John Ternus defines his focus as Apple CEO with one word

Apple has launched a wave of major new products since John Ternus took over as CEO, and a new interview with Ternus reveals how this aligns very much with his primary focus.

John Ternus names ‘product’ as the chief thing he’s passionate about and focused on

Following Apple’s unveil of the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR earlier this week, CEO John Ternus sat down for an interview with Steven Levy at WIRED.

Much of the ground covered is familiar territory, with Ternus repeating things he’s said before.

But a standout focus that Ternus emphasizes, echoed by quotes from some of his top executives, is his deep passion for one thing: product.

I asked Ternus what it’s like to take on a massively expanded portfolio. “One of the amazing privileges of this job is getting to learn so many new things,” he said. “I have been and will continue to learn and go deeper into different areas. But, you know, I do love product. I’m super passionate about it.”

This emphasis on product is ever-present in Ternus’s answers to other questions. For example:

- On Apple’s AI approach: “I would hope people recognize that the work we do is building incredible products that make their lives better. We’re absolutely going to leverage AI to do that.”

- On AI agents potentially replacing current computing methods, and more work happening autonomously: “That could make life really easy, I suppose, but the creation of products is a deeply human and personal thing, something that we love to do.”

- On whether he favors AI regulation: “Our focus is on making sure that our products are secure and safe, and protecting the users’ information.”

Levy also shares quotes from two key Apple executives as well. Johny Srouji says, “John is going to be a great CEO. He’s a product guy at heart.” And here’s Greg Joswiak: “John innately has a great sense for great products, and that’s what Apple is.”

If Apple’s huge wave of product launches since Ternus took over as CEO wasn’t evidence enough, the messaging from this new interview is clear: Ternus is focused on product.

What are your takeaways from the latest John Ternus quotes? Let us know in the comments.