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IMO: Cook is going to announce his retirement by the end of Q1, they've already selected a CEO (probably Ternus), the incoming CEO wants leadership change, and

by 827a 10mo ago

IMO: Cook is going to announce his retirement by the end of Q1, they've already selected a CEO (probably Ternus), the incoming CEO wants leadership change, and some of these departures are because its better that this purge happens before the CEO change than after. I think this explains Giannandrea, Williams, and Jackson. Dye may have also been involved in that, given how unpopular he was internally at Apple. But more likely just personal / Meta offered him a billion dollars. Maestri leaving was also probably totally uninvolved. Srouji is the weirdest case, and I'm hesitant to believe its even true just given its a rumor at this point. Its possible he was angry about being passed over for CEO, but realistically, it was always going to be Ternus, Williams, or Federighi. If Ternus is the next CEO, its likely we'll see Apple combine the Hardware Technologies and Hardware Engineering divisions, then have Srouji lead both of them. I really do not see him leaving the company. The other less probable theory is that they actually picked Fadell, and this deeply pissed off many people in Apple's senior leadership. So, what we're seeing is more chaos than it first seems. Generally, as long as Srouji doesn't leave, these changes feel positive for Apple, and especially if there's a CEO change in early 2026: This is what "the fifth generation of Apple Inc" looks like. I don't understand the mindset of people who complain about Apple's products and behavior over the past decade, then don't receive this news as directionally positive.

apple4ever 10mo ago
Great points, this is indicative of something going on. And this point is especially spot on: > I don't understand the mindset of people who complain about Apple's products and behavior over the past decade, then don't receive this news as directionally positive. It's time for change. Maybe it won't get better, but I do hope it will.
- wkat4242 10mo ago
  True. Cook was a great money maker but he's so boring on the product side. But they'll never get anyone even close to Jobs obviously. Just won't happen. Even if they find someone with the same attention to detail and "risk it all on a grand vision" mentality, he or she won't get the trust of the board who are generally risk-averse. The only reason Jobs got away with doing all that was that he was Mr. Apple. He was the company. Hopefully they'll get someone closer to that but the magic will never come back IMO.
  - wombatpm 10mo ago
    And he came back when they were near bankruptcy
    - wkat4242 10mo ago
      Yeah he's like the saviour of apple. A board doesn't say no to someone like that, that's what I mean :)
thadk 10mo ago
Could be Fadell, why else would Apple put Thread in phones? Maybe iTunes Store (via Fuse) and iPhone (via General Magic) weren't the only things Fadell had pitched Jobs on when the time was right.
torben-friis 10mo ago
My only worry regarding these moves (assuming Srouji doesn’t go) is that the software position is unchallenged. I’m not sure about Federighi’s popularity inside, but it seems like Software is in need of changes as well.
- AnonC 10mo ago
  I wish Apple would split software and bring back Scott Forstall (soon after Tim Cook leaves) and give him a big chunk, like iOS and iPadOS. Craig Federighi needs to reduce the scope of his work and get competent people in to handle the software area.
  - astrange 10mo ago
    That would definitely not work out. Forstall is a micromanager/new project kind of guy. Also, as I'm required to point out every time I mention him, he invented MS WordArt.
jader201 10mo ago
> I don't understand the mindset of people who complain about Apple's products and behavior over the past decade, then don't receive this news as directionally positive. Short of Tim Cook being replaced, it just seems like disarray and things are falling apart at the seams, resulting in things only likely getting worse, not better. If Tim Cook is indeed about to get replaced, then I think you might hear fewer complaints. But right now, the complaints are likely assuming a Tim Cook replacement isn’t part of the plan, or at the very least, not a guarantee. If you’re wrong about a Tim Cook replacement, then I think the complaints may be justified.
this_user 10mo ago
Cook is denying that he has any current plans to step down. There was also a Bloomberg article about this a couple of days ago. What they point out is that a lot of Apple's senior leadership are of a similar age and are simply approaching retirement now. But they are also losing younger rising stars they desperately need to fill the ensuing void. At the moment, they are simply losing talent left and right, and that is unsustainable if they want to maintain their competitive edge and avoid completely turning into Microsoft. The more likely explanation is that a certain amount of internal rot has set in. They haven't really launched a successful major new product category in years, and a lot of their initiatives have either stalled or failed. Something is clearly not right, and top tier talent doesn't will only tolerate that sort of thing for so long before moving on.
- 01100011 10mo ago
  This seems true at many companies. While I'm not all that impressed by many current leaders, I'm sort of terrified of my generation (younger gen x) taking over because some of them seem to not be prepared or not have been prepared for the roles.
- wilg 10mo ago
  > Cook is denying that he has any current plans to step down. There was also a Bloomberg article about this a couple of days ago. No he isn't and no there wasn't.
  - wilg 10mo ago
    I'm serious. Cook did not deny that, and the Bloomberg article did not claim that.
- easton 10mo ago
  > They haven't really launched a successful major new product category in years I agree this is true, but Apple’s always done their best work when they’re the second mover. Smartphones, iPods, earbuds, good desktop PCs were all after they watched what was good and then made it better (if you like what they did, anyway). The next hardware category is probably AR glasses if someone can make them good and cheap, nobody has so Apple won’t do anything but wait. I’m sure they have an optics lab working on something, but probably not full throttle (and the Vision Pro is an attempt to make the OS).
gyomu 10mo ago
> The other less probable theory is that they actually picked Fadell "Less probable" is the understatement of the century. This rumor came out of nowhere, and it should instantly set off the BS-meter of anyone familiar with how Apple is run. The most likely explanation for it is that Tony felt like a little boost to his profile couldn't hurt whatever his next step might be, and so he made a few phone calls to get this rumor ball rolling so that his name is in the news for a bit (hey, it worked!).
- 827a 10mo ago
  Agreed. It would be extremely strange if he were even in the running, let alone picked.
- Marsymars 10mo ago
  “Fadell says he’d be open to replacing Tim Cook” might be accurate, but I’d be open to that too if Apple rang me up.
JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
> the incoming CEO wants leadership change, and some of these departures are because its better that this purge happens before the CEO change than after Or the more common all the ones who didn’t get the crown are leaving.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
SwtCyber 10mo ago
Your last point is the interesting one: for years people have complained that Apple has gotten slow, conservative, and repetitive. Maybe, this is what the reset looks like

by 827a 10mo ago

apple4ever 10mo ago

Great points, this is indicative of something going on. And this point is especially spot on: > I don't understand the mindset of people who complain about Apple's products and behavior over the past decade, then don't receive this news as directionally positive. It's time for change. Maybe it won't get better, but I do hope it will.

wkat4242 10mo ago
True. Cook was a great money maker but he's so boring on the product side. But they'll never get anyone even close to Jobs obviously. Just won't happen. Even if they find someone with the same attention to detail and "risk it all on a grand vision" mentality, he or she won't get the trust of the board who are generally risk-averse. The only reason Jobs got away with doing all that was that he was Mr. Apple. He was the company. Hopefully they'll get someone closer to that but the magic will never come back IMO.
- wombatpm 10mo ago
  And he came back when they were near bankruptcy
  - wkat4242 10mo ago
    Yeah he's like the saviour of apple. A board doesn't say no to someone like that, that's what I mean :)

thadk 10mo ago

Could be Fadell, why else would Apple put Thread in phones? Maybe iTunes Store (via Fuse) and iPhone (via General Magic) weren't the only things Fadell had pitched Jobs on when the time was right.

torben-friis 10mo ago

My only worry regarding these moves (assuming Srouji doesn’t go) is that the software position is unchallenged. I’m not sure about Federighi’s popularity inside, but it seems like Software is in need of changes as well.

AnonC 10mo ago
I wish Apple would split software and bring back Scott Forstall (soon after Tim Cook leaves) and give him a big chunk, like iOS and iPadOS. Craig Federighi needs to reduce the scope of his work and get competent people in to handle the software area.
- astrange 10mo ago
  That would definitely not work out. Forstall is a micromanager/new project kind of guy. Also, as I'm required to point out every time I mention him, he invented MS WordArt.

jader201 10mo ago

> I don't understand the mindset of people who complain about Apple's products and behavior over the past decade, then don't receive this news as directionally positive. Short of Tim Cook being replaced, it just seems like disarray and things are falling apart at the seams, resulting in things only likely getting worse, not better. If Tim Cook is indeed about to get replaced, then I think you might hear fewer complaints. But right now, the complaints are likely assuming a Tim Cook replacement isn’t part of the plan, or at the very least, not a guarantee. If you’re wrong about a Tim Cook replacement, then I think the complaints may be justified.

this_user 10mo ago

Cook is denying that he has any current plans to step down. There was also a Bloomberg article about this a couple of days ago. What they point out is that a lot of Apple's senior leadership are of a similar age and are simply approaching retirement now. But they are also losing younger rising stars they desperately need to fill the ensuing void. At the moment, they are simply losing talent left and right, and that is unsustainable if they want to maintain their competitive edge and avoid completely turning into Microsoft. The more likely explanation is that a certain amount of internal rot has set in. They haven't really launched a successful major new product category in years, and a lot of their initiatives have either stalled or failed. Something is clearly not right, and top tier talent doesn't will only tolerate that sort of thing for so long before moving on.

01100011 10mo ago
This seems true at many companies. While I'm not all that impressed by many current leaders, I'm sort of terrified of my generation (younger gen x) taking over because some of them seem to not be prepared or not have been prepared for the roles.
wilg 10mo ago
> Cook is denying that he has any current plans to step down. There was also a Bloomberg article about this a couple of days ago. No he isn't and no there wasn't.
- wilg 10mo ago
  I'm serious. Cook did not deny that, and the Bloomberg article did not claim that.
easton 10mo ago
> They haven't really launched a successful major new product category in years I agree this is true, but Apple’s always done their best work when they’re the second mover. Smartphones, iPods, earbuds, good desktop PCs were all after they watched what was good and then made it better (if you like what they did, anyway). The next hardware category is probably AR glasses if someone can make them good and cheap, nobody has so Apple won’t do anything but wait. I’m sure they have an optics lab working on something, but probably not full throttle (and the Vision Pro is an attempt to make the OS).

gyomu 10mo ago

> The other less probable theory is that they actually picked Fadell "Less probable" is the understatement of the century. This rumor came out of nowhere, and it should instantly set off the BS-meter of anyone familiar with how Apple is run. The most likely explanation for it is that Tony felt like a little boost to his profile couldn't hurt whatever his next step might be, and so he made a few phone calls to get this rumor ball rolling so that his name is in the news for a bit (hey, it worked!).

827a 10mo ago
Agreed. It would be extremely strange if he were even in the running, let alone picked.
Marsymars 10mo ago
“Fadell says he’d be open to replacing Tim Cook” might be accurate, but I’d be open to that too if Apple rang me up.

JumpCrisscross 10mo ago

> the incoming CEO wants leadership change, and some of these departures are because its better that this purge happens before the CEO change than after Or the more common all the ones who didn’t get the crown are leaving.

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

SwtCyber 10mo ago

Your last point is the interesting one: for years people have complained that Apple has gotten slow, conservative, and repetitive. Maybe, this is what the reset looks like