To the Apple neighborhood:
For the previous 15 years I’ve began nearly each morning the identical method. I open my electronic mail and I learn notes I acquired the day earlier than from Apple’s customers everywhere in the world.
You share little items of your lives with me and inform me stuff you need me to learn about how Apple has touched you. Concerning the second your mother was saved by her Apple Watch. Concerning the excellent selfie you captured on the summit of a mountain that appeared unattainable to climb. You thank me for the methods Mac has modified what you are able to do at work and generally give me a tough time as a result of one thing you care about isn’t working prefer it ought to.
In each a kind of emails I really feel the beating coronary heart of our shared humanity. I really feel a way of deepening obligation to work more durable and push additional. However most of all, I really feel a gratitude that I can not put into phrases, that I by some means acquired to be the particular person on the opposite finish of these emails, the chief of an organization that ignites imaginations and enriches lives in such profound methods it defies description. What an honor and a privilege it has been.
At the moment we introduced that I’m taking the following step in my journey at Apple. Over the approaching months I can be transitioning into a brand new position, leaving the CEO job behind in September and turning into Apple’s government chairman. A brand new particular person can be entering into what I do know in my coronary heart is the most effective job on the earth. That chief is John Ternus, an excellent engineer and thinker who has spent the previous 25 years constructing the Apple merchandise our customers love a lot, obsessive about each element, targeted on each potential method we will make one thing higher, bolder, extra stunning, and extra significant. He’s the right particular person for the job.
John cares a lot about who we’re at Apple, what we do at Apple, who we attain at Apple, and he has the center and character to guide with extraordinary integrity. I’m so proud to name him Apple’s subsequent CEO. This firm will attain such unimaginable heights beneath his management, and you’ll really feel his impression in each bit of enjoyment and discovery that grows out of the services to come back. I can’t wait so that you can get to know him like I do.
This isn’t goodbye. However at this second of transition, I wished to take the chance to say thanks. Not on behalf of the corporate, this time, although there’s a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our partitions. However merely on behalf of me. Tim. An individual who grew up in a rural place in a distinct time and, for these magical moments, acquired to be the CEO of the best firm on the earth. Thanks for the arrogance and kindness you’ve proven me. Thanks for saying hello to me on the road and in our shops. Thanks for cheering alongside me once we unveiled a brand new services or products. Thanks, most of all, for believing in me to guide the corporate that has all the time put you on the heart of our work. On daily basis we rise up and take into consideration what we will do to make your life a bit bit higher. And on daily basis, you’ve made mine the most effective I may have requested for.
Thanks.
Tim Prepare dinner

