Can Apple’s incoming CEO bring back the product design mojo of the Steve Jobs era?
Apple’s product design culture, once driven by Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, is perceived to have waned under Tim Cook’s operational focus. The company’s upcoming leadership transition to hardware chief John Ternus raises questions about reviving its product‑first ethos. Analysts note that while Apple’s financial performance remains strong, it has struggled to launch transformative new categories in recent years.
- ▪Former engineer Matthew Rogers recalls debating ideas directly with Steve Jobs during the early iPhone development.
- ▪Tim Cook’s tenure has added over $300 billion in revenue and quadrupled profits since 2011, but Apple has faced product disappointments such as the Vision Pro headset and stagnant iPhone updates.
- ▪Analysts like Gene Munster warn that advances in AI could threaten Apple’s hardware dominance unless the company reinvents its product strategy.
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| Original publisher | Fortune |
| Canonical URL | https://fortune.com/2026/07/25/apple-ceo-john-ternus-tim-cook-steve-jobs-iphone-design/ |
| Publication time | Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-25T14:22:18.438Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Matthew Rogers remembers Apple’s scrappy days when, as an engineer fresh out of college, he could debate ideas directly with Steve Jobs. Rogers was part of a team of only a few dozen who worked on the original iPhone—which they initially developed as a derivative of the iPod Nano, with a click wheel. But that mechanism wasn’t good enough for Jobs. He aimed for something close to perfection.Recommended Video “I was 23, 24 years old, and I interacted with Steve Jobs. That’s crazy, right? But that’s the organization he ran,” Rogers told Fortune from his Silicon Valley office (he now runs food-recycling startup Mill). Back then, Apple’s hierarchy was much flatter. What made Apple special, he said, is that Jobs surrounded himself with consumer-minded product leaders who were expected to argue.
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