More on Apple’s CEO transition

Welcome to 9to5MacDaily for Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026. I'm your host, Chance Miller. We are supported this week by Card Pointers. Leading off today, iOS 27 is set to be unveiled on June 8th at WWDC, and a new leak indicates the software update could drop support for four iPhone models. According to the rumor, iOS 27 will not support the iPhone 11 series, So that's the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. It will also reportedly drop support for the second-generation iPhone SE. The iPhone 11 was officially released in September of 2019, so it's had going on seven years of consistent software updates. The iPhone SE 2, meanwhile, was released in April of 2020. And even if iOS 27 drops support for these devices, they will continue to receive important security fixes for years to come. For example, Apple still releases security updates for iPhones released over a decade ago, rather than leaving those users out to dry altogether. Notably, this will mark the second year in a row that Apple has dropped several iPhone models from its major iOS update. iOS 26 dropped the iPhone XS generation. Many of iOS 27's tentpole features are expected to involve Apple intelligence, and those features will require the iPhone 15 Pro or later. So as usual, even if your iPhone can still run iOS 27, it may or may not support all of the best features. In addition to those AI updates, iOS 27 is expected to be a mostly stability and bug fix update as Apple looks to clean up the code and improve the overall experience for iPhone users We sponsored this week by Card Pointers the best way to earn more from your credit cards every day Card Pointers shows you in-depth details about rewards and offers for each of your cards. Most Card Pointers users save more than $750 per year with these recommendations. Card Pointers is available on all of Apple's platforms, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. 9to5Mac daily listeners can exclusively save 30% and get a $100 savings card by hitting the link in the show notes. My thanks to Card Pointers for their support of the show. Next up today, Apple's Tim Cook and John Ternus held an all-hands meeting with Apple employees yesterday in Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. The meeting, of course, came one day after the announcement that Ternus will take over as Apple CEO in September. During the meeting, Cook offered more insight into why he decided to begin the transition now and what his plans are for his role as Apple's executive chairman. First, Cook, who is 65, shot down rumors that he's facing any sort of health problems. Bloomberg had previously reported that some Apple employees had noticed Cook had an unexplained trimmer that causes his hands to shake from time to time. During the all-hands meeting, Cook said, quote, I'm excited to continue my journey at Apple as executive chairman. I am healthy, my energy is high, and I plan to be in this new executive chairman role for a long time. So this signals that Cook serving as executive chairman won't be a short, temporary solution to help ease the transition to John Ternus, but rather something he's planning to do for an indefinite amount of time. Cook said he will be available to support Ternus whenever needed including helping with policy relations around the world as well as quote on some other things end quote He continued I be here to support John in any way he needs and in any way I can I'll be here to offer my knowledge and experience and be a sounding board anytime I'm called upon. Apple will be my top priority. It's who I am at my core, and I can't imagine it any other way. When asked why he decided to step down now, Cook said he wanted to allow for the best-ever transition to Ternus to occur. This meant that three things needed to be true. Apple's product roadmap needed to be incredible, Apple's financials needed to be doing great, and Ternus had to be ready for the role. All of those three things are true at this very moment. Ternus, meanwhile, said he is especially excited to be stepping into this role at this moment, quote, because I am telling you we are about to change the world once again. end quote. He also emphasized that Apple will continue to focus on design, which he believes is core to the company. In other news today, following Monday's announcement, a report from Bloomberg details how Apple employees internally reacted to the news that John Ternus is taking over as Apple CEO. The report explains that for the most part, Tim Cook has taken a hands-off approach to specific product decisions. As CEO, he of course has the final say on things, but for the most part, he chooses to leave decisions to other top executives. Ternus will make decisions when it comes to product development, according to one person who has worked closely with both executives cited by Bloomberg. That person said that if he go to Tim Cook with A or B, he won't pick. He'll ask a series of questions instead if he has concerns. Ternus on the other hand will choose It could be right or it could be wrong but at least it a decision that person said Furthermore Ternus has already told staffers that he will remain closely involved with hardware engineering efforts. This, of course, is another contrast to Cook, who remained involved in important supply chain and operation management decisions after becoming CEO, but again largely took a hands-off approach on products. Cook, of course, has overseen the launch of groundbreaking products like Apple Watch and AirPods. He's also overseen Apple's push into services with things like Apple Music and Apple TV. Meanwhile, Bloomberg says Ternus will also face the ongoing challenge of retaining Apple's top talent and other executives. As Apple's executive team has gotten over, there's been a number of changes over the last 12 months. Bloomberg says that Mike Rockwell, who was once leading Apple's Vision Pro project and now oversees Siri, has been contemplating leaving the company. Bloomberg says Rockwell has reservations about reporting to his new boss, Software Chief Craig Federighi. Rockwell wants a larger role, something that he hasn't been given at Apple. Cook and Ternas, however, did stave off the departure of Johnny Surugi, the mastermind behind Apple Silicon and Apple's other technology efforts. by giving him a broader and bigger role, now serving as Apple's chief hardware officer. But again, as Apple's executive team gets older, this is a problem Turnus will have to continue dealing with through his years as Apple's new CEO. That wraps up another episode of 9to5Mac Daily. You can find all of the latest Apple news on 9to5Mac.com, follow along with me on threads at Chance H. Miller, and we'll be back tomorrow for a new episode of 9to5Mac Daily.