Apple Insiders Say John Ternus is More Decisive Than Cook in Transactional Decision-Making

The report points out that as the news of Ternus succeeding Cook and Cook transitioning to Apple Executive Chairman is digested by the market, Bloomberg claims to have obtained Apple's initial reaction to this succession arrangement. Several colleagues who have worked with Ternus are described as believing he is "willing to make decisions," while Cook is more inclined to seek consensus through thorough consultation before making a decision.

However, this claim ultimately focuses on one anonymous employee who is said to have worked closely with both Cook and Ternus. This person said that if you go to Ternus with "Plan A or Plan B," "Ternus will make a choice"; but "if you go to Tim with A or B, he won't choose immediately, and if he has doubts, he will first ask a series of questions." In the view of this insider, Ternus's choice "may be right or wrong, but at least it's a decision."

Ternus has reportedly told employees that he will remain closely involved in Apple's hardware engineering field after becoming CEO. Given that he has also emphasized that he worked under Steve Jobs, related reports suggest that he may, like Jobs, maintain a high degree of focus on products.

Steve Jobs, when choosing a successor, foresaw potential problems with design and focus to some extent and criticized Cook for this. Walter Isaacson, Jobs' biographer, revealed in an interview in 2019 that he had "softened" the expression in his book, but Jobs' original words were that Cook "can do anything," but then bluntly stated: "But Tim is not a product person."

As the Cook era comes to an end and the time for Ternus to officially take over approaches, there is widespread external concern about whether Apple will show more colors closer to the "Jobs era" in decision-making style and product orientation after the leadership change, and insiders' evaluation of "more decisive" is becoming one of the early signals to observe this change.