No MBA, no fancy degree, only bachelors, new Apple CEO is all about attention to details

Apple's new CEO John Ternus may have one thing in common with Steve Jobs, and that is attention to detail.John Ternus is Apple's new CEO and has an attention for detail. (Photo: Apple)After 15 years, Apple has a new CEO. John Ternus, previously senior VP of hardware engineering, has taken the reins from Tim Cook. Ternus may not have a fancy master’s degree or an MBA. But what he does have, like Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, is a keen eye for detail.During a commencement speech at Penn Engineering in 2024, John Ternus recalled the time when he was completing his first project at Apple – the Cinema Display monitor.John Ternus questioned himself during first project at AppleIn the speech, Ternus admitted that he became fixated on the tiny grooves on stainless-steel screws used on the back of the Cinema Display. The screws were placed on the back of the monitor and were unlikely to be seen by most users.But like Steve Jobs, John Ternus could not stop himself from ensuring that the grooves were how they should have been. “I was far away from home, it was well past midnight. I was using a magnifying glass to count the number of grooves on the head of this screw, which, remember, lives on the back of the display,” he said. “And I was arguing with the supplier because these parts had 35 grooves, they were supposed to have 25.” Recalling the moment, Ternus said he stepped back and asked himself, “What the hell am I doing? Is this normal?” At the time, the future Apple CEO accepted, “It might not be normal, but it’s right.”According to Ternus, it felt like the right thing to do because after investing months in a product, he and his team wanted to give it their best effort whether customers noticed the detail. “Maybe a customer notices, maybe they don’t, but either way it mattered to me,” he said. This incident shows that John Ternus may have a similar attention to detail like Steve Jobs. Jobs was known for always caring about details. Biographer Walter Isaacson, famously said, Jobs believed “God is in the details.”Who is John Ternus?When you search online, you may not find much about John Ternus. The newly-appointed Apple CEO does not seem very active on social media, at least till now. Back when Apple announced Ternus as its next CEO in April, his LinkedIn profile did not even have a profile picture.John Ternus also created an X account after becoming Apple CEO. His first post simply said, “hello”.But Ternus is an Apple veteran. He joined the company’s product design team in 2001. John Ternus became vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013 and moved to the executive team in 2021 as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering.At Apple, Ternus has overseen hardware engineering work across iPhone, Mac, iPad. He has also played a big role in creating Apple Watch and AirPods products. John Ternus is widely credited in leading Apple’s switch to its own M series of chips for Mac devices.According to reports, before becoming CEO, John Ternus oversaw development of devices that generate about 80 per cent of Apple’s revenue. Before Apple, he worked as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems.As we said previously, John Ternus does not have an MBA or a master’s degree. Instead, the Apple chief holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.Ternus sent a memo to Apple employees on his first day as CEO. He teased the company’s upcoming event on September 9, calling it “phenomenal.” Apple is rumoured to launch the first-ever iPhone Fold alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series. The iPhone Fold is tipped to be the biggest change to the iPhone since its original debut in 2007. And it is John Ternus who will likely reveal Apple’s newest device.- EndsPublished By: Armaan AgarwalPublished On: Sep 3, 2026 14:15 IST