Meet John Ternus, the 50-year-old former swimming champ rumored to succeed Tim Cook as Apple CEO

 Apple is quietly orchestrating its most significant leadership transition in more than a decade, and at the center of succession planning sits John Ternus, the company’s 50-year-old senior vice president of hardware engineering. As Tim Cook approaches his 65th birthday next month, industry observers and Apple insiders increasingly view Ternus as the most likely candidate to inherit the reins of one of the world’s most valuable technology companies, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has reported accurately on Apple for years thanks to sources deep within the company.

The speculation intensified after Apple’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams, once considered Cook’s natural successor, stepped down from operational responsibilities in July and will leave the company by year’s end. With Williams out of contention, Gurman says Ternus has emerged as “the most likely heir apparent.”

Ternus brings a combination of technical expertise and institutional knowledge to the succession conversation. According to his LinkedIn profile, the mechanical engineer joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 and has overseen hardware engineering for virtually every major product in the company’s current portfolio. His fingerprints are on every generation of iPad, the latest iPhone lineup, and AirPods. He played a crucial role in the Mac’s transition to Apple Silicon. He also had a prominent role during Apple’s most recent keynotes, introducing products.

The timing of Ternus’s increased visibility isn’t coincidental. Apple’s public relations teams have begun “putting the spotlight on Ternus,” according to Gurman, signaling the company may be preparing for a gradual transition of power. Beyond product launches, Ternus has taken on responsibilities that extend well beyond traditional hardware engineering, influencing product road maps, features, and strategic decisions typically reserved for more senior executives.

At 50, Ternus mirrors Cook’s age when he became CEO in 2011, positioning him for potentially a decade or more of leadership. This longevity factor appeals to Apple’s board of directors, who prefer stability in leadership transitions. His engineering background also matches where Apple is going as a company, exploring emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and mixed reality.

Ternus’s path to Cupertino

Ternus’s journey to the top of Apple began at the University of Pennsylvania, where he distinguished himself both academically and athletically. He graduated in 1997 with a bachelor of science in engineering, majoring in mechanical engineering. But Ternus wasn’t just focused on his studies—he was a competitive swimmer who made his mark in the pool.

A 1994 report in the Daily Pennsylvanian revealed Ternus’s athletic prowess when he won both the 50-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley at a university swimming competition. More remarkably, Ternus is an “all-time letter winner” for the UPenn men’s swimming team, representing the varsity swim team a record number of times.

 After graduation, Ternus joined Virtual Research Systems as a mechanical engineer. Virtual Research Systems, while not widely known today, was part of the early virtual reality wave of the 1980s and 1990s, working on VR headsets and immersive technologies. This four-year stint exposed Ternus to cutting-edge display technology and human-computer interfaces—experience that would prove invaluable during his later work on products like the Apple Vision Pro.