John Ternus Takes Over Apple Ahead of Foldable iPhone Debut

John Ternus replaced Tim Cook as Apple CEO this week, taking command days before the September 9 event that debuts Apple's first foldable iPhone.

Apple's leadership changed hands this week, ending a 15-year run under Tim Cook as hardware engineering chief John Ternus officially took over as chief executive. Cook will remain active with the company as Executive Chair, helping with the transition. The timing is deliberate: Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports the transition was set for Tuesday specifically so Ternus would be in command just days before Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' event on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, where he will personally unveil the 2026 iPhone lineup, Apple Watches, and AirPods. MacRumors notes that in his first memo to employees as CEO, Ternus thanked staff for a warm welcome, expressed gratitude to Cook, and promised 'a huge launch' next week.

The surprise is that the new CEO is launching products that are largely his team's work rather than his predecessor's. According to Bloomberg, Apple has spent the past 15 years mostly refining existing lines, and the upcoming run represents the biggest slate of device releases in the company's history, built over the past half-decade largely by Ternus's engineering organization. When Cook decided to let Ternus introduce them, it underscored that Apple's next phase belongs to the new CEO. The centerpiece is the first foldable iPhone, internally called iPhone Ultra, expected to carry an A20 Pro chip, an in-house C2 modem, split-view multitasking, and a price reportedly above $2,000, according to Bloomberg.

MacRumors reports that the September 9 event will debut the first foldable device alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, plus new Apple Watches and AirPods. Bloomberg details the Pro phones' upgrades as mostly internal: A20 Pro processors, in-house C2 modems, better battery life, improved vapor chambers, and camera upgrades including a mechanical aperture on the Pro Max. Bloomberg also reports that Mark Gurman told Tom's Guide 'all indications' point toward MagSafe charging surviving on the foldable, despite its ultra-thin profile. The Apple Watch Series 12 adds ceramic cases and a continuous heart-rate sensor in testing, per Bloomberg, and an OLED iPad mini and new Apple TV and HomePod mini with Siri AI round out the near-term slate.

The stakes are high for a first-time CEO launching an unproven device category at a price Bloomberg reports will exceed $2,000. Per MacRumors, pre-orders may start at an unusual time: because the typical Friday slot falls on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Apple will reportedly begin pre-orders at midnight Pacific Time on Saturday, September 12. Apple has also been caught off guard, according to The Information as reported by MacRumors, by enterprise AI demand that left Mac mini and Mac Studio configurations out of stock for months.