Is Apple really on the verge of losing Tim Cook as CEO, with hardware chief John Ternus already warming up in the wings? Over the last few weeks that idea has bounced around social media and a few tech sites, turning a vague succession rumor into “Tim Cook is leaving next year” headlines. 
It sounds dramatic, but when you look at what people who actually follow Apple’s internal plans are saying, the story becomes a lot more nuanced – and a lot less sensational.
Bloomberg’s well-known Apple watcher Mark Gurman has now stepped in to cool things down. In his Power On newsletter he addresses the speculation head-on and essentially pours cold water on the idea of an imminent exit. According to his reporting, Apple has indeed discussed John Ternus as a possible successor, which makes perfect sense: he is the senior vice president of hardware engineering and one of the most visible leaders behind the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Any company as large and valuable as Apple constantly thinks about who could take over the top job one day.
What Gurman really pushes back on, however, is the timing. The viral claims that Cook could step down as soon as next year are, in his words, highly unlikely. Succession talks are happening because Cook is in his sixties and has already logged more than a decade as CEO, not because there is some secret plan to edge him out. Inside the company there are no signs of a power struggle, no boardroom drama and no sense of urgency to replace the person who helped turn Apple into a multi-trillion-dollar giant.
Instead, Gurman says Cook still has specific milestones he wants to hit before even considering a hand-off. One of the biggest is Apple’s long-term bet on the “next big thing” after the iPhone: extended reality and true AR smart glasses. We have already seen the first steps with devices like the Vision Pro, but Cook is reportedly obsessed with the idea of lightweight, everyday Apple glasses that blend digital information with the real world. For a CEO who cares deeply about product roadmaps and long game strategy, walking away before that vision ships would feel unfinished.
That is why many observers expect Cook to remain in the CEO seat for a few more years at least. And even when he eventually does pass the torch – whether to John Ternus or someone else – nobody expects him to vanish from Apple’s orbit. Gurman notes that it is almost guaranteed Cook would stay on in another capacity, most likely as chairman of the board or in a similar advisory role. He genuinely loves the company, the teams he leads and the products they ship, and Apple’s directors and investors see him as a stabilising force who reassures Wall Street, partners and customers alike.
Apple, after all, is inseparable from its leadership in the public imagination. For shareholders, board members and everyday users, Tim Cook is one of the human faces of the brand, just as Steve Jobs once was. According to Gurman, there is no internal campaign to push him aside, and he has more than earned the right to choose the timing and shape of his eventual exit. When Cook does step down as CEO, it will be because he is ready, not because of some sudden coup or panic about Apple’s future.
For fans of AR and future-of-computing gadgets, that is actually welcome news. If you are rooting for Apple to go head-to-head with Meta and others in the smart-glasses race, you probably want Cook – the same CEO who green-lit the company’s XR push – to be around when the first pair of mainstream Apple AR glasses finally arrives. It feels fitting that he would be there to introduce them on stage, closing the loop on a project that has quietly guided much of Apple’s recent strategy and massive investments in silicon, sensors and software.
In short, the reality hiding behind the scary headlines is fairly straightforward. Apple is doing what every responsible giant should do: preparing a strong bench of potential successors and thinking about a post-Cook future long before it actually happens. John Ternus is absolutely part of that conversation and may one day hold the title of CEO. But for now, Tim Cook remains firmly in charge, with several big chapters still left to write in Apple’s story – and almost certainly a front-row seat to whatever comes after the iPhone.