苹果“四大金刚”撤退后，库克还能干多久？

Core Viewpoint - Apple's management team is experiencing significant upheaval, with multiple high-level executives departing, signaling a potential end to the "Cook era" and raising concerns about the company's future direction, particularly in AI innovation [2][4][10]. Executive Departures - CEO Tim Cook is rumored to potentially step down as early as next year, with hardware engineering senior vice president John Ternus being a leading candidate for succession [2][10]. - In the past six months, six core executives have left Apple, including COO Jeff Williams, CFO Luca Maestri, and AI and machine learning senior vice president John Giannandrea, among others [3][5][9]. - Alan Dye, the vice president of human interface design, has also announced his departure to join Meta, highlighting the competitive talent landscape in Silicon Valley [7][9]. AI Strategy Challenges - Giannandrea's exit comes amid criticism of Apple's slow progress in AI, particularly with the Siri assistant, which has faced multiple delays in upgrades [5][6]. - Apple is considering leveraging external AI technologies from companies like Anthropic or OpenAI to enhance Siri, indicating a shift from its self-developed models [6][11]. - The company is under pressure to innovate in AI to remain competitive, especially as the smartphone market reaches saturation [11][14]. Leadership Transition - The recent executive changes are seen as a precursor to a broader leadership transition, with Cook's potential retirement prompting the need for a new generation of leaders to drive innovation [10][14]. - John Ternus, who has been with Apple since 2001 and has significant experience in hardware engineering, is viewed as a strong internal candidate for the CEO position [12][13]. - There are concerns about whether Ternus's more conservative approach will be effective in an AI-driven future, raising questions about Apple's ability to innovate [13][14].