“If you and your friend are running away from a raging bear, you don’t need to be the fastest, just outrun your friend.” This idea was put forward by Avi Tevanian, former head of software at Camel To explain the slower pace of innovation under Tim Cook compared to the Steve Jobs era, some argued that Apple's relative advantage over competitors was sufficient to maintain its leading position, even if the company no longer spearheaded major breakthroughs as it once did. However, nine years later, this analogy no longer defends Cook; rather, it condemns him. The bear now has a name: artificial intelligence, which is shaping the next era of computing. In the following paragraphs, we'll take a brief look at Tim Cook's journey: what did he achieve? Where did he falter? Did he truly succeed in maintaining the company's position, or did he merely manage it? Then, we'll address the most crucial question: what will John Ternos bring, and does he represent a new era for Apple?
A decade of growth and zero inspiration
Did you know that Tim Cook has spent 5,090 days as CEO, the same amount of time as Steve Jobs? But the two situations are worlds apart. While Apple has achieved impressive numbers under Cook's leadership, it has lost the founder's spirit. The iPhone design hasn't fundamentally changed since 2019, and the decade-long electric car project has been killed, while companies like Xiaomi and Huawei have successfully launched their own vehicles. Even the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, that expensive technological marvel, still lacks the content that would make it a necessity rather than just a lab experiment for the wealthy. And that's not all; do you remember Apple's ads that were titled…Get a MacShe mocked Microsoft and the Windows PC. Well, Microsoft now tops the list of companies in terms of market capitalization, profitability, and product visibility. Alphabet (Google's parent company) has also surpassed it in profits. Microsoft's stock has reached an all-time high as the company promotes "superintelligence." Meanwhile, Nvidia, the renowned AI-powered chipmaker, is growing so rapidly that its market capitalization now exceeds that of Apple by $1.2 trillion.
The Sin of Artificial Intelligence and Old Siri
Perhaps Apple's biggest misstep is lagging behind in the artificial intelligence race. While the world is talking about advanced AI that is no longer just smart devices or digital assistants, but rather a superintelligence that surpasses human capabilities in some aspects, Siri still seems to be stuck in the Stone Age. Even when the company bet on “Apple Intelligence“Which relies on on-device processing, but it faced implementation stumbling blocks that made the company withdraw its promotional advertisements because it was unable to specify when the promised features would be ready.”
China's trap and lost diplomacy
Cook didn't just bet on the product; he staked Apple's entire future on China. This gamble has become a crippling legal and financial commitment. Today, Apple finds itself in fifth place in the Chinese market, while local companies capture the lion's share. Attempts to relocate manufacturing to India remain superficial and lack the industrial depth that Apple built in China over decades.
Even on the political level, Cook seems to have lost his luster. While he was seen as an ally of Trump in his first term, today we see Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, taking center stage in diplomacy and business, leaving the iPhone maker on the sidelines.
Does John Ternos hold the key to change?
John Ternus He belongs to the engineering school within Apple, being a product man before a numbers man. This background could mean a return to what fundamentally made Apple different: the audacity to design devices that don't just improve, but attempt to impose an entirely new experience. And if he's given the power to make decisions, we're likely to see deeper shifts in device lines, whether in the way the iPhone is developed or in new categories that attempt to break the monotony that dominates the market.
But what matters most is not just what he will bring to the table, but how he will think. Ternos might push Apple to reduce the excessive caution that has characterized its decisions in recent years, especially in areas like artificial intelligence, where delays are no longer acceptable. A leadership more akin to engineering could mean accelerating the pace of experimentation, even if it comes at the expense of some of the perfection Apple has become accustomed to. However, we shouldn't overestimate the potential of change simply because of a change of personnel. Apple today is not a small company that can be transformed with a single decision; it is a massive and complex organization. Any real transformation will require more than just a new leader; it will necessitate a reset of the internal culture, the decision-making process, and the appetite for risk.
In short, Ternos already marks a different phase, but it's not guaranteed. It represents an opportunity to bring the product's spirit back to the forefront, but the success of this phase will depend on how willing Apple is to abandon the comfort zone that created its success and has simultaneously become its biggest constraint.
Ultimately, it can be said that Apple doesn't suffer from a lack of capabilities as much as it faces a timing challenge. The company still possesses enormous financial power, a vast user base, and a tightly knit, unbreakable ecosystem. But in an era rapidly shaped by artificial intelligence, these advantages alone are not enough to guarantee continued leadership. The problem is that the market doesn't wait for latecomers, and even the best products lose their impact if they arrive after the rules of the game have already been established. This is why timing is the decisive factor, and this is where Ternos comes in, predicting a massive revolution within the iPhone maker in the coming period.
Do you think John Ternos is truly capable of leading Apple into a new era? Let us know in the comments!
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