{"id":23012,"date":"2026-09-04T16:37:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/?p=23012"},"modified":"2026-09-04T16:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:56:19","slug":"the-ternus-moonshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/04\/the-ternus-moonshot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ternus Moonshot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every Apple CEO eventually gets asked the same question in one form or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an almost impossible question to answer at Apple because \u201cnext\u201d can mean anything from a slightly thinner iPhone to an entirely new category of computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, where do we go from here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Steve Jobs had the iPhone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Cook had the Apple Watch<\/strong>, services and an enormous expansion of Apple\u2019s existing product ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we have John Ternus<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s one question I keep coming back to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s his moonshot?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not the next iPhone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the next Mac<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not another chip<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something bigger<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something that could eventually define his Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Ternus has an unusual starting point<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first thing that makes this interesting is that Ternus isn\u2019t a CEO who has arrived at Apple from the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has spent almost his entire career inside the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He joined Apple in 2001<\/a> and worked his way through the hardware organisation before eventually becoming Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a remarkably long time to spend<\/strong> watching Apple build things<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has seen the company move from PowerPC to Intel and then to Apple Silicon<\/a>. He has watched the iPhone grow from a strange new product into the centre of Apple\u2019s entire business. He has been around as Apple moved deeper into wearables, and, eventually, spatial computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which means Ternus has probably spent a lot of time thinking about something that is very difficult for the rest of us to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s “the thing” after all of this?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A moonshot<\/em><\/strong>, or more colloquially a “breakthrough,” doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a hit new product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means picking a direction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something ambitious enough that it might look slightly ridiculous when you first hear about it, (remember the first AirPods?<\/strong> <\/a>)<\/em>, but obvious in hindsight if it succeeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the sort of thing Apple needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is now incredibly good at refining products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The iPhone<\/strong> is mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mac<\/strong> is mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apple Watch<\/strong> is mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AirPods<\/strong> are mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Apple\u2019s custom silicon has gone from being a disruptive change to simply being part of the furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple can continue making all of these products better for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But eventually, someone has to ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are we building that doesn\u2019t exist yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where Ternus is invested<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

He understands the hardware problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you were designing a moonshot for Apple, you\u2019d probably want somebody who understood the physical limitations of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image via PYMNTS<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Battery life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sensors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Processors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the boring stuff that gets in the way of the futuristic stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ternus has spent his career dealing with exactly those problems. And that\u2019s one reason I keep coming back to spatial computing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple has already spent years assembling many of the pieces required for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image via PCMag<\/a>, Ren\u00e9 Ramos – Apple<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vision Pro<\/a> now actually exists<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple has developed increasingly sophisticated custom silicon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has invested heavily in cameras, sensors and displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has built operating systems specifically around spatial interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of that guarantees that Apple\u2019s ultimate destination is AR glasses or some other wearable computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it does make the area difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Vision Pro may not be the moonshot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the bit I find most interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if Vision Pro isn\u2019t Apple\u2019s moonshot?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if it\u2019s the development platform?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expensive, enormous, slightly ridiculous first step that allows Apple to work out what happens when a computer becomes something you wear rather than something you hold?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a very different way of looking at Vision Pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stops being the final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It becomes the laboratory<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And suddenly all those awkward questions about weight, battery life, field of view, cameras and price become part of a much longer experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Mac wasn\u2019t the end of personal computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first iPhone wasn\u2019t the end of mobile computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps Vision Pro isn\u2019t the end of spatial computing either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it\u2019s the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Ternus doesn\u2019t need to announce his moonshot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s another reason I like this idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think Ternus needs to stand on stage and announce:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is my moonshot.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Apple would probably be better off if he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest Apple projects tend to spend years in development before the public gets to see the finished result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image via BusinessToday.in<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the time we see something, hundreds or thousands of people may already have spent years working on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Ternus\u2019s moonshot might already be happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We just don\u2019t know what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could be spatial computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could be robotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could be something involving health, AI or an entirely new category that isn\u2019t even on our radar yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what makes the question so much more interesting than simply asking what Apple will launch next September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The third decade of the iPhone might change everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a bigger reason for asking the question now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The iPhone is approaching its third decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
iPhone Launch Day Bag, Credit Mark Johnson<\/em> – via CultofMac<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That doesn\u2019t mean it is going anywhere. Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Apple can no longer rely on the iPhone being a new idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has become infrastructure<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mac has been around for more than four decades<\/strong>. The iPhone has been around for almost twenty years. The Apple Watch is heading towards its second decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple\u2019s next defining product probably can\u2019t simply be another iteration of something we\u2019ve already had for years<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s where Ternus’s personal interests and background suddenly become much more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

So, what\u2019s Ternus\u2019s moonshot?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019d actually rather keep it that way for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because there\u2019s something much more fun about watching the pieces move into place without knowing exactly what they\u2019re building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>

NASA’s Artemis I Moon rocket is rolled out to Launch Pad Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Aug. 16, 2022. Chandan Khanna \/ AFP via Getty Images file- NBC News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maybe Ternus\u2019s big idea is already sitting somewhere inside Apple\u2019s laboratories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s Vision Pro evolving into something far smaller<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s an entirely new kind of computer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it has nothing to do with AR or VR at all<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point is that Ternus now has something every Apple CEO eventually needs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

a blank page.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ternus has inherited<\/a> one of the most successful technology companies in human history<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has inherited products that are already enormously successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has inherited an engineering organisation capable of doing things most companies can only dream<\/em> <\/strong>about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now he gets to decide what deserves all of that talent next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the real question surrounding John Ternus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not whether he can run Apple<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not whether he can deliver a good keynote<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not even whether he can fill Steve Jobs\u2019 enormous shadow<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As for what\u2019s next?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And perhaps that\u2019s exactly how it should be<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple\u2019s most interesting products have rarely arrived with a giant sign saying: THIS IS THE FUTURE<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They begin as ideas, experiments and engineering problems that most of us don\u2019t even know exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ternus has now been handed the keys to all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
John Ternus, Apple\u2019s V.P. of Hardware Engineering, discusses the latest development for the iPad Pro during an event to announce new products Tuesday Oct. 30, 2018, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo\/Bebeto Matthews, File) – Washington Times<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He has the products Apple already makes. He has the engineers who built them. He has the money, the manufacturing capability and the patience to pursue something that might take years before anybody outside Cupertino even understands what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And somewhere in all of that, there could be his big idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s spatial computing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s something wearable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s robotics, AI, health<\/strong>, or a completely new category that sounds slightly ridiculous today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s what makes the start of the Ternus era so intriguing<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in a long time, we\u2019re not just waiting to see what Apple improves.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re waiting to see what Apple invents.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And somewhere inside Apple, John Ternus is sitting already knowing what that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

He just isn\u2019t telling us yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Every Apple CEO eventually gets asked the same question in one form or another. What\u2019s next? It\u2019s an almost impossible question to answer at Apple because \u201cnext\u201d can mean anything from a slightly thinner iPhone to an entirely new category of computing. So, where do we go from here?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2786,174,800],"tags":[3544,4,3501,3537,3562,3546],"class_list":["post-23012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple-blog","category-blog","category-featured","tag-airpods","tag-apple","tag-iphone","tag-john-ternus","tag-moonshot","tag-vision-pro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23012"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23023,"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012\/revisions\/23023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arronhirst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}