Apple Names Hardware Engineer John Ternus as CEO — Foldable iPhone in September, Device-First AI Strategy

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Apple announced April 20 that John Ternus will become CEO on September 1, with Tim Cook moving to executive chairman. Ternus is a hardware engineer whose elevation signals Apple sees its AI differentiation in controlling device delivery, not building frontier models — avoiding the hundreds of billions in capex competitors are committing. Foldable iPhones are expected at his September launch; Apple is also exploring home robotics including a tabletop device with a robotic arm.