“I was just in love with it”
TIME, 2026
How he got in
It started with a car in the family. TIME asked John Ternus when his fascination with going fast began, and he went straight to his older brother.
I have an older brother who was very much into cars. And when he was in college, he got a sports car, Datsun 240Z, really cool car. And I was just in love with it. … I’d get to ride around with him in it and everything.
The passenger seat came first. The driving came later, and it came with the same brother.
Off the track
Off the track he makes hard physical things work. He trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Pennsylvania and joined Apple’s product design team in 2001.
Hardware. He became a vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013 and ran the group from 2021. Apple credits him with the introduction of iPad and AirPods, and many generations of iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch.
Materials. His teams developed a recycled aluminum compound used across product lines and 3D printed titanium for Apple Watch Ultra 3.
Chief executive. Apple named him its next chief executive in April 2026, and he took over from Tim Cook on 1 September.
At Penn Engineering in 2024 he told graduates about mastering large clear plastic parts for early iMacs, then never designing one again once Apple moved to aluminum. He didn’t regret the skill: “Because every experience like this sharpened my ability to approach problems from different angles.”
“we started doing some motorsports stuff together, and just never got tired of it and love it.”
TIME, 2026
Getting there
He told TIME how it went from rides to racing:
And then, when I got out of college and he was already out of college, we started doing some motorsports stuff together, and just never got tired of it and love it.
He hasn’t said much more on record. In an interview with the French show Clique he said: “I love F1, yeah.”
Career, at a glance
The road
- 2001 Joins Apple’s product design team after work as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems
- 2013 Becomes vice president of Hardware Engineering
- 2021 Joins Apple’s executive team as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering
- 2024 Gives the Penn Engineering undergraduate commencement address
- 2026 April. Named Apple’s next chief executive
- 2026 May. Reported at Laguna Seca the weekend of the Miami Grand Prix, as Porsche runs Apple’s 1980 livery there
- 2026 September. Becomes chief executive of Apple
- 2026 October. Tells TIME how motorsport started, with his brother: “never got tired of it”
“John actually drives a Porsche and does amateur racing”
Eddy Cue, to Reuters, 2026
The car
Most of what is known about his driving comes from others. The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2026 that he races his Porsche at Laguna Seca, and that people familiar with his times put his laps under 1:40. Sportscar365 reported that he is a regular at track day events there, and that he owns one of the modern Porsche 935s, a track-only car based on the 911 GT2 RS. Porsche built 77.
Bloomberg described him as a cycling and car-racing enthusiast who takes colleagues to Washington state for off-road rally car racing, Bloomberg reported.
“Love it”
TIME, 2026
In his own words
His own words on racing are few. They start with his brother’s car and the motorsport the two of them took up after college.
At Penn in 2024 he told graduates: “Build what interests you. Build what excites you.” He also told them the learning doesn’t stop: “There will always be new skills to master and new people to learn from.”
“He would actually be here this weekend but he’s at Laguna Seca”
Eddy Cue, to Reuters, 2026
Laguna Seca
In May 2026 Apple’s Eddy Cue was at the Miami Grand Prix. Ternus was not. Cue told Reuters: “He would actually be here this weekend but he’s at Laguna Seca.”
That weekend Porsche Penske Motorsport ran its two 963s at Laguna Seca in the rainbow livery Apple carried on a Porsche 935 at Le Mans in 1980. The circuit is about 80 miles south of Apple Park.
Four months later he was running Apple. He still describes motorsport the way he did about the passenger seat of a Datsun: something he loves and has kept doing.
Never got tired of it.