John Ternus takes over as Apple CEO days before iPhone 18 launch event

A new CEO with a launch on day one

Tim Cook has stepped down as Apple's chief executive, handing the role to John Ternus, the company's former hardware chief. According to The Verge, Ternus formally took over on September 1st, which makes Apple's September launch event his first as CEO — and, by The Verge's own assessment, potentially one of the company's biggest in years.

TechCrunch reports that Ternus's first memo to employees promised a "huge launch next week." That refers to Apple's "Surprise and shine" event on Wednesday, September 9th, at 1PM ET / 10AM PT at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, which The Verge says will be livestreamed on Apple's website, Apple TV and YouTube.

Cook is not leaving the company entirely. According to TechCrunch, he stays on as Executive Chairman, concentrating on policy relationships — the kind of work that recently turned a detail as small as a map label into a very public balancing act.

What is expected on September 9

The centerpiece is expected to be the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The Verge reports that the base iPhone 18 might not appear at all: it is reportedly being held until early next year, where it could launch alongside the iPhone 18E and an updated iPhone Air. Anyone hoping to upgrade to one of Apple's less expensive phones may need to wait months longer.

The Pro models are rumored to carry larger batteries than their predecessors, a possibly smaller Dynamic Island, and a variable aperture camera upgrade that has circulated in rumors for years. Leaked photos of apparent dummy units suggest a color palette that could include black, silver, light blue and a dark cherry purple.

A price increase is also a real possibility. The Verge notes that Apple raised prices on nearly all of its products earlier this year, and those hikes may finally reach the iPhone at this event.

A foldable, watches and possibly AirPods

The most closely watched rumor is the foldable "iPhone Ultra." Images of what appeared to be a dummy model leaked earlier this year, showing a passport-style design similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Xiaomi's 18 Fold. Samsung's device has been well received — The Verge's Dominic Preston wrote that it "feels like the future" — which raises the question of whether Apple's first foldable can compete despite arriving late.

On wearables, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the Apple Watch Series 12 could bring back the premium ceramic case option, along with new band colors and configurations, though a major redesign is unlikely. New health features for Apple's watches, such as always-on heart rate sensing, could also be announced.

The AirPods 4 are now a couple of years old, so an AirPods 5 refresh could appear as well. Gurman says the camera-equipped AirPods that leaked last month will not arrive until 2027, so any new model would likely be an iterative upgrade, potentially including a new chip and additional health sensors.

Why it matters

Apple changes chief executives roughly once a generation, and this transition lands at an awkward moment: Ternus's public debut is a product showcase, not a strategy speech. Every pricing decision, every foldable demo and every software gesture on September 9th will be read as an early signal of what the Ternus era means.

There are open questions about software, too. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec and Sean O'Kane argued that Ternus — a hardware executive by background — may actually be better positioned to make progress on software than on hardware in the new AI era, and asked how much rope shareholders will give him to figure it out.

The stakes are concrete. Samsung's foldable is already on the market and well reviewed, iPhone prices may be about to climb again, and Apple's AI story is still being written. Ternus has to respond to all three at once, barely a week into the job.