While the latest tidbits suggest that Apple's current CEO, Tim Cook, is not stepping away from his apex role just yet, there are increasing signs that he is trying to put his house in order, so to speak, in anticipation of a possible succession play.
Apple's John Ternus is being groomed for a possible CEO role
Back in November 2025, Reuters and Financial Times both reported that Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, was likely to step down in 2026 after well over a decade at the helm of one of the largest corporate behemoths in the world.
Those reports, however, were fiercely contested by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who continues to maintain to this day that Cook isn't going anywhere just yet. Interestingly, Gurman concurred with at least one part of those reports: that Apple's hardware chief, John Ternus, remains the favored choice to succeed Tim Cook when he does step down.
Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is out with another scoop, disclosing that John Ternus was given oversight of Apple's design team in addition to his existing role as the hardware head honcho towards the end of 2025. Specifically, Ternus has been appointed the "executive sponsor" of Apple's design team.
While Apple's design team will continue to report to Tim Cook on paper, Ternus' new role has established him at the apex of the Cupertino giant's design-related hierarchy.
So, why is this development so brimming with symbolism? Well, as explained by Gurman himself, Apple's design team head has historically enjoyed a lot of prominence within its corporate structure. If Tim Cook were grooming John Ternus for a possible CEO succession, he just lit a veritable bonfire in the dark as a potent signal of his intentions with this move.
Also, since major design-related decisions at Apple are only given the go-ahead after a broad-based consensus with other departments, such as software engineering and marketing, Ternus would gain valuable exposure to different parts of Apple's sprawling operations in his new capacity as the effective head of the design team.
Meanwhile, in an indication that Tim Cook is trying to put his house in order, Apple recently replaced its then-AI czar, John Giannandrea, with Microsoft's Amar Subramanya, while giving the broader AI oversight to its software engineering chief, Craig Federighi.
These changes have breathed new life into Apple's AI strategy, with the company recently partnering with Google to launch a revamped version of Siri, possibly with the upcoming iOS 26.4 update, bringing the much-delayed in-app actions, personal context awareness, and on-screen awareness to its bespoke voice assistant. What's more, Apple is also now planning to launch a dedicated Siri chatbot in 2027 to take on ChatGPT and a wearable AI pin to counter OpenAI's upcoming consumer devices.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
