John Ternus will assume Apple’s top job on 1 September with a mandate to rebuild the company’s design leadership.
Shifting focus away from the operational efficiency model that took hold after Jony Ive’s 2019 departure.
His design-first agenda coincides with “chipflation,” as soaring memory and storage prices push Apple toward unavoidable increases in device prices.
Apple’s next CEO, John Ternus, is expected to overhaul the company’s business operations and put renewed focus on rebuilding Apple’s design leadership, according to a Bloomberg report.
Ternus, who comes from the product engineering and design ranks, is set to take charge from 1 September. In an internal meeting with employees, Ternus said the company will focus on design, as it is at the core of what Apple does.
1 June 2026
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He noted that Apple is the most beautifully designed thing that most of its customers own, adding, "We're going to make sure that stays the case."
Design Strategy Shift
While design played a major role in Apple’s rise, the company has recently leaned more towards operational efficiency, manufacturing scale, supply chain management and overall business execution.
The report suggests this shift became more noticeable after Jony Ive left Apple in 2019, which reduced the influence of a centralised design leadership structure within the company.
Apple is also linking Ternus with future product development programmes, including MacBook design work. He is also expected to play a key role in shaping Apple’s first foldable iPhone, which is still part of the company’s future product pipeline.
Apple’s 2026–27 plans are expected to bring updates across iPhones, AirPods, iPads and Macs, along with new AI devices and wearables. The company is also preparing major launches for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary.
Chip Cost Pressure
On the other hand, the tech giant is also facing pressure from rising memory chip costs, with reports suggesting challenges in securing key components such as memory and storage.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose tenure is set to end in September, has indicated that price increases may be unavoidable despite earlier expectations that Apple’s strong brand could absorb such cost pressures.
Memory chips, which power devices from smartphones to AI servers, are seeing a sharp global price rise driven by AI-related demand, uncertainty over the AI boom’s duration and a supply shortage of high-performance chips.
According to reports, this marks a shift from decades of falling chip prices to sustained increases, with DRAM prices also reversing their long-term downward trend amid global supply constraints.
