October 5 marks 15 years since the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple's current CEO John Ternus and former CEO — now Executive Chairman — Tim Cook both posted on X to commemorate him. Jobs died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Palo Alto, California, on October 5, 2011, at the age of 56 — one day after Apple introduced the iPhone 4s at its headquarters, and just over a month after he stepped down as CEO. Apple has marked the day in some form every year since: for the 10th anniversary in 2021, the company's homepage became a "Celebrating Steve" tribute with archival photos, video, and a statement from the Jobs family.
Cook shared a photograph of Jobs and wrote: "There are people who leave a mark on the world, and then there are people who change it entirely. Steve changed the world and so many lives in the process. He certainly changed my life forever. His spirit lives on in everything he created and everyone he inspired." Cook, who succeeded Jobs as CEO in August 2011, has marked the anniversary with personal tributes every year since, and continues the tradition in his new role as executive chairman.
Ternus wrote: "The way Steve taught us to care about every detail, every experience, every person, still guides our work today. Forever grateful." Ternus joined Apple's Product Design team in 2001 and rose to lead hardware engineering during Jobs' final decade as CEO. Where Cook looked outward at Jobs' impact on the world, Ternus focused inward on what Jobs left inside Apple: an obsession with detail and experience.
This year's anniversary carries extra weight: it is the first October 5 since Ternus officially became CEO on September 1. Apple announced the leadership transition in April, with Cook ending his 15-year run as CEO to become executive chairman. Fifteen years ago, Jobs stepped down on August 24, 2011, Cook took over, and Jobs died less than two months later; Ternus now stands where Cook stood then. Apple did not turn its homepage into a "Celebrating Steve" tribute as it did for the 10th anniversary in 2021, but its "Remembering Steve" page remains live, with more than one million messages submitted from around the world.
Beyond the tributes, Ternus is putting the design DNA of the Jobs era back front and center. Bloomberg reports that since taking over, Ternus has embedded himself with the industrial design and human interface teams, making product design a top priority — effectively installing himself as Apple's new design chief. It is a return to Jobs' philosophy that detail is the product — and, at least in the public narrative, the new CEO is positioning himself as the heir to that legacy.