But when incoming Apple CEO John Ternus takes over from Tim Cook this fall, he will face a question that is key to the company's survival in the AI age, testing the limits of Apple's practice of curating which apps and services can tap into its hardware.

John Ternus is a hardware expert who must help Apple catch up in the AI race as it looks for its next big hit.

The big question is whether new CEO John Ternus can make the kind of AI investment Tim Cook never did. When Apple announced on April 20 that Tim Cook would hand the chief executive role to John Ternus on Sept.

Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, will have to deal with a lot of issues when he takes the reins of the company in September. But undoubtedly the biggest challenge Ternus will have to immediately reckon with is AI.

John Ternus, Apple Inc.’s next chief executive officer, is up against a major challenge as he settles into the role: retaining top talent during a time of historic turnover.

The market's muted reaction to Apple's leadership handoff is shortsighted. Cook's deliberate, Steve Jobs–approved succession puts Apple ahead of AI rivals.

It’s the right call, said Mike Slade, a Seattle tech veteran who spent six years as an advisor to Steve Jobs at the company. Apple needed to pick an insider who understands the culture, Slade said, and ideally someone who knows how hardware comes together,

Cook charted his own path as chief executive after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011. Over nearly 15 years, he expanded Apple's business and navigated the company through major challenges.