CEO John Ternus has been doing the rounds promoting the new MacBook Pro, but has now also taken questions about his approach to Apple's business approach.
Even as Ternus has been saying that now is the right time to produce a touch-screen MacBook Pro, he is still being asked about being CEO. Wired's Steven Levy says Ternus was stumped by a question about business leaders who inspire him.
"I haven't really thought about that," he said. "Of course I've read books, but there's so much to be learned from the people I get to work with."
There was, of course, Steve Jobs who was CEO when Ternus joined Apple, and then Tim Cook. Ternus says that he only had "a handful of interactions" with Jobs.
"But I've always felt like sort of a student of Steve's teachings," he said. "And then being able to work very closely with Tim, I've been very lucky."
Tim Cook has moved into the role of Apple's Executive Chairman and has stated that he won't be interfering with Ternus's decision making. But Ternus says he does consult with Cook.
"Tim is available to help wherever I ask him, and it's great to have him in that role," he said. "He obviously has a ton of relationships he's developed over the years, and of course, I'm building new relationships in this role as well."
Apple and AI
AppleInsider has long maintained that Apple is not behind on AI, yet there is still a perception that it is being beaten by chatbots from firms such as OpenAI. Ternus naturally says that he likes what Apple is doing, but also suggests that he thinks its approach will eventually be seen to be the right one.
"I would hope people recognize that the work we do is building incredible products that make their lives better," he said. "We're absolutely going to leverage AI to do that. We don't want to ship AI for AI's sake."
"When we're doing it right, people won't have to think about whether it was AI that made this happen or more traditional software," continued Ternus. "What matters is, did we build something that they really love?"
There is also the issue of the dangers of AI, and in particular whether governments should pass regulation. Ternus wouldn't say whether he was for or against regulation, and instead doubled down on promoting Apple's approach.
Tim Cook (right) and his successor John Ternus - images credit: Apple.
"We all read the stories and think about it from a cybersecurity standpoint — clearly these models are very capable of doing things," he said. "Our focus is on making sure that our products are secure and safe, and protecting the users' information."
Being CEO is about more than products
That careful answer about AI regulation suggests that Ternus is aware that being the CEO of Apple requires a certain amount of politics. Cook was famously adept at handling the Trump administration, even when it cost him either in money or arguably reputation.
"One of the amazing privileges of this job is getting to learn so many new things," said Ternus. "I have been and will continue to learn and go deeper into different areas."
Nonetheless, Ternus has the engineering background that Cook didn't, and he doesn't plan to step away from it into business affairs. "But, you know, I do love product," he continued. "I'm super passionate about it."
That's been backed up in this report by Greg Joswiak, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing. "John innately has a great sense for great products, and that's what Apple is," Joswiak said. "You can't teach that."
Similarly, Johny Srouji, chief hardware officer, predicts a rosy future. "John is going to be a great CEO," he said. "He's a product guy at heart, but Apple's secret weapon is the DNA, the culture, which is not going to change."
"Remember, John has been here for 25 years," continued Srouji. "It's not like he's going to come and everything's going to be different."
That doesn't mean there will be no visible differences in Apple under Ternus's aegis. It's already been reported that he wants to see Apple releasing more products, more often.