Tim Cook May Not Be Leaving Apple As Soon As You Think

Last week, a report from the Financial Times relayed that Apple CEO Tim Cook was preparing to step down sometime in early 2026. Not only that, but the report added that Apple executive John Ternus was already expected to fill Cook's shoes. Barely a week later, a report from Mark Gurman over at Bloomberg relays that news of Cook's imminent departure from Apple is likely premature. Gurman writes that he would be shocked if Cook stepped away from Apple during the first half of 2026. So while a succession plan is likely already in place, Cook — should he choose to step down — will remain at the helm of Apple for another 8 months at the very least.

What's more, Gurman says that the Financial Times report was simply false, which is to say that it's entirely possible Cook stays on as CEO beyond 2026. It certainly makes sense to speculate about Cook's retirement, especially given that he is currently 65. Still, with Apple currently firing on all cylinders and with the stock price at an all-time high, there's no pressing need for Cook to step away from Apple anytime soon.

One tidbit of information corroborated by Bloomberg is that Cook will eventually be succeeded by longtime Apple executive John Ternus. Ternus has been a top Apple employee for over two decades and is said to have helped the company make the transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon. During his time at Apple, Ternus also spearheaded hardware engineering efforts across Apple's most successful and lucrative products, including the iPhone, iPad, and AirPods. Ternus himself may not be a household name just yet, but his face is likely familiar to anyone who watches Apple's special events, as he's introduced products and features at various WWDC events.

Not only is Ternus considerably younger than Cook, but he is also more of a product-oriented person. Indeed, one of the longstanding — and I'd argue undeserved — knocks against Cook is that he was more of an operations whiz. In fact, Steve Jobs himself said that Cook is "not a product person." Nonetheless, Cook has done a masterful job of navigating Apple in the post-Jobs era, a feat many people at the time didn't think was possible. All that said, Ternus appears to fall somewhere in between Jobs and Cook. He's said to be methodical and "well-liked inside Apple," while also having a keen eye for product design.

One reason why Tim Cook may stay in the CEO position longer than people think is that he is uniquely qualified to navigate the economic complexities that come with Donald Trump's administration. Despite all the noise and controversy surrounding Trump's ever-changing tariff decisions, Cook has managed to help Apple avoid regulations that would have a massive and detrimental impact on the company's bottom line. As a prime example, Cook, a few months ago, managed to secure a tariff exemption from Trump, even as he levied a 145% tariff on Chinese imports. Without that exemption, Apple would have had to drastically increase the retail price of the iPhone 17 or sacrifice margins.

Commenting on Cook's political savvy, former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, back in April, said the following to The Washington Post: "Tim has a very good relationship with the president, and rightly so. He has been playing a very careful role in that he obviously has a huge dependency on China, but is also hugely important to the U.S." To wit, Cook was reportedly able to convince Trump that manufacturing iPhones in the U.S. was simply not a realistic solution in the near future. "He makes many of the components here, and we've been talking about it," Trump said a few months ago. "The whole thing is set up in other places, and it's been there for a long time in terms of cost and all, but I think we may incentivize him enough that one day he'll be bringing that back."