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Within the comments section on my YouTube channel, I’m either called an ‘Apple fanboi lolz 🤦♂️’ or thanked for offering useful buying guidance.
I’m used to it. I’m also 45, have thick skin, and have been through some fairly big life events, so I don’t give two flying you-know-whats about what the former bunch have to say about me.
A lot of the content I publish on YouTube — and, indeed, among these digital pages — is focused on Apple. I review Apple stuff, compare Apple stuff, and deliver buying guidance for anyone who needs it. But I’m also an Apple fan, which makes the ‘ur a fanboi bro’ crowd categorically correct.
I’m fair, though. Over the last six years of professional tech coverage, I’ve pointed out when Apple has, in my opinion, slipped up as much as I have praised their best product releases.
This week is a huge week for Apple. On Monday, it was announced that Tim Cook would be transitioning to Executive Chairman at the start of September, with John Ternus replacing him as CEO. And today, I’m going to give you two reasons why I’m extremely excited about this news.
What’s happening at Apple?
For many months, rumours have been swirling that Tim Cook would soon be announcing his retirement, and that current VP of hardware Engineering, John Ternus, would become the new main guy at Apple.
Those rumours were almost right. Cook isn’t retiring — he’s simply handing the CEO keys over to Ternus and becoming the executive chairman, instead. According to Apple, Cook’s new responsibilities will be mainly focused on “engaging with policymakers around the world”, and he will effectively be replacing Arthur Levinson, who has been Apple’s non-executive chairman for the last 15 years. Levinson will become Apple’s lead independent director.
Nothing changes until 1st September; until then, it’s business as usual for the three guys at the centre of this boardroom shuffle.
As shuffles go, though, this is significant, and it’s the first time in 15 years that Apple’s most senior figure and key decision-maker has changed.
How I feel about Tim Cook’s reign
It’s hard to ignore Cook’s achievements at Apple. In a little over a decade, he has taken the company’s market cap from $350bn to four trillion dollars.
Far more noticeable for fans of Apple and consumers (and, yes, the anti-Apple crowd) is the products that have arrived, or which have been significantly updated, during his tenure.
In 2014, he oversaw the acquisition of Beats, which remains Apple’s largest-ever acquisition at $3bn and, arguably, one of their most successful. The Apple Watch launched a year later and continues to lead the wearable category to this day. Just one year after that, the first pair of AirPods made their way into the world and completely redefined that category.
Then, Cook oversaw the launches of the iPhone X, Apple TV+, Apple Silicon, AirTags, a refreshed iMac, Vision Pro, Apple Intelligence, the iPhone Air, and the MacBook Neo.
There are some corkers in there. I’m yet to test a smartwatch that is as polished as the Apple Watch, there are no other earbuds that deliver the magical quality of the AirPods Pro 2, and Apple Silicon has completely redefined how a personal computer should perform. Oh, and the MacBook Neo? It is, in my humble opinion, the best thing Apple has ever done.
Still wondering whether the MacBook Neo is the real deal? My MacBook Neo review has the full verdict.
It wasn’t all roses, though. Vision Pro remains a questionable platform due to its price, weight, and lack of meaningful adoption. Apple Intelligence was, possibly, the biggest misstep under Cook’s tenure, but I remain convinced that it was a knee-jerk (and understandable) reaction to the biblically daft AI arms race. Apple felt like it had to do something, fast, and that was never going to end well.
As someone who has sat through an ungodly number of mind-numbingly boring AI-focused product launches, I sympathise with Apple; I think they’d far rather have been working on more interesting things than consumer-facing AI features no one will use. Apple’s decision — and, I’d guess, ultimately, Cook’s — to partner with Google for a Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence was the right thing to do.
Overall, I think Cook has done a stellar job. He stepped into the shoes of a once-in-a-century genius (it was like following Queen at Wembley) and has steered Jobs’ ship in the right direction. That’s no mean feat.
Would you want to be the person who sits at the centre of “If Steve Jobs were still around” commentary? I wouldn’t. Nor would I want to be the person charged with advancing products that are cherished and loved by millions.
Apple is absolutely in a better place than it was 15 years ago.
However, I am extremely excited about Ternus taking the reins, and for two very specific reasons.
Reason 1: The Apple fan inside me
Before I became a tech commentator and reviewer, I spent years devouring Apple content and rumours. Whenever funds allowed, I’d buy new Apple gear, and I’d lust over the stuff I couldn’t afford.
My love of Apple products began when I was at school. During sixth form, I finally had the chance — and legitimate reason — to interact with a Mac every week. Back then, it was a Power Mac G3, and it played a central role in my Media Studies A-Level. It was my first experience of the power, ease, and approachability Apple was so adept at building into its products. It also signalled my first foray into the world of video editing, and I looked forward to every lesson that involved that translucent blue, be-handled tower.
I had to wait nearly a decade to own my first Mac. It was a G5 tower, and it was the computer that transitioned me from Windows-based music production to Mac music production. I’ve never looked back — and the same goes for every other Apple product that has entered my life since, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch, iPad, and Apple TV.
The Apple fan inside me wonders what Ternus has up his sleeve. From September, I have no doubt he’ll take to the helm respectfully and continue a lot of the work Cook has started. The incoming CEO has, after all, made it clear that he sees Cook as a mentor as much as a boss, which will be reassuring for Apple’s shareholders.
But there’ll be stuff he wants to do. Stuff he’s not been able to do without having the sign-off pen and ink. Stuff that Cook may not have done. And that gets me very excited.
Neo vs Air — which one’s right for you? I break it all down in my MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air guide.
Ternus has impressive form. Obviously; he’s about to become the next Apple CEO. But it’s worth remembering that, in his current role, he leads all hardware engineering efforts. The Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro; John is the figurehead for the lot. He played a central role in the Mac’s transition from Intel to Apple Silicon. Apple Watch, AirPods, the iPhone, and the iPad have all continued to dominate thanks to considered, iterative development. No matter how tepid the response to Vision Pro was, Ternus was the man who ensured it shipped in 2024, and it is, unquestionably, a technically significant development for Apple.
The guy knows what he’s doing. And I want to know what’s cooking inside that brain of his for the products that I love the most. What will he approve of for the Mac’s future? Will the iPhone get an injection of new hardware? Will Vision Pro be guided to a wider audience?
I have many questions. And I’m excited by how Apple’s forthcoming new CEO might answer them.
Reason 2: The Apple content creator
To date, the MacBook Neo content I’ve published across my two YouTube channels has amassed nearly one million views. More interestingly, it has attracted nearly 4,500 comments. That’s a lot, and it’s more than most of the other products I’ve featured on YouTube over the last six years.
The MacBook Neo is an example of a Goldilocks product for a tech content creator like myself. They don’t arrive very often, but when they do, it’s nigh-on impossible to make a poorly-performing video about them.
Apple, more than any other tech brand, can be relied on to make these products.
The Neo follows the M4 Mac mini, AirPods Max, Apple Watch Ultra, and the original M1 Macs in a long line of products that, for whatever reason, really hit home with the YouTube audience. The appetite for them is insatiable.
Thinking about the Neo? Here’s my complete MacBook Neo vs M4 iPad Air comparison if you’re torn between the two.
The transition of John Ternus to Apple CEO could potentially produce plenty more Goldilocks products. Or, at the very least, build on those that already exist in a forward-thinking, user-centric, competitor-destroying fashion.
New blood. New ideas. A hardware guy with his fingers on the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ buttons. As a content creator who focuses a great deal of his time on Apple, that’s very exciting.
Wrapping up
In a tech landscape that is dominated by endless Android smartphone releases (most of which are admittedly superb), and copycat AI products (which are categorically not superb, ever), a new CEO at Apple means a fresh outlook, new directions, and, hopefully, lots more MacBook Neo moments.
If you’re an Apple fan person or an Apple commentator (or, ahem, both), that can only be a good thing, right?
Header image courtesy of Apple
