{"id":22912,"date":"2026-09-02T20:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/?p=22912"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:32:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:32:35","slug":"surprise-and-shine-john-ternus-gets-his-first-big-apple-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/02\/surprise-and-shine-john-ternus-gets-his-first-big-apple-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise and Shine: John Ternus Gets His First Big Apple Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s something slightly surreal about the next Apple event.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For years, September has meant one thing: a new iPhone, a familiar stage, a familiar voice, and usually a very familiar face standing in front of the giant Apple logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, however, there\u2019s a new name at the top of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Ternus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tim Cook, Chairman of the board of directors of Apple (L); John Ternus, CEO, Apple (R) <\/strong>– AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apple has officially announced its next special event for Wednesday, September 9, with the rather intriguing tagline \u201cSurprise and Shine.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event will take place at Apple Park and begin at 10am Pacific Time \u2014 6pm here in the UK. (Apple<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the products themselves are obviously the main attraction, there\u2019s another story playing out on that stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be John Ternus\u2019s first major Apple event as CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m genuinely curious to see how he handles it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The rumours are already getting interesting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The headline act is expected to be the next generation of iPhone, with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max widely expected to feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the really interesting possibility is something Apple hasn\u2019t done before: a foldable iPhone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Concept via Tom\u2019s Guide<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rumours have pointed towards a premium foldable device, potentially carrying the iPhone Ultra<\/em> name. The Pro models are also expected to bring camera and performance improvements, while Apple Watch and AirPods updates are possible too. (TechCrunch<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this is Apple we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fun is in not knowing exactly how much of the rumour mill is going to survive the keynote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cSurprise and shine\u201d tagline certainly leaves plenty of room for interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s perhaps what makes this particular September event feel different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The elephant in the room: John Ternus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For anyone who remembers Apple during the Steve Jobs years, there\u2019s always going to be an unavoidable comparison whenever a new CEO takes the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jobs didn\u2019t simply present<\/em> products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew how to command an audience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pauses. The deliberately simple slides. The \u201cone more thing\u201d. The way he\u2019d let a product hang in the air for a moment before revealing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It became part of the Apple experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Cook, understandably, developed a very different style. His keynotes were polished, measured and increasingly became a carefully produced collection of presenters rather than a one-man show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ternus sits somewhere rather intriguingly between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s not Steve Jobs \u2014 and I don\u2019t think he should try to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he has something Jobs understood exceptionally well: he knows the products.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before becoming CEO, Ternus spent years running Apple\u2019s hardware engineering organisation. He\u2019s been involved in the development of Apple\u2019s products and has already appeared on stage during Apple presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That gives him something incredibly valuable when standing in front of an audience: credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He isn\u2019t simply the person who has inherited the job of CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s someone who has actually been down in the engine room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Can he command the stage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the question I\u2019m most interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can John Ternus walk into the Steve Jobs Theater and make millions of people stop what they\u2019re doing and pay attention?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not because he\u2019s the CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he\u2019s interesting to listen to.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jobs had an almost theatrical ability to make technology feel important. He could take something as mundane as a phone, an MP3 player or a laptop and turn the unveiling into a cultural moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo courtesy of Laughing Squid<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ternus doesn\u2019t have to recreate that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, attempting to imitate Jobs would probably be the quickest way to look uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Ternus can<\/em> do is develop his own version of that confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s naturally more understated. More engineer than showman. And, personally, I think that could work incredibly well for Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine a CEO who can explain why<\/em> a product exists rather than simply telling us that it\u2019s \u201camazing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone who can talk about the engineering decisions, the compromises and the ridiculous amount of work that goes into making something look effortless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That could be very Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s the timing\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ternus couldn\u2019t have asked for a more interesting first act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the rumours are correct, he could be standing on stage to introduce Apple\u2019s first foldable iPhone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not a small product refresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s potentially the beginning of an entirely new chapter for the iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost poetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly two decades later, John Ternus could be the person introducing the next major evolution of the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s an enormous amount of history to walk into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And perhaps that\u2019s why I\u2019m more interested in Ternus himself than I normally would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first few minutes of this keynote are going to tell us a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will he open the event himself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will he immediately introduce the new iPhone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will he talk about Apple entering a new era?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will there be a nod to Tim Cook?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or will Apple simply get on with the show and let the products do the talking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My money is on the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple doesn\u2019t need to announce that the Ternus era has begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019ll be obvious.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

A new era, but hopefully still the same Apple<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s something reassuring about the fact that Ternus\u2019s first big event isn\u2019t some completely separate \u201cnew Apple\u201d showcase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an iPhone event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Apple doing what Apple has done for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But underneath that familiar formula, the person ultimately responsible has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Imagery taken from Apple\u2019s Sep 9 press invite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve spent the last few years watching Apple become increasingly polished, predictable and enormous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ternus now has the opportunity to inject a little bit of personality back into the company without throwing away everything that came before him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s probably the sweet spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Steve Jobs 2.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Tim Cook 2.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Ternus 1.0.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if he can walk onto that stage, relax, tell a good story, make the audience laugh once or twice and then deliver a genuinely exciting product reveal, I\u2019ll consider that a pretty successful first outing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He doesn\u2019t need to fill Steve Jobs\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He just needs to make us forget about the shoes for a couple of hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if that mysterious \u201cSurprise and shine\u201d invitation really does mean we\u2019re about to see a foldable iPhone, Ternus may have been handed one hell of an opening night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 9 <\/strong>can\u2019t come soon enough \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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