. “I am humbled to step into this role.”
Cook praised his successor as having “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor”.
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Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at Forrester, said that Ternus inheriting this legacy would be “both a boon and a burden for him”. The new CEO will need to continue with Cook’s scale and monetization, he said, while also moving toward the future with new advancements in technology other than smartphones.
“His first keynote will set the tone for his vision of Apple’s future,” Chatterjee said.
