Apple CEO Tim Cook Steps Down; John Ternus Takes Over

Apple CEO Tim Cook will step down on September 1, 2026. Apple says John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will become the new CEO after the board approved the switch unanimously. Cook will remain through the summer to manage the transition, then move to executive chairman. Arthur Levinson will become lead independent director, while Cook stays involved in policy talks. Apple CEO leadership transition details include: Ternus joining Apple’s board and taking the top role as Apple rewires its leadership structure. Apple highlights Cook’s tenure since 2011, noting major product launches such as Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, plus growth across services like iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple TV and Apple Music. The company also cites operating scale and financial expansion, including revenue growth from fiscal 2011 levels to fiscal 2025, and an active installed base above 2.5 billion devices. In software news, Apple released third developer betas of iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5. Planned updates include changes tied to Apple Maps (Suggested Places and ads), RCS message encryption testing (end-to-end encryption work between iPhone and Android), and EU-focused features for third-party wearables such as proximity pairing, notification forwarding and Live Activities. Apple also notes the builds do not include new Siri features. For crypto traders, this is primarily a tech sector governance and product-cycle story, not a direct token catalyst.