India, Sept. 1 -- Before John Ternus, there was a famous Jony Ive era that built with aesthetic obsession. The very first MacBook Pro with Retina Display in the early 2010s is an example. John Ternus has evolved that approach, on three key characteristics.

For years, it was accepted that laptops would start heating up and performance throttling was an inevitability. That changed with a greater focus on thermals and materials to accompany Apple's Silicon performance pursuits. That's paid dividends, across iPhone, iPad and Mac.

For years, Apple's famed sync between hardware and software, was a known thing. Ternus amplified that in ways previously not done, working closely with chip architect and senior vice president of hardware technolog...