No, you won’t see Tim Cook during the iPhone 18 Pro event

While Tim Cook is no longer the CEO of Apple, he isn’t going anywhere soon. Just don’t expect him to take part in the September iPhone event video.

The CEO transition from Tim Cook to John Ternus is continuing to roll on. However, while Cook isn’t leaving Apple, his change in role to the chairman of the board of directors means that he isn’t going to be the usual public-facing executive this time around.

Writing in Sunday’s “Power On” newsletter, Mark Gurman insists that Tim Cook will not be in the Apple Event video at all. He will, however, still be at Apple Park, attending the screening.

The change is obviously due to needing Ternus to be the face of the company and the folding iPhone era. Cook appearing in the video will undermine that change entirely, weakening the new CEO’s position barely a week in the role.

It also helps that Tim Cook has already said goodbye in various forms. He did so during his last earnings call, in a memo to staff, and also publicly during the WWDC keynote.

Cook reappearing in the upcoming event would extend what is already a long goodbye even more.

Behind the scenes changes

While the transition will mean a change to the primary host of Apple events, it has also meant more changes out of public view. Cook has to make way for Ternus to work.

That has included Cook moving out of his office in Section 7 of Apple Park, and is instead getting a new office. Ternus will take over the CEO office, moving into the executive suite for the first time and out of his usual location near the hardware engineering teams.

The transition process has also involved Cook and Ternus praising each other in public gatherings and in internal comms. But at the same time, Cook has indicated he will still be at work within the company.

This includes telling employees in his last CEO memo that he looks forward to seeing them in Apple campuses around the world. He’s also going to be paid handsomely, with a base salary of $2 million as well as a potential $45 million in restricted stock units in 2027.

By comparison, non-executive chairman Art Levinson who Cook now replaces, was paid less than $560,000 last year. That figure includes the salary, stock, and other compensation.

With a pay packet that size, it’s expected that Cook will be hard at work in his new position.