Surely we all remember that 2016 FBI encryption fight? After a mass shooting at a holiday gathering in San Bernardino, California, the FBI demanded that Apple help unlock the gunman’s iPhone. Cook refused, arguing that encryption was the only meaningful countermeasure against exposing people’s private data and that being forced to break it would set a dangerous precedent. The standoff eventually ended when the FBI found another way in, but it cemented Apple’s identity as a privacy company and set up years of tension with governments around the world. Ternus will inherit that identity and the obligations that come with it.

The App Store antitrust wars haven’t been a walk in the park for Cook, either. Epic Games sued Apple in federal court over its requirement that apps use Apple’s in-app payment system and its 30% cut of sales (and when the judge pressed Cook on why users couldn’t simply pay developers directly at lower prices, his answers did little to deflect her skepticism). Apple largely prevailed in 2021, with the court declining to call it a monopoly, but it was ordered to allow developers to link to external payment options. It complied in the narrowest sense, charging a 27% commission on those external purchases (some discount!), and courts found it in contempt. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in late 2025, and after a rehearing request was denied last month, Apple is now preparing to petition the Supreme Court, which had already declined to hear its prior appeal. A lower court still must determine what fee Apple can actually charge.

The Epic saga is just one front in a much wider antitrust war. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple in March 2024, accusing it of unlawfully dominating the smartphone market by restricting third-party app and device developers — think competing smartwatches, digital wallets, and messaging services — in ways that make it harder for users to switch away from the iPhone. A federal judge denied Apple’s motion to dismiss that case, meaning it could grind through the courts for years. And just this week, Apple revealed it faces a potential $38 billion fine in India, where regulators have found it guilty of abusing its dominant position in the app market and say Apple has refused to hand over required financial data — a case complicated by the fact that Apple’s market share in India is still relatively modest, around 9%, giving it an unusual angle to contest the findings. Ternus inherits this fight mid-stream, with the App Store’s revenue model under direct judicial threat.

China has been a constant and increasingly uncomfortable balancing act, too. Cook built Apple’s manufacturing operation around Chinese supply chains, making the company deeply dependent on a country whose government grew both more assertive and less predictable over time. He also made uncomfortable concessions to operate in the Chinese market — most notably removing VPN apps from the Chinese App Store and storing Chinese users’ iCloud data on state-controlled servers. Cook proved adept during Trump’s first term at insulating Apple from tariffs and trade war risks, in part by cultivating a personal relationship with Trump — who remarked upon news of Cook’s retirement that he’s “an incredible guy!” Apple has already signaled that Cook will continue to help Ternus negotiate geopolitical terrain as executive chairman — an acknowledgment that these relationships are tricky and that Cook’s institutional knowledge remains highly valuable.