Mark Gurman, a well-known Apple insider at Bloomberg, explicitly denied in his latest "Power On" newsletter: "The report that Apple CEO Tim Cook will retire between January and June next year is false." He said if the information were true, he would be shocked, and emphasized that Cook will not leave in the near future unless there is a major accident.
Succession Dynamics
Gurman confirmed that John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, remains a key candidate in the "succession discussion" — he is only 50 years old, has the longest potential tenure, and is deeply involved in key projects such as iPhone, Mac, Vision Pro, and is highly trusted by Cook; however, the succession process has not accelerated, and the board has not set a specific timeline.
OpenAI's "Raiding" Strategy
Meanwhile, OpenAI has recruited more than 40 hardware professionals from Apple in the past month, covering almost all key departments including cameras, iPhone, Mac, chips, testing and reliability, industrial design, audio, Vision Pro, software, and ergonomics. Several senior managers and engineers have joined.
- Background: OpenAI acquired Jony Ive's io company, which was previously Apple's design director, and is currently building a team for its first AI hardware launch in 2026;
- Apple internal sources have raised this phenomenon to the level of a "problem," worrying about the loss of core hardware knowledge.
Signs of a Resignation Trend
The resignation trend among Apple's junior staff is also intensifying: Abidur Chaudhury, the lead designer of the iPhone Air, announced his departure to an AI startup last week, indicating that "working for Apple with low pay" is no longer the mainstream choice in Silicon Valley. Gurman summarized: Although the executive layer is stable, the loss of key talents may force Apple to accelerate stock incentives and AI business restructuring to cope with increasingly fierce competition in AI hardware.
