Apple's Tim Cook Steps Down, Hardware Expert John Ternus Becomes New CEO: Challenging the AI Comeback with Foldable iPhones, Siri Smart Glasses, and Pendant AI

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On April 21, 2026, Apple officially announced the resignation of CEO Tim Cook and the promotion of John Ternus, the current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, as his successor. Mr. Cook, who took over from Steve Jobs in 2011 and led Apple for 15 years, will step down as active CEO on September 1 and transition to Executive Chairman. The new CEO, John Ternus, is a 25-year veteran who has been with Apple since 1995 and is a true hardware craftsman who has led the development of the iPhone, iPad, and AirPods.

What Apple emphasized simultaneously with the announcement of the change is a shift to an "AI-first hardware" strategy. According to Bloomberg, the first major products to be released under the John Ternus CEO regime will be the first wave of next-generation hardware that "runs AI on the device," including a foldable iPhone, followed by Siri-equipped smart glasses, a pendant-style AI device, and AirPods with cameras. This CEO change is being widely interpreted throughout the industry as a clear signal that Apple is "competing on the hardware side of AI."

Cook's 15-year track record and the background of the CEO change

Mr. Cook officially took over as CEO from Steve Jobs in August 2011. Over the 15 years since then, Apple's market capitalization has grown more than tenfold, from approximately $350 billion to over $3.5 trillion. He is the key figure who pushed Apple to become the "world's largest publicly traded company" through the rapid growth of its services business, the launches of the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, global privacy strategies, and the diversification of its supply chain away from dependence on China.

However, from 2024 to 2025, criticism spread in the market that the on-device AI strategy launched under the Apple Intelligence brand paled in comparison to the overwhelming speed of evolution of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. The repeated delays in the renewal of Siri and the fact that Apple's proprietary generative AI models were inferior in performance to those of other companies cemented the sentiment in the industry that "Apple is losing in AI." Many overseas media outlets analyze this CEO change announcement as a quiet but decisive sign of a strategic shift based on that reflection.

Who is the new CEO, John Ternus?

Mr. Ternus was born in 1972 in Pennsylvania, USA, and earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He joined Apple as an engineer in 1995 and has spent over 25 years leading the hardware development of the "three major products that have supported Apple": the iPhone, iPad, and AirPods. Most recently, he was also in charge of hardware integration for the Apple Vision Pro, and he is known within the company as a "product-first" figure comparable to Jobs.

What is interesting about Mr. Ternus is that his presence on social media is extremely limited. He does not have official accounts on LinkedIn or X, and he is not the type to take the lead in internal announcements; he is, so to speak, a "behind-the-scenes genius." Overseas media have commented on this point by likening it to the "return of Jobs," arguing that a style where the product itself does the talking is conversely refreshing in the noisy era of social media.

Four next-generation hardware products under the Ternus regime

The first is the foldable iPhone. Apple has not yet entered the foldable smartphone market that other companies have been entering one after another, but it plans to launch one all at once under the Ternus regime. Bloomberg reports that they are aiming for a release in late 2027, polishing it in the Apple style, including the precision of the hinge mechanism, technology to eliminate screen creases, and integration with AI assistants.

The second is Siri-equipped smart glasses. This is a strategic product that utilizes the optical technology accumulated with the Apple Vision Pro while being upgraded to glasses-type devices that are always equipped with Siri. The third is a pendant-style AI device, a small AI assistant worn around the neck. In a field where the Humane AI Pin and rabbit r1 have struggled, Apple aims to differentiate itself with its brand's design power and integrated experience. The fourth is AirPods with cameras, a concept where AI processes visual information while they are worn in the ears.

What is common to all of these is the philosophy of "running AI on the device side." Apple will seriously commit to on-device AI by utilizing its proprietary chips, the M5, M5 Pro, A20, and A20 Pro. The design philosophy is to be fast in response and usable even outside of communication range, while protecting privacy.

Three impacts on our society

The first is that the axis of competition among the five mega-tech companies will expand from "AI model intelligence" to "AI hardware experience." While OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, and Meta were centered on software AI competition, Apple's appointment of a CEO with a hardware background will expand the axis of competition for the entire AI industry by another level.

The second is the opportunities and risks for Japanese companies. More than 150 Japanese companies are incorporated into Apple's supply chain related to the iPhone. Murata Manufacturing, TDK, Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Japan Display, ROHM, and Sumitomo Electric may receive a new wave of orders as Apple adopts these parts for its foldable phones, smart glasses, pendants, and AirPods with cameras. On the other hand, as the shift to in-house production of Apple's proprietary chips accelerates, there is a risk that some semiconductor and sensor companies that have been relied upon until now will lose their positions.

The third is that our daily AI experience will be "integrated with hardware." Until now, it was common to open ChatGPT or Claude in a smartphone app and converse via text or images. When this is integrated into smart glasses, AirPods, and pendant-style devices, experiences such as "explaining what you see just by asking," "automatically saving conversations in notes," and "recording ideas that come to mind while walking" will become part of daily life.

Three actions you can take starting today

The first is to review how you use current Apple products with an "AI-first" mindset. Update your Siri settings for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods to the latest versions, turn on Apple Intelligence features, and actually try out new functions such as email summarization, notification prioritization, and photo organization.

The second is to add Apple-related stocks and supply chain companies to your watchlist. In addition to Apple in the US, Japanese Apple-related companies such as Murata Manufacturing, TDK, Sony Group, Taiyo Yuden, Kyocera, ROHM, and Japan Display are targets.

The third point is to keep the overall map of AI hardware in mind. By tracking the trends of Meta Ray-Ban, Google Pixel Glass, Humane AI Pin, rabbit r1, and Samsung Galaxy Ring together, the differences in the strategies of the five mega-tech companies become clearly visible.

Summary

CEO Tim Cook will step down effective September 1, 2026, with hardware veteran John Ternus taking over as the new CEO, marking Apple's strategic shift toward AI-first hardware. The first major product will be a foldable iPhone, followed by Siri-equipped smart glasses, a pendant-style AI device, and AirPods with cameras, signaling the dawn of the on-device era where AI runs directly on the hardware. Let's ride the wave of this generational change by getting comfortable with the AI features of Apple products, adding Apple-related Japanese supply chain stocks to our watchlists, and keeping the overall AI hardware map in mind.