A new king ascends the throne! Apple's "number one mission": AI

John Ternus officially took over as CEO of Apple on September 1st, becoming the third CEO to lead the world's most valuable technology company, following Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Ternus faces only one core challenge: how to lead this hardware-driven consumer electronics giant to re-establish its competitive advantage in the age of artificial intelligence.

Ternus faces a crucial test upon taking office: the September iPhone launch and Apple's full rollout of the new Siri AI. This redesigned voice assistant is positioned as a direct competitor to ChatGPT, and while early reviews have been positive, whether it can reverse Siri's long-standing reputation for being "unusable" remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Cook has not truly left; he will remain as executive chairman, continuing to lead Apple's relations with the Trump administration and the Chinese government, and providing support to Ternus if needed.

This power transition is of profound significance to Apple shareholders. Ternus's product pipeline encompasses the first foldable iPhone, AI-powered smart glasses, and home display devices. Whether these products deliver on their promises will directly determine Apple's ability to maintain its position in the AI hardware race. Meanwhile, Apple's lagging behind in AI, increasing talent drain, and slowing growth in its services business constitute a triple pressure that the new CEO must address immediately.

Lagging behind in AI: Apple's most pressing structural crisis

Apple's foray into generative AI has been noticeably lagging. After ChatGPT ignited the AI hype in late 2022, Apple immediately launched a massive investment—building its own large language models, recruiting AI talent with high salaries, and seeking acquisition targets—but the first version of Apple Intelligence software performed poorly, and major AI acquisitions failed to materialize. Cook subsequently replaced Apple's AI head and restructured the Siri team.

More significantly, Apple decided last year to abandon its self-developed model approach and instead pay to use Google's Gemini technology as the underlying foundation for the new version of Siri. This decision sparked strong dissatisfaction within the large language model team, with several core members, including the team leader, leaving to join higher-paying competitors.

The new version of Siri AI will be fully launched in September. Apple's long-term commercialization path is to charge users or developers, or to monetize through integration with third-party applications. However, whether this model can succeed depends on Siri first gaining users' trust.

Hardware Offensive: Product Bet in the AI Era

Ternus has worked at Apple for 25 years, starting as a Mac engineer and gradually leading the development of the iPad, AirPods, iPhone, and the entire hardware engineering system. He is a recognized hardware expert within Apple. The product pipeline he leads has been described as "exceptionally ambitious": this fall will see the launch of the first foldable iPhone and a smart display device that can recognize the speaker and personalize content; followed by camera-equipped AirPods, smart glasses, a home security system, a home monitor with a robotic arm, and a wearable camera pendant.

It's worth noting that Ternus has a lukewarm attitude towards Cook's Vision Pro mixed reality headset. According to sources, he believes the device is too bulky and expensive to become a mainstream product. Apple has recently laid off staff from the Vision Pro team, affecting multiple areas including device security, audio engineering, Siri integration, testing, and the operating system. Apple's internally codenamed N50 smart glasses project has received Ternus's support and is planned for release next year; however, if the headset as a whole fails to gain market acceptance, he doesn't rule out scaling back this product category, which could impact the next-generation Vision Pro, codenamed N224, with a release date as early as the end of 2028.

At the intersection of AI and hardware, Ternus also pushed for the introduction of AI into Apple's own product development process, launching an AI platform during his tenure as head of hardware, designed to accelerate product development and improve hardware testing efficiency.

Talent drain: Internal risks facing the new CEO

Apple's appeal as a destination for top hardware talent is waning. Hundreds of former Apple employees now work in OpenAI's hardware division, prompting Apple to file a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets. Ternus himself was one of the decision-makers who approved the lawsuit.

To retain key talent, Ternus gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra bonuses to several members of the iPhone design team and personally intervened in individual retention efforts. He instructed Richard Dinh, the head of iPhone design, to meet with an engineer from Singapore and offer him promotion and a raise, but the employee ultimately chose to join OpenAI.

According to sources familiar with the matter, about half of Apple's senior management team may leave in the coming years. The most critical potential loss is Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji—the 61-year-old executive expressed his intention to leave to Cook last year, but stayed temporarily after receiving requests to expand his responsibilities and assist with the CEO transition. However, sources indicate he may still leave within a year or two. The heads of marketing, services, and retail divisions, all of whom have been with Apple for approximately forty years, may also retire in the coming years.

Power Transition: Cook's "Incomplete Retirement"

Tim Cook led Apple for 15 years, during which time revenue grew from approximately $100 billion to $416 billion, and the company's market capitalization increased about 15 times. On August 23, he attended a farewell dinner hosted by his colleagues at Apple Park, with a live performance by OneRepublic. But this farewell was not entirely final.

Cook made it clear to Ternus that he would continue to manage relations with the Trump administration and the Chinese government, and was willing to assume any other responsibilities that his successor deemed necessary. He told employees that Apple would always be his "number one priority" because he "couldn't imagine any other way."

According to Bloomberg, Apple internally compares this partnership to Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy, considering them the closest benchmark. However, the precedent of Disney also applies—Bob Iger, after remaining as an advisor, clashed with his successor Bob Chapek and ultimately returned to the CEO position. How well Ternus manages this gradual power transition will largely determine whether he can become a successful CEO on par with Cook.

Currently, Ternus has begun to lead Apple's communications with Wall Street analysts and is gradually taking the lead in the 2027 planning meeting he co-attended with Cook. The iPhone launch event on September 9 will be his first appearance as CEO, while Cook will be appearing on this stage for the first time in 15 years without being the main figure.

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