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 head, and since September 1st, a new CEO has been leading the company. Who's still at the table today 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.
- John Ternus has been leading Apple as CEO since September 1st; Tim Cook has moved to the board of directors as Executive Chair.
- 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.
- Phil Schiller relinquished control of the App Store and events at the end of August and remains an Apple Fellow; Luca Maestri has been responsible for Corporate Services since the financial handover.
What has changed since autumn 2025
The list of changes is longer than the list of constants. Five positions in the inner circle of management have been filled by new people, and further responsibilities have been redistributed.
| Area | Previously | Today | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company leadership | Tim Cook | John Ternus | September 1, 2026 |
| Chairman of the Board of Directors | Arthur Levinson | Tim Cook as Executive Chair | 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 |
| App Store and Events | Phil Schiller | Eddy Cue, events at Nola Weinstein | August 31, 2026 |
| Corporate Services | Luca Maestri | Kevan Parekh | August 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
A change at the end of August affects an area that 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 took 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.
The App Store is switching back to Eddy Cue
The second change of the day concerns the area that brings Apple the most attention in Europe. Phil Schiller has stepped down from the App Store and product events but remains an Apple Fellow. The App Store is now back under the leadership of Eddy Cue, who previously oversaw it; Carson Oliver will handle day-to-day operations, and Nola Weinstein will manage events.
The timing has practical consequences for German-speaking countries: The revised App Store terms and conditions for the European Union will come into effect in October. For the first time in years, their implementation will no longer be the responsibility of Schiller, who oversaw the rules throughout the entire conflict with the EU Commission.
Who is at the top today
Apple's leadership page has listed nine people since September 1st. Five of them were already there before the change and have remained so.
| Person | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| John Ternus | CEO, since September 1, 2026 |
| Johny Srouji | Chief Hardware Officer |
| Craig Federighi | Software development, plus AI |
| Eddy Cue | Services and Health, plus the App Store |
| Sabih Khan | Chief Operating Officer |
| Kevan Parekh | Chief Financial Officer |
| Greg Joswiak | Global Marketing |
| Deirdre O'Brien | Retail and Personnel |
| Jennifer Newstead | General Counsel and Government Affairs |
Tim Cook is no longer part of the leadership team, but rather sits on the board of directors, which he chairs as executive chair. Katherine Adams is also no longer listed; government affairs have been integrated into Newstead since the end of August, and her departure is scheduled for 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, another responsibility has recently shifted: Luca Maestri, who led Corporate Services after Kevan Parekh handed over the Finance department, has also relinquished this area. Information systems, information security, and real estate now also fall under Parekh's purview. Maestri remains with the company; his remaining role is teaching a course at Apple University.
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 relinquished his last line of responsibility, the App Store, at the end of August; the title Apple Fellow signifies influence rather than direct responsibility. Luca Maestri has already relinquished the finance department and, with Corporate Services, is responsible for an area outside the product business.
Both situations follow a pattern Apple has repeatedly used: those who relinquish core responsibilities initially remain in a supporting role before leaving completely. In Maestri's case, this process took place over a year and a half; in Katherine Adams's, it has been underway since her move to Government Affairs – where she relinquished operational leadership at the end of August, with her departure scheduled for the end of 2026. Whether this pattern will continue, however, remains to be seen: people close to the company expect that Ternus will no longer keep departing executives in smaller roles in the future.
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 been completed within fourteen months. Five out of six key positions have been filled by new employees, the sixth changed 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 current status on its leadership team overview; this page is updated with every major change.
Do you consider it a strength that Apple almost exclusively fills positions from within its own ranks – or would more people from outside be needed, especially for AI?