Apple announced Monday that Tim Cook will hand the reins to John Ternus, its head of hardware engineering, in September. The transition ends Cook's 15-year tenure as CEO. Cook took over after Steve Jobs' death and guided Apple to a multitrillion-dollar company, though he never shook the perception that he was not a "product guy" like his predecessor.

Many of Apple's best-selling products under Cook—iPhones, Macs and iPads—were iterations of past hardware. New offerings like the HomePod and Vision Pro arrived too late or too flawed to make an impact. Apple also missed the AI wave; Google will provide AI technology for a future version of Siri after Apple lagged on developing its voice assistant.

The author proposes four priorities for Ternus: dare to be weird again with experimental products, make AI less cringe by focusing on practical family-friendly features, simplify Apple's confusing product lineup with fewer models, and repair relationships with app developers frustrated by strict policies. Google's Play store now has millions more apps than Apple's App Store.