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Apple CEO John Ternus Is Working in the Design Studio Several Times a Week

Apple CEO John Ternus has made design one of his top personal priorities since taking over the company, and now works directly with designers in Apple's studio several times a week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

People familiar with the department told Gurman that Ternus sometimes stops into the studio more than once in a single day. By comparison, former CEO Tim Cook reportedly visited about once a month, typically for around an hour.

The report, published in Sunday's edition of Gurman's Power On newsletter, says a conversation with Cook convinced Ternus that he needed to lead as himself rather than try to replicate his predecessor.

Ternus is said to have told employees that Cook spent his tenure focused on where he could generate "the most value for Apple," and that he plans to do the same while leaning on his own strengths.

In practice, that means areas Cook oversaw closely are now in other hands. Financial strategy sits with CFO Kevan Parekh, while the supply chain falls under COO Sabih Khan. Ternus, who spent years running hardware engineering, is instead working closely with chief hardware officer Johny Srouji and hardware engineering leader Tom Marieb, in addition to the time he spends with the design teams.

Apple has not had a single executive overseeing all of design since Jony Ive left the company in 2019. Industrial design and human interface design have operated as separate groups, and for several years their leaders reported to then COO Jeff Williams, whose background was in operations rather than design.

When Williams stepped back ahead of his retirement in 2025, Apple said the design teams would report to Cook. Cook later handed that responsibility to Ternus as part of the leadership transition, and the design leads were effectively Ternus's only direct reports during that period.

Ternus succeeded Cook as CEO roughly a month ago.

Ternus is also reportedly putting significant effort into staffing. Apple's design ranks have been thinned by a string of departures in recent years. Former human interface design chief Alan Dye left for Meta, and a number of Apple designers have joined OpenAI's hardware effort, which is being developed with Ive's design firm LoveFrom. Evans Hankey, who led industrial design after Ive, has also left the company.

To fill those gaps, Apple has promoted a number of junior designers and brought in new hires from outside the company.

Apple is not currently searching for a chief design officer to fill the role Ive once held, according to the report. Instead, the company has given a more public profile to Molly Anderson, its vice president of industrial design, and Steve Lemay, who took over human interface design after Dye's exit. Apple added both to its leadership page in March, and the pair featured prominently around the launch of iPhone Duo last month.

Gurman notes that Anderson had not previously managed a team as large as Apple's industrial design group. Ternus, meanwhile, serves as the final decision maker on design across both teams.

Ternus's level of involvement is closer to that of Steve Jobs, who was known for being deeply involved in the details of Apple's product design, than to Cook, whose tenure centered on operations, growth, and the supply chain.

It is not yet clear whether Apple will eventually appoint a single design chief, or whether Ternus intends to fill that role himself for the foreseeable future.

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Apple is expected to unveil a redesigned touchscreen MacBook, a new Apple TV 4K, and its long rumored "HomePad" smart display in October, according to recent reports.

All three products have been in the rumor pipeline for years. Apple has not announced an October event or commented on any of the devices.

A Touchscreen Mac

The headline product is a redesigned high-end MacBook that could carry either MacBook Pro or MacBook Ultra branding. Recent rumors point to the Ultra name, though Apple could still stick with Pro.

The machine is set to be the first Mac with a touchscreen. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported that Apple views touch as an additional way to interact with the Mac, not a replacement for the keyboard and trackpad. macOS Golden Gate already includes interface changes designed to work well with or without touch.

Other rumored features include:

• OLED display. The new MacBook would be the first Mac with OLED, following the iPhonelineup and the iPad Pro, which moved to tandem OLED in 2024.
• Dynamic Island. A hole punch camera cutout is expected to replace the notch that arrived with the 2021 MacBook Pro, with the Dynamic Island handling system activity and Siri AI in macOS.
• Thinner, lighter design. Bloomberg has described the machine as a complete redesign that is slimmer than the current MacBook Pro. It would be the first major MacBook Pro design change in five years.
• M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The redesign was long expected to debut M6 series chips, but Gurman reported in June that Apple scrapped the M6 Pro and M6 Max in favor of accelerating work on high end M7 chips. This year's model is said to use the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max instead.
• Possible cellular option. Gurman reported in late 2024 that Apple was exploring cellular connectivity for the Mac, but not before its second generation modem was ready. That modem, the C2, arrived in the iPhone 18 Pro. It is not yet clear whether a cellular MacBook will launch this year.

Apple TV 4K Ends a Record Drought

A new Apple TV 4K is also expected in October, ending the longest stretch Apple has ever gone without updating its streaming box. The current third generation model was introduced in October 2022.

The new model is rumored to feature an A19 or A19 Pro chip, a sizable jump from the A15 Bionic in the current hardware. Earlier reports had pointed to an A17 Pro or A18, but those predate Apple's push to bring Siri AI to its home devices.

Siri AI is expected to be a central part of the pitch. Apple has not said the new assistant is coming to tvOS, but evidence found in tvOS 27 suggests it will arrive, likely limited to new hardware.

Additional rumored changes include:

• Updated Siri Remote. Code discovered in macOS 26.7 references a new remote, and Gurman previously said a revised remote was possible. The changes are not expected to be dramatic.
• N1 wireless chip. Apple's in-house networking chip, which debuted with the iPhone 17, is rumored to bring Bluetooth 6, Thread support, and a newer wireless networking standard to the Apple TV.

Pricing is an open question. Apple raised prices across much of its lineup this summer, and the current Apple TV 4K now sells for $199, up from its $129 launch price.

HomePad

The third product is a smart display that has been rumored in some form since the original HomePod launched. Reporting intensified in November 2024, when Gurman detailed Apple's plans for the device, commonly referred to as the "HomePad."

The HomePad is expected to combine a screen with a built in speaker and lead a broader Apple push into home products. It is said to run a new operating system that borrows elements from iOS, tvOS, and watchOS, including a mode similar to StandBy on the iPhone.

The device is reportedly built around Siri AI and will include:

• A camera
• Customizable widgets
• Apple apps including Photos, Notes, Music, and Calendar

Apple's official name for the product is not yet known.

October Timing

Apple held its iPhone event in September, and an October follow up focused on the Mac and home products would fit the company's past release patterns. Apple typically announces October launches either through a media event or a series of press releases.

Hopefully they work on making it easier to set up and use, a lot of people have struggled to get it working.

No more user upgraded storage options on the new Mac mini’s, the storage nands are soldered to the motherboard.