Phil Schiller exits Apple’s App Store and events roles

Phil Schiller is stepping down from two operating roles at Apple, giving up responsibility for the App Store and the company’s product events while remaining an Apple Fellow. He will continue working at Apple on unspecified initiatives, but the change removes him from two functions that have shaped the company’s relationship with developers, regulators and customers.

Apple is preparing for John Ternus to succeed Tim Cook as CEO, with Cook moving to executive chairman. The reports available on August 31, 2026, differ slightly on the handoff date: The Verge’s account says Ternus takes over on September 1, while MacRumors describes August 31 as Cook’s final day as CEO, with the transition beginning immediately.

Schiller is 66 and first joined Apple in 1987. He left in 1993, returned in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to the company, and went on to become head of marketing in 1997. He helped launch the App Store with Jobs in 2008 and took direct responsibility for the store in 2015.

“as long as they will have me”

He became an Apple Fellow in 2020 after handing the senior vice president of marketing role to Greg Joswiak. That move reduced his day-to-day responsibility, but Schiller continued to oversee the App Store and Apple’s launch events. The latest change narrows the role again, and employees told Bloomberg that it appears to be another step toward retirement. Schiller had previously said he wanted more time for family, friends and personal projects; a 2024 Wall Street Journal report said he was working close to 80 hours a week.

Eddy Cue takes the App Store organization

Apple is moving the App Store under Eddy Cue, the company’s services chief and the executive who oversaw the store until 2015. Carson Oliver will handle day-to-day App Store operations. The Verge’s account says Oliver will work with Ann Thai, who leads app distribution tools and third-party marketplaces.

MacRumors instead identifies Schiller’s deputy, Nola Weinstein, as the incoming head of the events team. Weinstein will report to Kristin Huguet Quayle, Apple’s vice president of communications and public relations. The changes split Schiller’s former remit across Apple’s services and communications organizations rather than replacing him with one executive.

The App Store facilitated more than $1.4 trillion in transactions in 2025, according to the reporting. Its policies have become a recurring target of regulators and app developers. Schiller has been responsible for Apple’s response during the European Union’s Digital Markets Act compliance fight, its legal dispute with Epic Games, and regulatory changes affecting app distribution and payments in Brazil and Japan.

Cue’s expanded role will cover the store’s catalog management, developer tools, alternative marketplaces, payment systems and Apple’s control over software distribution. The sources do not specify whether Cue’s appointment changes Apple’s policy positions or merely its reporting structure.

A broader executive reset at Apple

Schiller’s move adds to a sequence of senior departures and reshuffles that will greet Ternus as he takes over. Luca Maestri left the chief financial officer role in January 2025. Apple has also seen the departures of COO Jeff Williams, design chief Alan Dye and AI chief John Giannandrea, while Lisa Jackson, the company’s environmental and policy lead, retired in 2025.

Apple is replacing general counsel Kate Adams with Jennifer Newstead, the former chief legal officer at Meta. The changes span finance, operations, design, artificial intelligence, policy and legal affairs rather than forming a single reorganization around the App Store.

They also come as Apple is adjusting product priorities. We reported on August 22 that Apple was cutting more than 200 jobs across its Vision Pro, Siri and AI teams while moving smart glasses higher on its product priority list in the company’s broader hardware and software reshuffle. Schiller’s departure from product events does not establish a change to Apple’s launch strategy, but it removes one of the executives most closely associated with presenting the company’s products over multiple generations.

Schiller helped launch the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and presented many of those products on stage. His continued Apple Fellow status means he has not announced a departure from the company. He is transferring authority over the App Store and events as Ternus takes responsibility for the wider organization.

Apple had not immediately responded to requests for comment in the supplied reporting. The company has also not publicly detailed Schiller’s new initiatives, so the practical scope of his remaining work—and whether the App Store and events changes are permanent—has not been disclosed.