The first time I interviewed John Ternus was a decade ago to discuss the new MacBook. Like the MacBook Neo before it, this tiny, 12-inch, 2-lb laptop was a departure for Apple. It was packed with unusual and innovative design decisions, and John Ternus, who will step in as Apple’s CEO in September, was anxious to talk about it.
By then, Ternus had already been at Apple for 15 years and was heading up Mac and iPad hardware. He struck me as smart, affable, and, with some quick wit.
Thinking back to that meeting, and subsequent chats, including our most recent sit-down shortly after Apple unveiled another hardware design stretch — the iPhone Air — I realize that in my quest to understand the kind of Apple CEO Ternus will be, I may already have all the information I need.
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A steady hand
Perhaps Ternus appreciates that collaboration so much because it provides a level of stability he may crave.
“One of the amazing things for me is how stable things stay from first models that we make to the products that we ship,” he told me in 2015.
It’s clear from these exchanges that Ternus is probably not prone to wild flights of fancy and does not enjoy harsh left and right turns along the product development path.
The sentiment is echoed somewhat in what Ternus shared with Spoonauer and me last year after the iPhone Air launch: “I think the reality is that the best invention in engineering comes from constraints.”
Now, I get that Ternus was referring to the physical constraints present in the ultra-thin iPhone Air, but there is also a hint there that Ternus might like to set up product development frameworks and then work within them to achieve the best results from the design and engineering teams.
What “no” means at Apple
There is, however, evidence of flexibility. In 2015, Ternus explained a particular ethos at Apple revolving around the word “No.”
“There’s ‘No’s’ in some way. There’s ‘No’s’ about what we do, but in terms of how we do it — going and making the best product, there really aren’t a lot of ‘No’s.’ That’s one of the great joys of working here. [For] something really compelling, we can afford to make it happen.”
The other thing I picked up from that comment is just how much Ternus loves Apple. According to his LinkedIn profile, it’s really only the second place he’s ever worked. Maybe even more so than Tim Cook when he took over as CEO in 2011 (after about 14 years with the company), Ternus is a product of Apple.
Discipline, Collaboration, long-term integration, saying no at the right times so you can say yes, all elements that should make John Ternus a particularly product-focused CEO who knows the Apple way and how to get things done.
He may have a blind spot or two when it comes to pure-play business, the supply chain, and geopolitical pressures, but when it comes to the gadgets consumers care about most, they probably couldn’t ask for a better replacement for Tim Cook.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
