WITHOUT COOK'S APPLES, CAN IT CONTINUE TO GROW IN THE AI ERA

Original title: The Rise of Apple's New CEO: A Hardware Expert Takes Over in the AI Era
Original by Rolfe Winkler, the Wall Street Journal
Photo by Peggy Block Beats

Editor: After Jobs and Cook, apples finally meet the third true "time-style successor." Unlike the sharp labels of the former (a defined product, a reshaping supply chain), John Ternus takes precedence, more like a continuation of internal logic: a "systemic person" who knows the organization, understands the product and advances decision-making in complex structures。

This post sums up John Ternus' growth path inside the apple. From the pragmatic update of Mac Mini to the "decenterization coordination" under development in AirPods, and to the promotion of a self-study transformation of the Mac chip, the role of Tenus has not been to define the vision of a spotlight, but to ensure that the system works efficiently。

On a more macro scale, the arrival of Tenus marks the beginning of a cycle in which apples are moving from a combination of "product vision + supply chain implementation" to a need to redefine growth engines. As a typical hardware engineer, he emerges from executive strength, internal synergy and deep understanding of product systems; his decision logic is also consistent — giving priority to ecological values rather than to single product profits。

The strength of Tenus lies in his deep understanding of Apple’s internal mechanisms, as well as his ability to “do things” in functional organizations; his uncertainty lies in his ability to reintroduce a sufficiently clear and risk-taking product orientation over existing systems。

At the same time, the apples are lagging behind competitors in the dialogue-based AI-present calculator portal, and the capacity gap in Siri is constantly widening. The migration of the technology paradigm is weakening its historical hardware-centred advantage base。

THE KEY TO THIS SUCCESSION, THEREFORE, IS NOT TO BE ABLE TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED, BUT TO COMPLETE THE BREAKTHROUGH: IT REMAINS AN OPEN QUESTION WHETHER TENUS HAS A PRODUCT INSIGHT LIKE JOBUS OR A COOK-STYLE SYSTEM RE-ENGINEERING CAPABILITY. IT IS IMPLICIT IN THE ARTICLE THAT THE CURRENT CONSTRAINTS OF APPLES ARE NOT AT THE ENFORCEMENT LEVEL, BUT IN THE DIRECTION OF CHOICE: IN THE AI ERA, THE ABILITY OF HARDWARE ADVANTAGES TO BE TRANSFORMED AGAIN INTO PLATFORM ADVANTAGES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER THE "ENGINEER" CEO CAN REALLY START THE NEXT CYCLE。

In this sense, the interface is more like a path selection: a continuous optimization of existing products and ecosystems, or a re-alignment of undefined technical directions。

Answers, perhaps soon。

The following is the original text:

John Ternus

Mac Mini has long been in need of an update, and John Ternus hopes that he will not have to go to the design master Johnny Ive。

Many years ago, before Tenus was elected to head one of the largest and most influential companies in the world, he led the Mac hardware sector of Apple. This is only one of many stages in his promotion to a relatively closed company, and in the process he has learned how to deal with his unique and complex internal politics。

At that time, the popular AI wave that would have left Mac Mini was still a few years later, but a new version of the updated chip was urgently needed by software developers. If the shell is redesigned for Mini, it may need to be handled by Ive's industrial design team, which will result in additional time delays。

According to the source, Tenus was decisive in facilitating the update after judging that the product did not require major design changes. Instead of taking too much account of the profitability of the product itself, he focused on its value to the apple ecosystem as a whole. This is only one of many cases, reflecting his decisive decision-making, his deep understanding of apple culture and products, and his ability to push things forward within the company。

IN 2017, TENUS ATTENDED THE GLOBAL CONFERENCE OF DEVELOPERS (WWDC). IMAGE BY GARY REYES / MEDIANEWS GROUP / GETTY IMAGES

On Monday, Apple announced that during its 25-year career, these qualities had pushed Tenus to the top of the company, and that he would take over on 1 September, making him one of the world ' s most visible business leaders. Tim Cook, a long-standing CEO of Apple, will be transferred to the Executive Chairman。

Tenus will pick up two corporate legends. Steve Jobs has built the most profitable product in history, iPhone, and Cook, with its built supply chain system, as well as with its services and peripheral products, has extracted trillions of dollars from this smartphone。

Like when Cook took over Jobus, Tenus seemed to the outside world to be a relatively low profile figure. If Jobs is a product visionary and Cook is a supply chain expert, Tenus is more like a hardware genius in between。

Tenus had a mechanical engineering background and had recently been responsible for hardware engineering for all apple products. At the key point in Apple history, he took over the company's rudder. Now, apples are still at their peak in iPhone sales, thanks to the multiple new machine models launched last fall, but at the same time the company is facing a challenge — how to find the next explosive product。

In addition, apples must be self-reformed in the age of artificial intelligence. Over the past few decades, apples have defined how people interact with the movement side of the desktop, but today, companies are lagging behind competitors in the new generation of computing platforms represented by the human dialogue robot. In contrast to Apple's own Siri (which is expected to undergo an "AI brain" upgrade this year), it seems to be "primitively backward."。

TENUS' LONG HISTORY WITH APPLES WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN HIS NEW ROLE. PHOTO BY JUSTIN LANE / EPA-EFE / REX / SHUTTERSTOCK

If you ask any apple employee about Tenus, the answer is almost identical: he's a very nice person. Those who worked with him described him as an excellent collaborator who was able to inspire a high degree of loyalty in the team; he was calm and rational, and there were few enemies in a company that had been known for its internal tensions and strong character。

Staff also mentioned that he had a strong ability to move matters forward in meetings and to keep the discussions focused; at the same time, he preferred to communicate directly with front-line staff who were more familiar with product details rather than through management who were less aware of the specifics。

Outside the apples, Tenus was keen to drive his Porsche on the race track, such as Laguna Seca in California. According to the source, his single-circle scores could run within 1 minute and 40 seconds, which was quite good for an amateur。

Tenus is tall and thin and still maintains his shape as a swimmer while studying at the University of Pennsylvania. His old teammate Andrew Berkowitz recalled that "Tunus is a very good man." He also mentioned that there was a tradition in the team of running along the campus of Locust Walk in his bathing suit in winter as a "baptism" for the new year。

Tenus graduated in 1997, then worked for four years at a virtual reality start-up company and joined apples in 2001。

Photo of Tenus in the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Yearbook. Photo by Andrew Berkowitz

A video from YouTube shows Tenus speaking at the undergraduate graduation of the University of Pennsylvania Engineering School in 2024。

Ten years ago, Tenus was one of the central executives in charge of the development of AirPods. Now this product of iPhone's "necessary parts", the first generation of which is known for its intense internal consumption in apples. – Tenus’ colleagues have argued about how to maintain a steady connection through Bluetooth. One executive was eventually forced to leave and the other was transferred to China. And Tenus, who was not 40 years old at the time, remained outside the dispute。

One of the most important results in Tenus is to move the Apple Mac product line from an Intel chip to a self-study chip. These chips are superior to the Intel programme previously used in performance and utility. However, the main credit for this transition is usually due to the Apple Hardware Manager, Johny Srouji, who will take over and expand on the hardware engineering work that Tenus is currently responsible for。

THE CAPACITY OF TENUS TO COORDINATE AND HIS LONG EXPERIENCE WITH APPLE WILL BE CRUCIAL IN THE NEW POSITION. APPLE'S ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IS QUITE SPECIFIC: UNLIKE OTHER LARGE ENTERPRISES, WHICH ARE DIVIDED BY LINE OF BUSINESS AND SET UP GENERAL MANAGERS, APPLES FOLLOW A FUNCTIONAL PATTERN. AS A RESULT, AN INSIDER, FAMILIAR WITH ALL ASPECTS OF THE COMPANY, HAS A NATURAL ADVANTAGE AS CEO。

However, according to informed sources, Tenus is not known as “a big, high-risk decision”, leaving an open question: Can he provide the product vision that the outside critics consider missing after Steve Jobs died。

Tenus has been recognized as an important guardian of corporate culture. He has hosted many internal sharings to motivate employees and has repeatedly stressed the absolute confidentiality of unpublished products - This is also one of the core tenets established in the period of Jobos。

For months, Tenus was seen as a successor to Tim Cook, which also reflects Apple's efforts to promote a smooth transfer of power. This contrasts with the volatile transitions that have taken place in recent years in a number of other old American firms。

Apple is also interested in increasing his public exposure in the near future。

At the time of the release of the equipment in 2025, Tenus himself showed a brand-new iPhone Air; shortly thereafter, he was sent to London to receive the first-day customers of the new aircraft at the British flag shop. Last month, he also released MacBook Neo, the company's latest product, at a more pro-people price。

A few weeks ago, Apple celebrated 50 years ago in New York at Grand Central Term. There were only two protagonists: Cook and Tenus。

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