Tim Cook has stepped down as chief executive officer of Apple after 15 years in the role, with Monday marking his final day as CEO. He will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors, while John Ternus, the company's senior vice president of hardware engineering, takes over as CEO effective 1 September.

Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as a hardware engineer and has led the hardware engineering team since 2013, a tenure spanning the development of successive iPhone, iPad, Mac and AirPods generations, as well as the transition of Mac computers to Apple-designed silicon. His elevation to CEO places a longtime product engineer at the top of a company that has historically drawn its leaders from its engineering ranks, as Jobs and Cook's predecessor-era leadership did before him.

Cook marked the transition with a post on X on Monday evening. "Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO," he wrote. "My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I'm excited for the next chapter!"

Tim Cook's 15-year run that reshaped Apple

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president for worldwide operations and became CEO in 2011, succeeding Steve Jobs. Under his leadership, Apple's market capitalisation grew from roughly $350 billion to $4 trillion, while annual revenue nearly quadrupled from $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal 2025. The company expanded into more than 200 countries and territories and grew its active installed base to more than 2.5 billion devices.

Cook oversaw the introduction of new product categories, including Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, alongside services such as Apple Pay, iCloud and Apple TV+, which helped grow Apple's services business into a more than $100 billion unit.

He also pushed the company toward Apple-designed silicon and made privacy, accessibility and and environmental sustainability central to its public positioning, including a more than 60% cut to its carbon footprint since 2015.

"It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," Cook said in Apple's succession announcement. "I love Apple with all of my being."

As executive chairman, Cook is expected to remain involved in select company matters, including engagement with policymakers globally, while stepping back from day-to-day operations. Arthur Levinson, Apple's non-executive chairman for the past 15 years, becomes lead independent director on 1 September, the same day Ternus formally joins the board.

Cook's exit comes eight days before Apple's annual iPhone event on 9 September, where the company is expected to unveil its first foldable handset under Ternus's leadership. The timing means Ternus's first public test as CEO will come almost immediately, as investors, developers and supply-chain partners look for signals of how Apple's product roadmap and priorities may evolve under new leadership.