Apple’s John Ternus Will Run One Of The World’s Most Powerful Companies; The Job Is A Minefield

Over his 15-year reign arsenic Apple’s apical banana, Tim Cook has go instantly recognizable, powerful beyond imagination, and exceedingly wealthy. Most estimates peg Cook’s existent nett worthy astatine astir $3 billion, wealthiness that he amassed mostly done performance-based equity awards arsenic Apple’s marketplace headdress has grown much than 11x connected his watch to astir $4 trillion.

But nan occupation comes pinch plentifulness of baggage, too. Cook has besides had to navigate 2 Trump administrations and 1 Biden management – each pinch its ain posture toward Big Tech, China, and regulation. Cook besides faced down nan FBI complete encryption, spent years successful tribunal defending nan App Store against accusations that Apple had turned nan iPhone into an forbidden monopoly, and made compromises to enactment successful nan Chinese marketplace that attracted a full batch of unwanted attraction from quality authorities groups. Not last, Cook watched nan company’s astir eager hardware stake — nan Vision Pro headset — explosive pinch consumers. That’s saying thing of nan AI section that’s still being written, and, potentially, not wholly successful Apple’s favor. Incoming CEO John Ternus inherits each of it.

Here’s a locomotion done immoderate of Cook’s biggest battles complete nan years:

Surely we each retrieve that 2016 FBI encryption fight? After a wide shooting astatine a vacation gathering successful San Bernardino, California, nan FBI demanded that Apple thief unlock nan gunman’s iPhone. Cook refused, arguing that encryption was nan only meaningful countermeasure against exposing people’s backstage information and that being forced to break it would group a vulnerable precedent. The standoff yet ended erstwhile nan FBI recovered different measurement in, but it cemented Apple’s personality arsenic a privateness institution and group up years of hostility pinch governments astir nan world. Ternus will inherit that personality and nan obligations that travel pinch it.

The App Store antitrust wars haven’t been a locomotion successful nan parkland for Cook, either. Epic Games sued Apple successful national tribunal complete its request that apps usage Apple’s in-app costs strategy and its 30% trim of income (and erstwhile nan judge pressed Cook connected why users couldn’t simply salary developers straight astatine little prices, his answers did small to deflect her skepticism). Apple mostly prevailed successful 2021, pinch nan tribunal declining to telephone it a monopoly, but it was ordered to let developers to nexus to outer costs options. It complied successful nan narrowest sense, charging a 27% committee connected those outer purchases (some discount!), and courts recovered it successful contempt. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling successful precocious 2025, and aft a rehearing petition was denied past month, Apple is now preparing to petition nan Supreme Court, which had already declined to perceive its anterior appeal. A little tribunal still must find what interest Apple tin really charge.

The Epic saga is conscionable 1 beforehand successful a overmuch wider antitrust war. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple successful March 2024, accusing it of unlawfully dominating nan smartphone marketplace by restricting third-party app and instrumentality developers — deliberation competing smartwatches, integer wallets, and messaging services — successful ways that make it harder for users to move distant from nan iPhone. A national judge denied Apple’s mobility to disregard that case, meaning it could grind done nan courts for years. And conscionable this week, Apple revealed it faces a imaginable $38 cardinal good successful India, wherever regulators person recovered it blameworthy of abusing its ascendant position successful nan app marketplace and opportunity Apple has refused to manus complete required financial information — a lawsuit analyzable by nan truth that Apple’s marketplace stock successful India is still comparatively modest, astir 9%, giving it an different perspective to title nan findings. Ternus inherits this conflict mid-stream, pinch nan App Store’s gross exemplary nether nonstop judicial threat.

China has been a changeless and progressively uncomfortable balancing act, too. Cook built Apple’s manufacturing cognition astir Chinese proviso chains, making nan institution profoundly limited connected a state whose authorities grew some much assertive and little predictable complete time. He besides made uncomfortable concessions to run successful nan Chinese marketplace — astir notably removing VPN apps from nan Chinese App Store and storing Chinese users’ iCloud information connected state-controlled servers. Cook proved adept during Trump’s first word astatine insulating Apple from tariffs and waste and acquisition warfare risks, successful portion by cultivating a individual narration pinch Trump – who remarked upon news of Cook’s status that he’s “an unthinkable guy!” Apple has already signaled that Cook will proceed to thief Ternus discuss geopolitical terrain arsenic executive president — an acknowledgment that these relationships are tricky and that Cook’s organization knowledge remains highly valuable.

Yet AI is possibly nan astir contiguous and unresolved situation that Ternus is being handed. Apple’s AI chief, John Giannandrea, formally leaves nan institution this period pursuing numerous delays successful nan rollout of a much tin AI-powered Siri. Rather than relying solely connected its ain models, Apple has turned to some Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to powerfulness immoderate Apple Intelligence features. Longtime marketplace investigation expert Bob O’Donnell told Reuters connected Monday that Ternus’s biggest situation will apt beryllium “getting a amended AI communicative and offering together that relies much connected Apple’s ain capabilities and little connected 3rd parties,” though immoderate person based on that nan institution will look smarter successful hindsight for waiting retired nan costly title playing retired presently among today’s biggest AI outfits.

Last but not least, executive turnover astatine Apple much broadly is little discussed but meaningful. Ternus is inheriting a mostly rebuilt activity squad pursuing nan caller departures of respective different Apple execs complete nan past twelvemonth of less, including its longtime COO, general counsel, and head of UI design. It’s a situation and an opportunity that will require him to put his ain stamp connected things comparatively quickly.

The done statement connecting astir of these challenges is that Cook’s top accomplishment was his expertise to negociate analyzable relationships pinch governments and partners while keeping nan business humming. Whether Ternus has that aforesaid skill, aliases Cook’s continued beingness arsenic executive chair is meant to screen for immoderate gaps there, whitethorn beryllium among nan much absorbing questions of nan transition.

A overmuch scarier mobility hanging complete Ternus’s tenure is whether nan world that made Apple nan astir valuable institution connected nan satellite could really end. Many manufacture watchers judge AI agents will go nan superior measurement group interact pinch services, rendering nan App Store and its 30% trim a distant memory. Couple that pinch nan anticipation of compelling caller hardware that erodes nan iPhone’s grip connected our lives, for illustration immoderate OpenAI has successful nan works, and Ternus could find himself maneuvering done overmuch much than analyzable relationships and litigation.