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Apple’s incoming CEO John Ternus made his first public comments since the company announced he will succeed Tim Cook as chief executive on Sept. 1.
While he didn’t provide any details about how he’ll run the iPhone maker, Ternus, speaking during Apple’s Q2 earnings call, echoed Cook’s positive comments regarding the company’s upcoming products.
“We have an incredible roadmap ahead. And while you’re not going to get me to talk about the details of that roadmap, suffice it to say this is the most exciting time in my 25-year career at Apple to be building products and services,” Ternus said.
“There are so many opportunities before us, and I couldn’t be more optimistic about what’s to come.”
Cook, for his part, recounted his reasons for stepping down as CEO, saying he trusted Ternus as CEO and noting Apple’s strong start to the year.
When an analyst asked Cook what advice he’d give to Ternus, Cook said, “I think my advice is that, or what I’ve told him, is that one of the most important decisions you’ll make is where to spend [your] time. And I would spend it where the greatest benefit to the company and the users are, and never forget the North Star for the company. You know, we’re about making the best products in the world that really enrich other people’s lives. And if you keep focusing on that and make your decisions around that, it will produce a great business, and we’ll be able to build more products and do it all over again.”
Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as a member of the company’s product design team, before being elevated to vice president of hardware engineering in 2013. He was named senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021.
The future CEO graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked at Virtual Research Systems before moving to Apple.
In its second quarter, Apple reported better-than-anticipated earnings per share and revenue thanks to iPhone and Greater China region sales.
Apple’s iPhone revenue came in at $56.99 billion, just ahead of Wall Street’s projections. This marks the second consecutive quarter of more than 20% revenue growth in the segment.
Cook specifically cited “extraordinary” demand for the iPhone 17 lineup for the earnings beat.
The company’s second-largest business, Services, generated revenue of $30.97 billion versus an expected $30.37 billion. Apple saw Services revenue of $26.64 billion in Q2 last year.
Mac revenue hit $8.39 billion. Apple’s Mac mini has been a breakout star of the AI boom as of late, thanks to developers buying up the tiny desktop to power instances of the AI agent OpenClaw. Apple also debuted its $599 MacBook Neo in early March.