The takeaway: John Ternus took over as Apple CEO at the start of September, and a recent report offers clues on how his reign might differ from Tim Cook's. The new chief executive officer reportedly wants to reduce headcount, extract more revenue from services, and change the company's traditional hardware release cycle.
Sources have informed Bloomberg that Apple might shift to a more aggressive hardware release schedule under its new head. John Ternus aims to reshape the Cupertino giant into a leaner company to navigate ongoing memory shortages and compete in the AI space with companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Google.
The former hardware chief, who took over from Tim Cook on September 1, aims to move away from Apple's traditional spring and fall release schedule and instead release products throughout the year. While some inside the company estimate the shift could take years, Ternus also wants future products to be more experimental.
Part of the new approach will mean slimming down by eliminating some middle management positions to speed up communication between on-the-ground engineers and top executives. One source described the situation as "hectic" and more hands-on under Ternus.
Some engineering program managers, including half a dozen directors, have already been given a few weeks to find new jobs within Apple or be laid off at the end of this year. The affected programs include the development of the Vision Pro headset, Siri, and other AI-related software. The company almost replaced 5,000 AppleCare customer service employees with AI, but eventually changed its mind.
Apple's near-future product roadmap is already quite busy. Over the next year, the company is expected to release game controllers under its Beats brand, the iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18e, a refreshed iPad lineup, new Apple Pencils, a new HomePod mini, an upgraded Apple TV, and several new Mac devices, some of which feature the product line's first-ever touchscreens. This follows a year that has already included the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple's first-ever foldable phone, the AirPods 5, and a Mac mini that introduced the M6 processor.
Meanwhile, the new CEO also aims to extract more revenue from services such as iCloud, Apple TV Plus, and other subscriptions. The sector has been a major growth driver for Apple, but its importance might grow amid the RAM crisis. Like virtually every other hardware manufacturer, the company has already raised prices to offset higher component costs, but it is seeking new revenue sources to avoid making its core products too expensive.