John Ternus to become Apple CEO • Hacker News Board

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#431

Post by jshier » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:37 PM UTC

shrubble wrote: post #119

smeeth wrote: post #22

I'm quite curious what Tim Cook's legacy will end up being. There is no question many of Apple's business experienced significant, impressive growth during his tenure. Amazing capital efficiency. There is also no question Apple lost product velocity. Few new products were launched, and those that were had mixed success. Tim was, at the end of the day, an elite financial operator. Apple shareholders were lucky to have…

What did they shut down? Aperture comes to mind, anything else?

Many of their acquired pro tools, and pretty much all of their server hardware and software, though much of that started before Cook took over. Plus the Mac Pro missteps were on his watch, as well as the current cancellation. Apple seems more and more unwilling to invest in niche hardware like the Mac Pro, except where they see it pushing the platform forward, like the Vision Pro.

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#432

Post by ladberg » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:37 PM UTC

liuliu wrote: post #244

w10-1 wrote: post #90

His letter (at the top of Apple's web site) is moving: https://www.apple.com/community-letter-from-tim/ I understand Tim is a logistics genius and Ternus is a hardware genius, and that we all want better software and policy from Apple, but I'm glad that there seems to be good people at the head of one of the biggest and most consequential companies, and further that they seem to care about being good people. As far a…

I honestly don't know. tim@apple.com is unavailable for quite some time now (since I tried a few years ago), while lisasu@amd.com still works around that time frame.

It's always been tcook@ - and it will get looked at by someone at least

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

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Post by richardatlarge » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:39 PM UTC

Like Sam Altman, Tim Cook makes me think that what we fear in AI is already here. These two guys are corporate robots that act only in the service of the bottom line.

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#434

Post by anonym00se1 » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:43 PM UTC

w10-1 wrote: post #90

His letter (at the top of Apple's web site) is moving: https://www.apple.com/community-letter-from-tim/ I understand Tim is a logistics genius and Ternus is a hardware genius, and that we all want better software and policy from Apple, but I'm glad that there seems to be good people at the head of one of the biggest and most consequential companies, and further that they seem to care about being good people. As far a…

Ternus is not a hardware genius. He's a hardware engineer that rose through the ranks at Apple because, from what I've heard from Apple hardware engineers, Dan Riccio liked him "like a son."

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#435

Post by anonym00se1 » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:44 PM UTC

valine wrote: post #59

Apple silicon has been an unmitigated success so it makes sense they’d go with Ternus. On a related note Apple needs to add Ternus to their spell check dictionary

Ternus had essentially nothing to do with Apple silicon. That's all Srouji and his team.

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#436

Post by Danox » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:45 PM UTC

hedora wrote: post #229

arduanika wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tapping a hardware guy as CEO sends a good signal, at least to me, looking in from the outside. The company is leading from its strength, and getting back to its roots. I wonder how Woz feels today, seeing this. But somewhere in the mix, Apple could also really use another great product mind, like the other Steve. It has been too long since the last era-defining product from Cupertino. I have no idea what that next b…

If they are going to tap a HW guy as CEO, the next big thing should be giving exec comp and positions to every member of the Asahi Linux team, and putting them in charge of SW at Apple.

No don’t waste any time on Linux, Apple memory independence, clustering and moving on to M5, M6, M7, and beyond, a technocrat in charge yes, hopefully Apple will continue to iterate across the software ecosystems and the hardware systems.

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#437

Post by leptons » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:47 PM UTC

hei-lima wrote: post #77

Tyrubias wrote: post #23

Tim Cook’s experience in logistics built Apple into the global hegemon it is today. I hope John Ternus’s experience with hardware can kick off a renaissance in both Apple hardware and software design. Mind you, Apple hardware is already amazing, but hopefully it can be even better with Ternus at the helm. Apple software is terrible, and hopefully Ternus can turn that around. I’m also hoping, without any evidence, tha…

Apple’s software is the best in the non-free software world compared to Google's or Microsoft's, IMO. But that doesn't mean it can't be better.

I'm not sure how you can think Finder is better than the alternatives. It's awful, and has always been awful, IMO.

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#438

Post by tjwebbnorfolk » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:48 PM UTC

nixass wrote: post #322

nobodyandproud wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The user privacy can’t be overstressed. It and a sane release cycle are what keeps me on Apple.

it means nothing when the UX is hot garbage

I spend my entire day in VSCode and Chrome. Who actually interacts with the built-in OS UI anymore?

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#439

Post by Danox » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:51 PM UTC

dialogbox wrote: post #301

hedora wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did they? Why don’t I see people using this product while driving, or even walking down the street?

Because the HW is bad and pricing is bad. Not because SW is bad.

The hardware is best than class in both software and hardware by a mile who is this other company Meta or is it Microsoft with a HoloLens? Long-term iteration is the only way the Apple Vision Pro will get better if it took 13 years to come up with an M1 processor beginning to end and six years to have your first working modem that can be used in a smartphone there are no shortcuts long hard iteration is the only way.

Re: John Ternus to become Apple CEO

#440

Post by prawn » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 11:51 PM UTC

Geee wrote: post #297

alsetmusic wrote: post #169

I think it's interesting that the handoff will be complete on Sept 1. That would mean Ternus will helm his first iPhone launch that month. Auspicious timing. Curious the math they calculated when landing on this date. Certainly tees him up for an early win if the products are well-received.

My guess is that they'll release something impressive in September, and they want to give Ternus an early win as you said. Maybe a new completely product or Vision Air.

iPhone Ultra.