John Ternus Is the New Apple CEO as Tim Cook Shifts to Chairman

April 21, 2026
3 min read

John Ternus is the new Apple CEO effective September 1, 2026, replacing Tim Cook after a 15-year run.
Tim Cook, the executive chairman duties will include policy engagement and board leadership after the handover.
Apple’s board of directors approved the Apple succession plan unanimously after long-term preparation.
Apple Hardware Engineering veteran Ternus brings 25 years of product design and leadership experience.

John Ternus is the new Apple CEO, and the announcement shifts the tech giant into a fresh chapter. The Apple board of directors approved the move unanimously on Friday, April 17, 2026. Tim Cook will step into the executive chairman role on September 1, 2026. Ternus currently leads Apple Hardware Engineering as senior vice president and has worked at Apple since 2001. The Apple leadership transition follows a careful, long-term Apple succession plan designed to protect the company’s future.

Cook will keep running Apple through the summer while guiding Ternus into the top job. As Tim Cook, the executive chairman, plans to focus on policy matters and global government relations. “John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity,” Cook said. Ternus, age 50, will become the eighth CEO in the history of Apple. He joins the Apple board of directors on the same day his new role begins.

A New Era Begins for Apple Hardware Engineering and Leadership

Ternus joined the Apple product design team 25 years ago after studying mechanical engineering. He rose through Apple Hardware Engineering, shaping every iPhone, iPad, Mac, and AirPods generation during his tenure. His team recently launched the MacBook Neo, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro Max lineup. Under his watch, AirPods gained hearing aid features, turning them into wearable health tools. “I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said.

John Ternus is the new Apple CEO at a critical moment for the company. Apple faces tariff pressures, supply chain complexity, and fierce competition in artificial intelligence tools. From my standpoint, his engineering background gives Apple a builder’s mindset during this global tech shift. The company will also promote Johny Srouji to chief hardware officer, expanding his current duties.

The Cook Legacy and the Apple Succession Plan

Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011 and grew Apple into a 4 trillion dollar company. Revenue climbed from 108 billion dollars in 2011 to more than 416 billion dollars in fiscal 2025. Apple now operates in over 200 countries with 500 retail stores and 2.5 billion active devices. Arthur Levinson, the current chairman, will become the lead independent director on the same date.

The Apple leadership transition protects the roadmap Cook built around privacy, services, and custom silicon. Services now generate over 100 billion dollars yearly, matching the scale of a Fortune 40 business. Ternus will inherit strong product lines and a loyal customer base across every major market. His first test will involve pushing Apple deeper into artificial intelligence and next-generation Siri tools.

What Investors Should Watch Next

John Ternus is the new Apple CEO, so expect a strong focus on product execution. Investors will watch how he balances hardware innovation with new service growth across the company. The Apple succession plan offers continuity because Ternus understands every layer of the current product lineup. For you as a reader, this change signals stability rather than disruption at one of the world’s largest companies.

Yalla payment services approval brings the UAE closer to cashless finance

The Yalla payment services approval moves a growing fintech one step closer to serving customers across the UAE. On Monday, Yalla Financial Solutions said the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) had granted it an In-Principle Approval for a Retail Payment Services Category II License. The nod falls under the CBUAE Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation. This is not the final license yet. It signals the company has cleared an early, serious gate.

What the Yalla payment services approval means for you

For anyone who taps a phone to pay for coffee or sends money home at the end of the month, licensing like this matters more than it sounds. A Category II License lets a firm handle regulated payment activity under close supervision. Behind the paperwork sits a simple promise. Your money should move safely, and someone should answer for it if something goes wrong.

The Yalla payment services approval signals that the company met the CBUAE’s early conditions. Full authorisation still depends on finishing the remaining requirements. Once that happens, Yalla can build out its payment capabilities inside one of the most active digital finance markets anywhere.

A milestone in Yalla’s journey

Waleed Sadek, CEO and Founder of Yalla Financial Solutions, framed the moment plainly. He said receiving the In-Principle Approval reflects the company’s commitment to building trusted, secure, and innovative payment infrastructure in one of the world’s most advanced digital economies. Sadek added that the UAE has become a global hub for financial innovation through a forward-looking regulatory environment and a clear vision for digital transformation.

“We are proud to be part of this journey and look forward to working closely with the Central Bank of the UAE to complete the remaining regulatory requirements and obtain the final Retail Payment Services Category II License,” Sadek said.

Why the timing fits

The Yalla payment services approval lands as the country pushes hard toward cashless living. Dubai’s Cashless Strategy targets 90 percent of transactions going digital, according to Digital Dubai, and analysts at Mordor Intelligence value the UAE fintech market at about 52 billion dollars in 2026. Numbers like these describe a shift you can feel at the checkout counter, in the taxi, at the corner shop.

More UAE digital payments flow through licensed players each year. That growth pulls in global names and homegrown firms alike. Earlier this year, Revolut secured its own In-Principle Approval for the same Category II license, a sign of how crowded and serious this space has become.

What comes next for Yalla

The road from In-Principle Approval to a live service runs through compliance, testing, and final sign-off. As a payment service provider, Yalla must satisfy the CBUAE on safeguards for customer funds, risk controls, and reporting. None of that is quick. All of it protects the person on the other side of the transaction.

The Yalla payment services approval is a beginning, not a finish line. If the company clears the final steps, everyday users could gain another trusted way to pay, send, and receive. For a market racing toward a cashless future, one more supervised option is welcome news.

By Amira Khalil
3 min read

Prediction Market

Midterms Hub by Kalshi Brings Live Election Odds Into One Map Dashboard

The Midterms Hub by Kalshi gives you one place to watch how traders expect the 2026 elections to end. Kalshi is a prediction market platform. A prediction market lets people buy and sell contracts tied to a real event, so the price reads like live odds. The company opened the hub on Wednesday.

What the Midterms Hub by Kalshi shows

Open the page, and you see a map of the country. Each race carries a number, the current 2026 midterm election odds from Kalshi’s traders. The map covers individual Senate and House contests, plus several governor races. All 435 House seats are on the ballot this November, along with 35 of the 100 Senate seats. You can also check polling averages next to the market odds, which lets you compare two very different ways of reading a race. The hub adds the latest federal fundraising reports for candidates and a feed of curated news and analysis.

Most of the traffic is not from bettors. Kalshi said about three-quarters of its visitors come only to check current odds and never trade. That is the audience the hub targets, readers who want the data without placing money. The Midterms Hub by Kalshi gives them a single, plain view of every race.

Why prediction markets, not polls

Kalshi’s pitch leans on a simple idea. When people risk real money, they tend to say what they think will happen, not what they hope will happen. CEO Tarek Mansour argued in a statement that prediction markets resist spin and partisanship, showing what the crowd believes when real money is on the line. “That kind of clarity is rare right now, and that’s what people are getting with the Midterms Hub,” Mansour said.

Mansour studied at MIT and worked as a trader at Citadel and an analyst at Goldman Sachs. His argument is that market prices resist political bias better than surveys. Polls capture one moment, while market prices move all day as news breaks. That claim is contested, and polls and markets often disagree, so the hub shows both side by side.

A bigger political push

The Midterms Hub by Kalshi is the newest step in the company’s move into politics before November. In May, Kalshi rolled out the American Power Index, which it called an “S&P 500” for politics. The index tracks which party is up and which is down. Kalshi runs as a federally regulated exchange in the United States, where insider trading and market manipulation are illegal.

Money already in play

Interest in these platforms tends to climb during big elections. Many observers expect the 2026 midterm season to bring another jump in prediction market volume, much like the 2024 presidential race did. The money is already moving. More than $30 million has been traded on contracts tied to Senate and House control for 2026.

If you want to compare sources, you have options. Some readers track Kalshi vs Polymarket odds to see whether two markets land on the same number. When both agree, the read tends to feel firmer. For now, the Midterms Hub by Kalshi keeps that election forecasting in a single spot, alongside the polling, money, and news around each race.

By Leila Al-Khatib
3 min read

Digital Payments

Buy Now Pay Later Data From Tabby and Tamara Enters UAE Credit Reports

Buy Now Pay Later records from Tabby and Tamara will enter UAE credit reports from July 2026, changing how lenders read the finances of people who split payments into instalments, WAM announced today. Etihad Credit Bureau, the federal body that oversees credit information in the country, said the accounts of both current and new customers will be covered, along with relevant historical transactions. The move brings a fast-growing corner of consumer finance under the same reporting rules that already apply to loans, cards, and mortgages.

Buy Now Pay Later plans once sat outside the formal record. A shopper could hold several active instalments without any of them showing on a UAE credit report. That gap made it harder for banks to gauge how much a borrower owed. Now the picture becomes fuller.

Who governs the data?

The question behind this shift is not only about spending. It is about who holds the record and who answers for it. Etihad Credit Bureau sits at that centre, and its decision places two of the region’s largest fintech names, Tabby and Tamara, inside a regulated framework rather than beside it.

The Central Bank of the UAE recognised instalment schemes as a form of short-term credit in 2023. Under those rules, providers must check a borrower’s credit report once a total credit limit passes 5,000 dirhams. Late fees on these plans are capped at 30 percent of the purchase under central bank rules, and the plans carry no interest. Adding instalment data to the file makes that check sharper. Lenders and authorised entities can weigh a person’s full set of commitments before they approve more.

Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, Director General of Etihad Credit Bureau, said the Bureau wants credit reports to reflect the way consumer finance now works, with a broad view of what a person owes. His framing puts governance first. Better data, he argued, supports steadier decisions across the system.

Does BNPL affect credit score?

A common question among shoppers, does BNPL affect credit score, now has a firmer answer. Missed instalments could lower a score, while steady repayment could help build one. The UAE credit score runs from 300 to 900, and the report behind it is what lenders read to explain the number.

Hosam Arab, CEO and Co-founder of Tabby, said responsible lending starts with a clear view of a person’s money, and that customers who pay on time can now let that record count toward their wider standing. Sagar Shah, General Manager for Tamara in the UAE, tied the step to trust, saying it widens the door for more people to take part in the financial system.

What it means for the BNPL UAE market

The buy now pay later UAE market has expanded quickly as shoppers reach for interest-free instalments on everyday purchases. Bringing that activity into the credit file rewards discipline and exposes strain earlier. For new-to-credit customers, a clean instalment history can open a path toward loans and cards that once stayed out of reach.

Etihad Credit Bureau framed the addition as part of a longer effort to work with banks, fintech firms, and other data providers. The aim, in its account, is a credit system that sees more and misses less.

By Mariam Al-Yazidi
3 min read

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John Ternus Is the New Apple CEO as Tim Cook Shifts to Chairman

John Ternus Is the New Apple CEO as Tim Cook Shifts to Chairman

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A New Era Begins for Apple Hardware Engineering and Leadership