Tim Cook isn’t leaving Apple anytime soon, despite a flurry of reports suggesting a handover was imminent. Fresh guidance from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman pushes back on claims that Apple’s board was preparing to announce a new CEO as early as next year, calling those timelines premature.
Recent stories had hinted that Apple’s chief could step down after more than a decade in charge, with whispers that a successor might be unveiled ahead of the developer conference in June and not before the January 2026 earnings call. Hardware engineering chief John Ternus was portrayed as the leading candidate. Gurman, however, says Cook is expected to remain CEO at least through the current U.S. presidential term, which would keep him in the role until at least 2028. By then, Cook will be around 70 and will have extended his lead as Apple’s longest-serving CEO. Even so, the succession chatter hasn’t disappeared—Gurman also views Ternus as the most logical heir when the time comes.
While leadership at the top looks steady, Apple is contending with a noticeable talent drain. OpenAI’s new hardware group, built around Jony Ive’s secretive startup io following its acquisition, has aggressively ramped up hiring from Apple. Around 40 engineers have reportedly joined in the past month, many from Apple’s hardware ranks. The departures reach beyond AI research into the heart of product creation, including members of Apple’s core iPhone design organization.
Among the notable moves: manufacturing design specialist Matt Theobald and human interface lead Cyrus Daniel Irani have headed to OpenAI’s hardware effort, and Abidur Chowdhury—known for work on the iPhone Air—has departed Apple for an unnamed AI startup.
The bottom line: Tim Cook’s tenure isn’t winding down in the near term, but Apple’s ability to retain top hardware and design talent is under pressure as the broader industry races to define the next generation of AI-first devices, including ambitious concepts like screenless, pocket-sized hardware. All eyes now shift to Apple’s leadership bench, succession planning, and how the company responds to escalating competition for elite engineers.
