Apple’s new CEO John Ternus is a nice guy, but he’s likely the wrong guy, for the culture change needed within Apple

[Republished from 17th November 2025]

So Apple executed its leaked plan for Tim Cook’s eventual retirement at 65, in spite of denying this might ever happen this year as recently as last month

Hardware chief John Ternus, 50, was seen as the leading successor frojm summer last year 2025 and he was apparently “favoured for his engineering background.”

But let’s look at this morning closely:

Ternus is directly linked to misses in what Apple calls:

• “mixed reality,”
• generative AI,
• smart home,
• wearables.
• autonomy.
• .. and most recently, the iPhone Air flop.
• .. and who know knows his involvement in failed and shelved Apple projects, or many of its other flops. Being “The Hardware Guy” isn’t really a badge of honour at Apple, right now, given the track record of the last 5 years+

Apple Marketing (responsible for such fantastic names as “Apple Intelligence” and the “Plateau”) first wheeled out Ternus at the launch of the “amazing” iPhone Air - which sadly flopped because it isn’t an “air profile” but a flat surface with a boob tube on it. The idea was to boost his public profile, which is why he introduced the iPhone Air at the September event, a base for the next iPhone generation.

Well that didn’t turn out to well, did it.

Even back in October and November 2025 I wrote about the prospect of Ternus becoming the next CEO and why I thought it was a bad move.

I brought up the subject of succession in July and August 2025, amidst a backwash of ill-considered responses in reply.

Suddenly though, it became ok to talk about succession, presumably because it wasn’t me who raised the prospect. Now it’s open season on speculation about Tim Cook’s departure, so we’re back to where I started:

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Who is right for this role?

And remember, it used to be three roles:

• Steve Jobs (product man/sales man/visionary),
• Tim Cook (operations guru par excellence and the originator of supply chain dominance) and
• Jony Ive - creator of Apple’s, in fact the world’s, most iconic designs, for all his few later mistakes of form over function.

The Holy Trinity, Undone.

It stagnated after Jobs death, which left Ive isolated and also alone in his own thoughts: Jobs was very much a mentor for him, and the two vibed off one another in a way which is hard to describe unless you witnessed it.

Then with Ive gone, Cook was on his own, and he turned Apple into an operational Free Cash Flow and supply chain monster.

But not all for the best, because since 2020 there have been so many flawed fundamentally wrong strategic and tactical mistakes made, and so many enormous errors of judgment (AVP, Car, Siri, AI, iterative iPhone releases, no cell-enabled MacBooks, iPadOS left to rot until 2025) and such a revolving door on talent, that Apple seems to have lost any idea of what it is anymore, except a hubris machine full of CGI-laden events using special FX and British accents to lull people into false hope they’re delivering and shipping anything noteworthy, rather than actually doing so.

Apple 2026: How Did Apple Turn Into Microsoft? 40 Years Of Rise And 10 In Cultural Decline. In An Aging Autocracy, Cook Dithers, Federighi Iterates, and “Wong Way” Ternus Looms.

Tim of Oz pulls buyback and Gemini‑rent levers behind a curtain. Federighi meditates serenely amid failed “Siri 2.0” and “Intelligence” promises, and Safety-First Ternus, new“Product Bro”, stalks centre stage. Fifteen years of compounded strategic errors, finally come home to roost in 2026. #NotNeo

TOMMO.FYITommo_UK

Let’s look at Ternus record

Because considering his misses, I’d say for all his skills, he’s shown he maybe doesn’t have the right grasp on what Apple needs, let alone its consumers, and who its market actually is.

• ”Mixed Reality: - epic fail
• ”Gen-AI”- epic fail
• “Smart Home” -epic fail
• ”Autonomy” - epic what??
• ”iPhone Air” - Not really an Air, closer to an iPhone 6 with titanium edges and a huge boob tube “plateau” excuse. Reinventing a 10 year old iPhone, sticking a huge bump on the back of it. So far? Seemingly cancelled.
• New MacBooks with modems - no-show, for no reason anyone can explain.

If this is Apple’s future, I question whether he’s the right man for it. Who is? I’d rather have a maverick like Eddy Cue, tempered with some strong lieutenants.

John Ternus, nice guy, but I’d love to know how much he had to do with the iPhone Sock.

Maybe we need Perplexity to do a reverse takeover of Apple, the way Jobs did when Apple bought NExT, and get some fresh blood in?

Apple has turned into an exceptional operation under Cook, without parallel. But innovation and execution, and good judgment?

Nothing but failure, Apple Silicon aside, for over six years And a stock hovering around $250, as I predicted if they delayed AI from last summer, around $250.

And of course, superb financial engineering, even if hardware engineering?

Not so much.

Et Tu,

Apple needs a culture change, not mini rotation of the same players, different chair. If Apple can restore its “Think Different” Culture from Tim’s period of “iterated don’t dominate,” then as I signposted as far back as Jul7 2025 and in several articles since, AAPL could hit $400 by Q4 2027.

AAPL Q3 Preview: $160, Mediocrity, or $400? The Uncomfortable Truths Wall Street Won’t Model.

A confession: I don’t care how many iPhones Apple claims are “installed.” Nor “dormant users,” or the parade of stats rolled out every ER call to assure us the Apple ecosystem is, in some metaphysical sense, expanding. The proof is in the earnings growth and that’s all the Street really cares about.

TOMMO.FYITommo_UK

But Siri has been delayed again from the April/May launch promised by Federighi following 2025’s cringe-worthy WWDC (when Liquid Glass was announced to save out lives, if not our battery power) to, seemingly September at the earliest, and the leaks about its implementation point to a clumsy use case.

Apple could have picked up Perplexity and been where it will be in September 2026, in October 2025 instead. Instead, Apple bungled it again, lost more top talent, and let Google replace Siri’s brain.

Perplexity & Apple Up In A Tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G to $400. Part 3 – Readers Respond and A Conclusion

In Part 3, we dive into reader reactions—from DropBox déjà vu to Apple’s ticking clock—and close with a no-bullshit call to arms. This isn’t about demos or GPU counts. It’s about shipping something useful now. Because Perplexity isn’t just another LLM. It’s the one that already works.

TOMMO.FYITommo_UK

I like Ternus but I haven’t seen him do anything which merits this new position from his actions. I hope he proves me wrong, but in my opinion too much rotten old Apple culture remained for change to happen until there proper change at the top.

From FAANG to MANGO: Apple’s Chance to Think Different Again: Its Next Big Move to $400 Isn’t based on Hardware, But Culture.

Apple’s ATH of $263 isn’t just a milestone but an epiphany. After a decade of iteration, the company’s next act won’t be defined by chips or devices, but the culture it chooses to rebuild. FAANG was about products; MANGO? Cognition. Can Apple still “Think Different,” and fix its stifling culture?

TOMMO.FYITommo_UK

The best news?

Tim Cook is finally stepping back (note - not down - and unfortunately his influence will dominate for years while he remains “Executive Chairman”).

Tim for all his financial and logistical genius never understood products, use cases, and how to resonate with the public. I wish he’d handed his title over about 5 years ago and not squandered momentum and velocity be years of huge misses in terms of product design, borked launches, and launch cancellation, And realy, after this, I can’t think of anything worth writing about until, well, see something worth writing about.

See you in June, maybe, if WWDC delivers. Bye bye Tim - but at least you’ll have more time to party with Silicon Valley’s ”Velvet Mafia.” [if you know, you know].

— Tommo_UK, London. Tuesday 21st April 2026.

NB. I wrote this (the link below) in mid-December 2025 during the mad dash of “irrational exuberance” when AAPL was hovering around it’s current price $272.

Since then as I also predicted, there was a pullback to $245 which held, and now a return to riding the froth of analyst upgrades on the same hopium and rumourmongering favoured by the Amits and Ives of the financial world to jusify ever-higher targets.

I wish they, and Mark Gurman would stop spreading rumours and jumping at the slightest sign of something they can pin a narrative on. These PTs and rumours do nothing for share price stability and render Apple unable to make a suprise move without it being baked in 12 months ahead,

From “Insanely Great” to “Good Enough”: Apple’s AI and Foldable Story Cannot Justify AAPL at $272 - For Now.

At $272, Apple is being valued on an AI revival and a foldable that exists largely in rumour and analyst imagination. This piece explains why today’s narrative misreads Apple’s past decisions, misunderstands its current structure, and overstates what can realistically arrive next.

TOMMO.FYITommo_UK

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