Apple | The Verge

Tim Cook’s departure is the start of a new era at Apple

2026-04-22T18:05:10-04:00

Apple is about to become a very different company. This September, Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down and will be replaced by John Ternus, the current head of hardware. But the shift is bigger than just a CEO transition - it's the most significant move yet into a world where Apple's executive team isn't handpicked by Steve Jobs.

With the departure of Cook, who became CEO in 2011, the list of leaders who were in Jobs' inner circle is dwindling. There's still Apple's senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, who joined in 1989, and has said that Jobs was like a "family member" to him. There's also longtime marketing exec Phil Schiller, wh …

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Honor’s new phones look like iPhones for Android

2026-04-23T04:00:57-04:00

Honor has announced the 600 and 600 Pro, which it calls "accessible flagships," and they look… familiar. Especially in that orange.

The Pro makes the iPhone comparison especially obvious thanks to its triple rear camera - it even has the same flash layout - while the 600 is just a hair subtler because it drops the Pro's 3.5x telephoto lens. Honor actually pulled the same move with last year's iPhone Air-inspired Honor 500, but that phone only launched in Asia.

Both phones have IP69K water-resistance ratings (a tougher rating that covers testing with water jets closer to the phone), midsize 6.57-inch OLED displays, and big 6,400mAh batterie …

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Will a new CEO help realize Apple’s smart home potential?

2026-04-22T13:03:37-04:00

It took Tim Cook years to launch Apple into major new hardware categories, such as the smartwatch. But John Ternus could start his tenure right away with an ambitious new project: smart home hardware.

All signs point to a strong lineup of new smart home devices coming potentially this fall, putting Apple back in the game in a category where it has been painfully slow to ship new devices.

With a hardware man at the helm in Ternus, the chances of Apple fully committing to the smart home feel far higher than under Cook. And while, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Ternus was reluctant to invest deeply in the smart home a decade ago - tak …

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Tim Cook was an innovator — just not the Jobs kind

2026-04-21T17:39:12-04:00

Under Steve Jobs, Apple released the groundbreaking products that defined the company. But the company wouldn't be what it is today without Tim Cook's reign of ruthless efficiency.

Jobs' legacy has long been written at this point. He was stubborn, unpleasant, and a generational visionary. He pushed the limits of industrial design and brought technologies together in ways that others laughed off at the time. It's an iconic tenure that's basically unequaled anywhere else in tech. But the radical thinker passed the torch to a very different kind of CEO in Tim Cook in August of 2011.

Tim Cook is an inventor of a different kind. The Apple Watc …

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The AirPods are Tim Cook’s most underrated achievement

2026-04-21T13:49:35-04:00

The AirPods changed the direction of true wireless earbuds and became Apple’s most important accessory. | Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple Silicon chips. The iPhone's dominance. Apple Vision Pro. During Tim Cook's 15-year tenure as Apple CEO there were highs - and in the case of the Vision Pro, maybe a low - that helped define Apple as one of the most dominant forces in tech even without Steve Jobs. But one product doesn't get the recognition it deserves, as evidenced by The Verge's Apple Top 50 products, where the original AirPods don't even crack the top 10.

Before AirPods, almost all earbuds were still wired back to your phone or iPod. Apple's ads leaned into the aesthetic with vibrant neon backdrops to frame dark, dancing silhouettes connected by the iconic, stark wh …

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The Mac is in good hands in Apple’s post-Cook era

2026-04-21T13:25:17-04:00

The Mac reached a series of low points in the Tim Cook era: the fiasco of the butterfly keyboard, the clunky transition to USB-C, the underutilized potential of the Touch Bar, and the occasionally lackluster Intel chip performance. For a while, it seemed like Apple had shifted all of its attention, innovation, and care toward the iPad. For Mac users, it was a rough stretch of time.

And then, with the transition to Apple Silicon in 2020, everything changed. The line was revitalized with hugely capable new chips, and Apple began prioritizing usability over thinness at all costs. The Mac is now in a new golden era, and yesterday's changes at A …

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Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy

2026-04-21T13:07:54-04:00

The Apple Watch was the first new product in the post-Jobs era.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Granted, 19th-century proverb writers were talking about the fruit, but Tim Cook helped give new meaning to the adage with the release of the very first Apple Watch. In fact, I'd argue that when he hands the reins to John Ternus in September, it won't be iPhones, Macs, AirPods, or the Vision Pro that defines Cook's legacy. It'll be how the Apple Watch set the course for modern health tech.

You don't have to take my word for it. In 2019, Cook himself told told Mad Money host Jim Cramer, "…If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution …

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Apple TV has another busy summer of sci-fi with Silo season 3 in July

2026-04-21T09:48:44-04:00

Over the last few years Apple TV has established itself as a force in sci-fi, and that trend looks to continue through 2026. Up next: the post-apocalyptic thriller Silo is returning for its third season on July 3rd. The 10 episode-long season will span 10 episodes and wrap up on September 4th, with new episodes streaming on Fridays.

Based on a trilogy of books from author Hugh Howey, Silo follows the residents of an underground city - the titular silo - that live in a tightly-controlled environment amidst a grim and deadly landscape outside their walls. The first season introduced the story as a small-town mystery, before season 2 steadily …

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John Ternus’ first big problem is AI

2026-04-21T11:11:38-04:00

Less than a year ago, Apple made headlines for a lack of AI announcements at its annual WWDC event. Ten months later, the company has announced that hardware executive John Ternus will succeed longtime CEO Tim Cook as chief executive - and the official release doesn't mention AI once.

Ternus, currently Apple's SVP of hardware engineering, will take over as CEO on September 1st, after Cook's decade and a half in the role. Ternus is a 25-year veteran of the company and the first Apple CEO in about 30 years to come from the hardware sector. According to Apple, he's led hardware engineering work for every model of iPad, as well as the most rec …

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Apple will have a product guy as CEO again

2026-04-21T09:40:20-04:00

John Ternus is going to be Apple's next CEO. And while outgoing CEO Tim Cook was lauded for his approach to logistics, Ternus' history is that of a product person.

Ternus, Apple's SVP of hardware engineering before being officially tapped to take over the top job, has been increasingly in the public eye to help Apple announce its latest products. Ternus helped introduce the iPhone Air last September, its flashiest new iPhone of the 2025 lineup. He's also been the face of announcing new Macs for years, including Apple's first Macs with Apple Silicon in 2020 that profoundly transformed Apple's computer lineup, continuing through the 15-inch M …

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