Apple CEO Cook to Step Down in 2026; ZhiJie V9 May Support Apple Device Integration

Apple Inc. announced that current CEO Tim Cook will transition to the role of Executive Chairman of the Board effective September 1, 2026, with John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, succeeding him as CEO. Cook has served as Apple’s CEO since 2011, marking a 15-year tenure. Previously, in February 2024, Apple officially canceled its decade-long autonomous electric vehicle project and notified the approximately 2,000-member project team that related work would be terminated. Guo Rui, Chairman and CEO of Zhiji Auto, publicly expressed gratitude to Cook for his contributions to the global smart terminal industry and acknowledged the regret that Apple’s car never reached the market. Zhao Changjiang, Executive Director and Executive Vice President of Zhiji Auto, stated that the upcoming Zhiji V9 aims to fill this gap and may support interoperability with Apple devices along with additional intelligent features. Specific functionalities will be confirmed based on official announcements. Previously, Yu Chengdong, Huawei’s Executive Director, had announced in September 2023 that the Aito M9 would support Apple CarPlay integration.