Apple on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) elevated its senior vice president Sabih Khan to take over the role of the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) from Jeff Williams, who transitions out this month and retires later in the year.

Who is Mr. Khan and what is his area of expertise?

Apple’s new COO Sabih Khan has a background in engineering and economics, having earned his bachelor’s degrees in economics and mechanical engineering from Tufts University, and he holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics before joining Apple’s procurement group in 1995.

Mr. Khan has worked at Apple for around 30 years, joining the executive team as senior vice president of Operations in 2019. Since then, he has focused on Apple’s global supply chain, including areas such as product quality, planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, product fulfilment functions, and Apple’s supplier responsibility programmes for workers.

What is the significance of Mr. Khan’s appointment?

While Apple noted that the change in leadership was “part of a long-planned succession,” it comes at a time when the iPhone-maker is facing heavy pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to manufacture phones in the country or face penalties in the form of tariffs if they manufacture in China and India.

In addition to this, the long-delayed rollout of a Generative AI-enhanced Siri assistant has triggered customer anger and even legal action against Apple, as many people invested in the latest iPhone 16 series in order to experience these still pending features.

Because Mr. Khan’s specialty is supply chains, he will likely be expected to leverage his past experience and qualifications to address both the technological and market-based challenges that Apple is facing at present.

What has Tim Cook said about Mr. Khan?

Apple’s CEO has praised Mr. Khan, pointing out his contributions towards the company’s manufacturing process, environmental commitments, and response to challenges in the context of supply chains.

“Sabih is a brilliant strategist who has been one of the central architects of Apple’s supply chain. While overseeing Apple’s supply chain, he has helped pioneer new technologies in advanced manufacturing, overseen the expansion of Apple’s manufacturing footprint in the United States, and helped ensure that Apple can be nimble in response to global challenges. He has advanced our ambitious efforts in environmental sustainability, helping reduce Apple’s carbon footprint by more than 60 percent. Above all, Sabih leads with his heart and his values, and I know he will make an exceptional chief operating officer,” said Mr. Cook in an Apple press note.

Mr. Williams also appreciated Mr. Khan and noted they had worked together closely for 27 years, adding, “I think he’s the most talented operations executive on the planet. I have tremendous confidence in Apple’s future under his leadership in this role.”