Phil Schiller has relinquished his last two major operational duties - oversight of the App Store and Apple's product events - people familiar with the move said. Schiller, who left the senior vice president of marketing role in 2020 but continued to run events afterward, made the change in recent days, just ahead of John Ternus taking over as chief executive officer on Tuesday. Tim Cook - who took over from Steve Jobs in 2011 and has helmed Apple for 15 years - is set to move into the role of executive chairman.
Schiller will remain at the company as an Apple Fellow and told employees he plans to work on unspecified initiatives. An Apple spokesperson in Cupertino, California, declined to comment. Internally, many see this as a major step toward Schiller eventually retiring and a sign of the leadership transitions that Ternus will need to navigate.
Bloomberg News has reported that Apple's previous general counsel and the executive running its Pay division are both slated to depart in October.
Apple is shifting responsibility for the App Store back into the services group overseen by Eddy Cue. Cue ran the marketplace until 2015, when it moved under Schiller and marketing, and he is taking on a more prominent role under Ternus. Day-to-day leadership of the App Store now sits with Carson Oliver, a veteran of the organization who will report straight to Eddy Cue.
Schiller split App Store oversight two years ago, assigning Oliver to run the storefront and putting Ann Thai in charge of developer tools related to distribution and third‑party marketplaces. Under the new structure, Thai reports to Oliver. Cue's remit now includes the Apple Arcade gaming service, and its lead, Alex Rofman, will also report to Oliver.
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In his App Store capacity, Schiller served as the key decision-maker on contentious app approvals and developer conflicts, pushed through policy shifts and revenue-share tweaks prompted by lawsuits and new regulations, and confronted Epic Games Inc. in a protracted court battle over in‑app purchases. Annual revenue from the App Store is estimated to exceed $30 billion.
On the events side, Schiller is handing oversight to Nola Weinstein, his deputy since 2023. Weinstein will report to Kristin Huguet Quayle, who serves as the company's vice president for communications and public relations. That communications organization managed events until around 2019. Apple's next showcase is scheduled for Sept. 9 to unveil a foldable iPhone and new Apple Watches.
Schiller has been central to Apple's product story - helping introduce the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and numerous Mac models - and worked with Steve Jobs to establish the App Store. His narrowed portfolio comes amid wider leadership shifts: Jeff Williams, the longtime operations chief; Dan Riccio, the former hardware chief; Luca Maestri, the finance chief; and Lisa Jackson, who oversees environment and government affairs, have either departed their posts or transitioned into diminished positions.
For investors, the reorganization consolidates key growth drivers under services, with Eddy Cue back in charge of the App Store and Carson Oliver running daily execution, while events leadership transitions to Nola Weinstein under Kristin Huguet Quayle. How these shifts unfold under incoming CEO John Ternus will be important for Apple's apps, services, and launch cadence.
