Less than a month after taking the reins from Tim Cook, Apple CEO John Ternus is reportedly already shaking up the company.
Bloomberg reports that Ternus is looking to make Apple leaner and speed up product development, citing people familiar with the matter.
Among the ideas under consideration are relying less on Apple’s traditional spring and fall product release cycles and eliminating some middle-management positions, according to the outlet.
Ternus has also signaled internally that Apple needs to introduce products faster and become more experimental to stay competitive in the AI era, Bloomberg reports.
The news comes just weeks after Ternus took over from Cook, who served as Apple’s CEO for 15 years. Cook is now executive chairman of the company’s board, where Apple says his responsibilities include “engaging with policymakers around the world.”
One of Ternus’ first major appearances as CEO came on Sept. 9, when he unveiled Apple’s latest lineup of products, including the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the company’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo.
Now, it seems Ternus may follow other Silicon Valley companies that have turned to layoffs in order to become leaner and move faster.
Uber, for example, announced earlier this month that it was cutting about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 3,300 jobs, as part of an effort to simplify the company and reduce management layers.
Other tech executives at companies like Amazon and Meta, have also cut jobs this year, arguing their companies have become too unwieldy to move and innovate quickly.
Bloomberg reports that Ternus himself has been calling for a leaner Apple for years.
Over the past two weeks, Apple’s hardware engineering division has begun cutting engineering program-management roles, affecting several managers, including roughly half a dozen directors, according to the report. The affected employees were reportedly given a few weeks to find another position inside Apple, with those who fail to do so facing layoffs later this year.
Those cuts follow another round of reductions last month that affected more than 200 positions across teams working on Siri, the Vision Pro, and AI features for the company’s devices.
Some employees believe more layoffs are still coming this year or early next year, according to Bloomberg.
Still, Ternus reportedly wants Apple to introduce products more frequently throughout the year and find more ways to generate revenue from its existing products and services.
The company already has an stacked product pipeline set for next year, including camera-equipped AirPods, its first smart glasses, and a special iPhone planned for the smartphone’s 20th anniversary.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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