Biography:John Ternus

From HandWiki
John Ternus
Born1975 (age 50–51)
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania (BSE)
EmployerApple
TitleSenior vice president of hardware engineering

John Ternus is an American engineer and business executive who has served as Apple Inc.'s senior vice president of hardware engineering since 2021, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. He leads the company's hardware engineering teams.[1]

Early life and education

Ternus received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a major in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.[2] While at Penn, Ternus competed on the men's swimming team.[3] For his senior project, he developed a mechanical feeding arm operable by individuals with quadriplegia using head movements.[4]

Career

Ternus began his career as a mechanical engineer designing virtual reality headsets at Virtual Research Systems.[5] He joined Apple in 2001 as a member of the product design team, working first on the Apple Cinema Display.[6][7] In 2013, he was appointed vice president of hardware engineering under Dan Riccio, overseeing the development of AirPods, Mac and iPad.

In 2020, he was also put in charge of iPhone hardware, previously overseen directly by Riccio.[8][9] He was promoted to senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021, replacing Riccio,[8] and was put in charge of Apple Watch hardware in late 2022.[10] Bloomberg News reported that Ternus was the "youngest member of Apple's executive team", and described him as "charismatic and well-liked".[8][9] He has been widely reported by media to be a potential successor to Tim Cook as the company's next chief executive.[6][11][12]

Ternus has presented new hardware at several WWDC events, revealing refreshes of the iMac and MacBook Pro, the new 2018 iPad Pros, the iMac Pro and the completely redesigned 2019 Mac Pro. He has subsequently appeared as a regular presenter at Apple events.[13][14][15]

See also

  • List of Apple products

References

  1. ↑ Gurman, Mark (February 8, 2021). "Apple's Dan Riccio Shifts From Hardware Chief to AR, VR Headsets". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-08/apple-s-riccio-shifts-from-hardware-chief-to-ar-vr-headsets. 
  2. ↑ "Apple Leadership - John Ternus" (in en-US). https://www.apple.com/leadership/john-ternus/. 
  3. ↑ "M. Swim coasts to easy win". February 3, 1994. https://www.thedp.com/article/1994/02/m-swim-coasts-to-easy-win. 
  4. ↑ Huang, Kalley; Mickle, Tripp (2026-01-08). "The Man Who Could Be Apple’s Next C.E.O.". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/technology/apple-ceo-tim-cook-john-ternus.html. 
  5. ↑ Yildirim, Ece (November 16, 2025). "Apple's Succession Wars Start. Here's Who Might Take Tim Cook's Spot" (in en-US). https://gizmodo.com/apple-tim-cook-john-ternus-2000686619. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mann, Jyoti (November 17, 2025). "Who is John Ternus, the Apple exec tipped to take over from Tim Cook?" (in en-US). https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-john-ternus-exec-tipped-replace-tim-cook-ceo-2024-9. 
  7. ↑ Ternus, John (May 18, 2024). 2024 Penn Engineering Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony (Speech). Palestra: University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. Event occurs at 38:17. Retrieved 2025-11-18. My first project at Apple was the Cinema Display; it was a large desktop monitor.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Gurman, Mark (January 25, 2021). "Apple's Hardware Chief Leaves Post for Unnamed New Project" (in en). Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/apple-says-hardware-chief-riccio-to-transition-to-new-role. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gurman, Mark (August 29, 2021). "Tim Cook's Run as Apple CEO Could End as Early as 2025. Who Will Replace Him?" (in en). Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-08-29/who-will-replace-tim-cook-as-the-next-ceo-of-apple-aapl-ksxiq29z. 
  10. ↑ Gurman, Mark (February 2, 2023). "Apple Is Dropping Industrial Design Chief Role in Post-Jony Ive Era" (in en). Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-02/apple-decides-to-drop-role-of-industrial-design-chief-in-post-jony-ive-era. 
  11. ↑ Charlton, Hartley (October 6, 2025). "Gurman: Major Apple Leadership Shakeup Impending With John Ternus as Next CEO". https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/06/apple-leadership-shakeup-impending/. 
  12. ↑ Gurman, Mark (January 22, 2026). "Apple Hardware Chief John Ternus Now Overseeing Design in Latest Sign of CEO Candidacy" (in en). Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-22/apple-hardware-chief-john-ternus-now-overseeing-design-tim-cook-ceo-succession. 
  13. ↑ "Apple Events - October 2021" (in en-US). https://www.apple.com/apple-events/october-2021/. 
  14. ↑ "WWDC22 Keynote" (in en-US). https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wwdc22-keynote/id275834665?i=1000565413850. 
  15. ↑ "Apple Event — May 7" (in en-US). https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/apple-event-may-7/id275834665?i=1000654821230. 



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