A year ago, the generational shift at Apple's top was still just a prediction. Now it's a reality: The Chief Operating Officer has retired, the AI chief has left the company, the legal department has a new leader, and a new CEO will take over on September 1st. Here's who's still at the table and who's next to go.
For years, Apple was considered the most stable leadership team in Silicon Valley – the same faces, the same responsibilities, for over a decade. Since mid-2025, this stability has been dissolving at an unusually rapid pace for Apple. The most visible change was the transition at the top of the company from Tim Cook to John Ternus, but this is just the latest in a longer series. This overview documents the current situation: what has changed, who has stayed, and which positions are next up for grabs.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Since summer 2025, four members of the inner circle of leadership – Jeff Williams, John Giannandrea, Luca Maestri and Katherine Adams – have relinquished or changed their roles.
- On September 1, John Ternus replaces Tim Cook as CEO; Cook becomes executive chairman.
- Sabih Khan has been managing operations since July 2025, and Kevan Parekh has been managing finance since January 2025.
- Jennifer Newstead joined from Meta as General Counsel in March 2026 – one of the rare outside hires.
- Further changes are imminent with Phil Schiller and Luca Maestri, both of whom now hold positions outside the core business.
What has changed since autumn 2025
The list of changes is longer than the list of constants. Four positions in the inner circle of management have been filled by new people, and two further responsibilities have been redistributed.
| Area | Previously | Today | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company leadership | Tim Cook | John Ternus | September 1, 2026 |
| Operations | Jeff Williams | Sabih Khan | July 2025 |
| Finance | Luca Maestri | Kevan Parekh | January 2025 |
| Legal | Katherine Adams | Jennifer Newstead | March 2026 |
| Artificial intelligence | John Giannandrea | Amar Subramanya, under Craig Federighi | December 2025 |
| Hardware engineering | John Ternus | Johny Srouji as Chief Hardware Officer | April 2026 |
| Government relations | Lisa Jackson, most recently Katherine Adams (acting) | Nate Gatten | August 31, 2026 |
Jeff Williams' department was most thoroughly divided. He was most recently responsible for design, Apple Watch, and Health – after his withdrawal from day-to-day operations and official retirement in November 2025, the responsibilities dispersed to different areas.
The healthcare division is now headed by Eddy Cue, whose official title is "Senior Vice President Services and Health." Industrial design is led by Molly Anderson, and human interface design by Steve Lemay.
The departure of AI chief John Giannandrea has also shifted the structure: AI is no longer a separate department alongside software, but rather subordinate to it. Amar Subramanya, previously with Google for 16 years and most recently with Microsoft, reports to Craig Federighi.
Government relations are being moved under the jurisdiction of the legal department
The latest change concerns an area that had recently lacked permanent leadership. Lisa Jackson was responsible for environmental and social programs as well as government relations; after her departure, Chief Legal Officer Katherine Adams took over the area in addition – explicitly as an interim solution.
Nate Gatten will take over the position on August 31. He comes from American Airlines, where he led government relations since 2017, and previously worked at JPMorgan Chase and Fannie Mae.
What's remarkable is less the person than the structure: Gatten reports to Jennifer Newstead and thus to the legal department. What was an independent department at the senior vice president level under Jackson will now operate one level lower and be integrated into the legal department.
Who is at the top today
Apple's leadership team currently consists of eleven people. Five of them were already there before the upheaval and have remained.
| Person | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Tim Cook | CEO, until August 31, 2026 |
| John Ternus | Hardware development, CEO from September 1st |
| Johny Srouji | Chief Hardware Officer |
| Craig Federighi | Software development, plus AI |
| Eddy Cue | Services and Health |
| Sabih Khan | Chief Operating Officer |
| Kevan Parekh | Chief Financial Officer |
| Greg Joswiak | Global Marketing |
| Deirdre O'Brien | Retail and Personnel |
| Jennifer Newstead | General Counsel |
| Katherine Adams | Government Affairs, announced departure at the end of 2026 |
Federighi, Cue, Joswiak, and O'Brien thus form the core of continuity – four names that have been with the firm since the Jobs era or shortly thereafter. Everything else around them has changed within the last fourteen months.
At the next level down, it's particularly noteworthy that Luca Maestri didn't leave the company after Kevan Parekh handed over the finance department, but instead continues as Vice President of Corporate Services, leading information systems, information security, and real estate. Phil Schiller retains the title of Apple Fellow and is responsible for the App Store and Apple's events.
Why the upheaval is not just a matter of age
The obvious explanation is that a leadership team that has stayed together for years eventually reaches retirement age as a group. Tim Cook is 65, and John Ternus, at 50, is by far the youngest in the inner circle. The age gap between the outgoing and incoming generations is unusually large at Apple.
However, this doesn't fully explain the upheaval. Several departures over the past two years weren't retirements, but rather moves to competitors – Meta, in particular, actively poached talent from Apple, both in design and AI research. Apple confirmed the departure of two more executives in December 2025, and in its AI division, the company lost entire teams to a single competitor.
Outside of the leadership team, the vice-presidential level has also changed: Lisa Jackson, head of environmental affairs, left after 13 years; Jay Blahnik, head of fitness, departed in July 2026; and Jennifer Bailey, who has been responsible for Apple Pay since its launch in 2014 and has brought the service to over 80 countries, will follow in October. Apple plans to name her successor before her departure.
Who will be next?
Two names appear regularly in reports about the coming years. Phil Schiller has been with Apple since 1987 and now leads the App Store as an Apple Fellow – a role that involves more influence than line management. Luca Maestri has already relinquished the finance department and, with Corporate Services, is responsible for an area outside the product business.
Both scenarios follow a pattern Apple has repeatedly employed: those who relinquish core responsibilities initially remain in a supporting role before leaving entirely. This has been observable with Maestri for the past year and a half, and with Katherine Adams since her move to Government Affairs – where she will relinquish operational leadership at the end of August, while her departure is scheduled for the end of 2026.
Conversely, Ternus has already begun assembling his own team. Bringing Laura Legros back from retirement is the first personnel decision entirely his, and the restructuring of product development under Srouji was already underway with him as the designated successor.
A renovation that manages almost entirely without outside help
What is remarkable about this period of transition is less its speed than its direction. Of all the newly filled top positions, only one went to an outsider – Jennifer Newstead as General Counsel. All the other successors had already worked at the organization for years, some for decades.
One level down, the situation is different. With Nate Gatten, Apple is also bringing in an outsider to head its government relations – the second appointment within a few months where the company is not using its own people.
For the product business, however, continuity remains, and this has a practical consequence: If you're waiting for visible changes in the portfolio, this coming fall is the wrong time. The hardware for the next two years was released under Cook, and the people who developed it are the same.
One risk remains, however. A leadership team that relies almost exclusively on internal growth will reproduce its strengths—but also its blind spots. Ironically, in the AI sector, where Apple lags furthest behind, the company had to recruit from outside and simultaneously lost personnel to competitors. Whether this will become a pattern is likely to be a more interesting question in the coming years than the question of who will be the CEO.
Apple's leadership change – the most important points at a glance
The generational shift, which was still described as a prospect in 2025, has largely been completed within fourteen months. Four of the six key positions have been filled by new personnel, the fifth will change on September 1st, and the vice-presidential level has also become noticeably younger.
What remains the same is the method: Apple fills positions from within its own ranks, distributes responsibility in stages, and avoids disruptions. If you want to know how the company is developing under new leadership, the answer lies less in the names than in this system. Apple provides the most up-to-date information on its leadership team in German; this page is updated with every major change. (Image: Shutterstock / SnapASkyline)
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