Apple CEO John Ternus Takes on De Facto Design Chief Role

John Ternus has quietly taken on an additional responsibility at Apple, becoming the company’s de facto design chief just weeks after succeeding Tim Cook as CEO. According to reporting based on Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Ternus is now closely overseeing both the industrial design team responsible for Apple’s hardware and the human interface team responsible for software design. The arrangement makes Ternus the first Apple executive since Jony Ive to effectively oversee both sides of the company’s design organization.

Ternus is reportedly spending considerably more time inside Apple’s design studio than Cook did during his tenure. His background as a hardware engineer gives him a particularly direct connection to product development, while other senior executives are taking responsibility for areas such as finance and supply-chain operations. Apple officially appointed Ternus CEO on September 1, 2026, after he spent 25 years at the company and played major roles in products including the iPhone, iPad, Mac and AirPods.

Apple has operated without a single overall design chief since Ive left the company in 2019. The design organization subsequently went through several leadership changes, with some prominent designers leaving Apple for companies including LoveFrom, OpenAI and Meta. Under Ternus, Apple appears to be rebuilding the design organization rather than immediately appointing another executive to occupy the top design role. The company has also promoted existing design leaders and recently brought in outside creative talent as part of that effort.

The change reflects Ternus’s broader approach to running Apple. Reports indicate that he is considering an engineering-focused overhaul that could reduce layers of management, accelerate decision-making and potentially move Apple away from its traditional spring and autumn product-release schedule. The new CEO is also looking for ways to make the company more efficient and develop products more quickly as Apple faces increasing competition in artificial intelligence and consumer hardware.

Ternus’s increased involvement in design could ultimately have a major influence on Apple’s next generation of products. The company is entering a period that includes new foldable devices, expanded smart-home products and a renewed push to integrate AI more deeply into its hardware and software ecosystem. With Ternus combining his engineering background with direct oversight of design, Apple is signalling a leadership style that puts product development and hardware innovation closer to the centre of its strategy.