Apple\u2019s New CEO John Ternus Makes AI Top Priority<\/p>\n
Reporter<\/p>\n
September 1, 2026 | 05:33 pm<\/p>\n
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - On September 1, a new era begins at Apple as John\nTernus becomes just the third man to hold the CEO role at the tech giant\nsince 1997.<\/p>\n
Ternus was announced as Tim Cook\u2019s successor back in April, bringing\nCook\u2019s 15 years at the helm of one of the world\u2019s biggest companies to\nan end. Since then, Ternus, a leading hardware engineer at the company,\nhas been working closely alongside Cook in preparation for the big\njob.<\/p>\n
Just as Cook had when he took over from the iconic Steve Jobs, Ternus\nhas big shoes to fill. Apple\u2019s share price has increased by more than\n2,000% since Cook took over in 2011 and the company has sold more than\n3.1 billion iPhones in that time.<\/p>\n
Ternus faces a range of challenges at Apple, but his ability to keep\nthe company at the top will hinge on how he reshapes its AI\nstrategy.<\/p>\n
Apple has struggled to successfully embrace the technology so far,\nwith critics saying it has fallen far behind its rivals.<\/p>\n
September 9: John Ternus makes public debut<\/p>\n
Ternus will make his public debut as CEO at Apple\u2019s Autumn product\nlaunch event on September 9. Dubbed \u201cSurprise and Shine,\u201d Ternus is\nexpected to announce the company\u2019s first foldable iPhone as well as a\nnew version of an AI-powered Siri, Apple\u2019s virtual assistant.<\/p>\n
Francisco Jeronimo, VP for Data and Analytics at tech research group\nIDC, says Apple\u2019s forthcoming announcements were planned during Cook\u2019s\ntime in charge and that it will be 2027 before the direction Ternus\nwants to take the company in becomes apparent.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, September 9 will be quite an important milestone for the\ncompany around foldables and around innovation,\u201d he told DW.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t think we have seen anything that could indicate that\nApple is behaving in a different way or is showing a different kind of\nstrategy because Tim Cook is not in the job anymore \u2014 yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s huge AI challenge<\/p>\n
What observers will be looking out for from Ternus on September 9 is\nthe extent to which he focuses his remarks on AI.<\/p>\n
While it was already patently clear when he was announced in April\nthat the artificial intelligence boom would be pivotal to his time at\nthe helm, it has become even clearer in the five months since the\nunveiling that the AI revolution is here to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s becoming clear that AI is not a fad, is not something that will\ngo away in the next two or three years,\u201d says Jeronimo. \u201cIt\u2019s something\nthat will dictate the future of most tech companies and indeed all\ncompanies.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reckons AI could be \u201cthe most consequential technology\u201d for Apple\nbecause it could either help it maintain its lofty position or create a\nset of daunting challenges.<\/p>\n
The biggest challenge he sees is that Apple doesn\u2019t \u201ccontrol\u201d AI\ninfrastructure the way it could previously in terms of designing and\ncontrolling both the hardware and software for its key products.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe that will be what John Ternus will be doing differently from\nTim Cook, because at the moment, even if Apple built their own AI\ntechnology, the reality is that they still depend on someone else,\u201d he\nsays.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s reliance on other companies in the AI realm has led it into\nunfamiliar territory. It struck a deal with OpenAI in 2024 to integrate\nChatGPT into the iPhone but it has led to a bitter dispute between the\ncompanies. Apple sued OpenAI earlier this year, alleging that the AI\ncompany stole its trade secrets.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, it announced a deal with Google, whereby the\nsearch giant\u2019s Gemini models would be used for Apple\u2019s own AI models and\nits new AI-powered version of Siri.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe risk for Apple is to become less relevant in a world where\ncompanies like OpenAI and Anthropic are leading in terms of technology,\nin terms of awareness, in terms of services and potentially in terms of\nhardware,\u201d says Jeronimo.<\/p>\n
For decades, Apple\u2019s success has been built on its physical products,\nfrom the iPad to the iPhone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf devices from OpenAI become available, that could be very, very\nrisky for Apple. They could completely disrupt the experience and the\nway we interact with technology. And if Apple is not on the front of\nthat innovation, that is a big risk,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
A combination of Jobs and Cook?<\/p>\n
Ternus\u2019 background as an engineer who worked on Apple\u2019s core\nproducts, as well as innovations such as the Apple Watch and AirPods,\nmeans he will be expected to lead the way on new AI-driven products for\nthe company.<\/p>\n
He also played a central role championing Apple\u2019s shift to designing\nits own chips instead of relying on external suppliers like Intel \u2014\nprecisely the kind of independence Apple would like to achieve when it\ncomes to AI.<\/p>\n
Jeronimo thinks Apple still has big advantages, givenits massive\nvolume of users as well as the company culture of having dominated\ninnovation in tech for decades. He thinks if Apple can get to grips with\nAI under Ternus, it could lead to huge success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we will see in the next years will dictate whether Apple is on\nthe right track or if they are really struggling,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
For Ternus, the first task will be to simply fit smoothly and\nconvincingly into a role that both Jobs and Cook undeniably made their\nown. \u201cSteve Jobs was the guru of innovation and disruption and Tim Cook\nwas the guru of execution,\u201d says Jeronimo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think John Ternus can be a combination of both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read: Apple Music to Roll Out \u2018Made With AI\u2019 Labels on Tracks<\/p>\n
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