Overview
- The Financial Times reports Apple’s board and senior executives have recently intensified work on CEO succession.
- Tim Cook could step down as soon as next year, though sources say no final decision has been made and timing may change.
- Hardware engineering chief John Ternus is widely viewed inside Apple as the leading internal candidate to succeed Cook.
- Any naming of a successor is seen as unlikely before Apple’s late-January earnings release that covers the holiday quarter.
- People close to Apple say the transition is long planned and not tied to current performance, with recent leadership shifts including COO Jeff Williams’ retirement and a CFO handover to Kevan Parekh.