Apple announced Monday that Tim Cook will step down as CEO later this year, with John Ternus set to take over on September 1. Ternus has been at Apple for over 25 years and has played a pivotal role in every Apple product category since joining. The engineering veteran is widely described as a 'super nice guy' with deep technical expertise.

Ternus earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, where he was also an award-winning swimmer nicknamed 'Crash' after nearly destroying the school's CNC milling machine. His senior project was a device that allowed quadriplegics to control a mechanical feeding arm using head movements. After graduation, he worked at Virtual Research Systems developing VR headsets before joining Apple in 2001.

At Apple, Ternus quickly rose through the ranks, leading hardware engineering for major products including the Cinema Display, iMac, iPad, and overseeing the Mac's transition to Apple Silicon. He coordinated development of AirPods and 5G phones, and pushed for software enhancements on the iPad to better utilize its hardware capabilities. While credited with innovations like the Apple Pencil, he also championed controversial features like the Touch Bar and butterfly keyboard. Since his 2021 promotion to senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, Ternus has taken on expanded responsibilities including Apple Watch and design teams.