Apple Inc.’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams is set to retire, stepping down from his role as the company’s longtime second-in-command and marking a significant leadership transition during a critical period for the iPhone maker.
Williams will exit the COO role later this month and officially retire from the company by the end of the year, Apple announced Tuesday. Until then, he will continue overseeing the design team and managing Apple’s health initiatives. Sabih Khan will succeed Williams as COO, while the design team will now report directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Khan, who has been with Apple for 30 years, joined the executive team as senior vice president of operations in 2019, taking charge of Apple’s supply chain, procurement, and manufacturing. Bloomberg News previously reported that Khan had been groomed to eventually take over for Williams. He will continue reporting to Cook and is expected to assume responsibility for other areas, such as AppleCare.
Khan will face mounting challenges, including tariffs, stagnating iPhone growth, and increased regulatory scrutiny. Meanwhile, Apple continues to trail competitors in the race for artificial intelligence innovation. Startups focused on AI hardware could pose a threat to Apple’s core product lines, including the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Williams, 62, was once seen as a likely successor to the 64-year-old Cook due to his title and close working relationship with the CEO. However, their narrow age gap and Williams’ retirement plans shifted the succession strategy. According to Bloomberg News, John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, is now the leading candidate to succeed Cook.
“Clearly he wasn’t destined to be the Tim Cook replacement,” said Bob Mansfield, Apple’s former hardware engineering chief under both Cook and Steve Jobs. “He’s about the same age as Tim, so that wouldn’t make much sense. The operations team at Apple is really going to miss Jeff.”
Williams joined Apple in 1998 after beginning his career at IBM. He became COO in 2015 and has played a central role in building a global supply chain capable of producing hundreds of millions of devices each year. He’s also overseen engineering efforts for the Apple Watch and led AppleCare customer service. His departure is considered one of the most impactful in Apple’s recent history.
“Jeff’s importance and contributions to Apple have been enormous, although perhaps not always obvious to the general public,” said Tony Blevins, a former Apple operations vice president who reported to Williams until 2022. “As a shareholder, I am saddened. Time takes its toll, and it’s almost as if the band is dissolving. Jeff will be sorely missed.”
Apple has not yet disclosed where responsibility for Williams’ other areas, such as Apple Watch engineering and health technologies, will shift. Earlier this year, hardware projects like the Vision Pro headset and robotics were moved under Ternus, while software initiatives including Siri and visionOS were placed under Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering.
“Jeff’s true legacy can be seen in the amazing team he’s created and, while he’ll be greatly missed, he leaves the work of the future in incredible hands,” Cook said in a prepared statement.
Mansfield noted that Williams had broad influence across the company, saying he “had a lot of tentacles” in multiple departments.
“Sabih is very much cut from the Tim Cook cloth,” said Matthew Moore, a former Apple operations engineer. “Jeff was a little more product-minded; Sabih is just a really brilliant operator and methodical in the same way that Tim would operate.”
Many of Apple’s senior leaders are approaching retirement age, and this changing of the guard has long been anticipated within the company.
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