and business scholar , previously at Compaq and 12 years at IBM where he managed product and manufacturing inventories and chains . He 's credited with making Apple 's products stream reliably from their eastern manufacturing homes to their end users , and hot-tipped to replace Jobs by many . Recently introduced the high-profile Verizon iPhone . Once said : `` Replace Steve ? No , he 's irreplaceable . That 's something people have to get over . '' Odds for replacing Steve : Long , long , long . A good temporary replacement , but lacks dynamism and creative vision . Jonathan Ive Currently Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple . Highly regarded , award-winning brains behind nearly all of Apple 's iconic computing and mobile products since 1996 -- starting with the industry-startling original candy-color iMac , and recently refining the aluminum unibody designs that are now a design reference point . A highly accomplished presenter and speaker , he 's known as a perfectionist and thinks focus groups are a symptom of corporate `` creative bankruptcy . '' Odds for replacing Steve : Medium-long , as though he 's a super-hot property in the design
-LRB- Fast Company -RRB- -- The tech world 's getting used to the idea Steve Jobs is absent from Apple again , for medical reasons . We think he 'll be back soon . But one day he wo n't come back , and who might fill the big chair then ? For the time being Tim Cook is in control at Apple , as he has been every time Steve Jobs has had to take time to tackle his health issues . Cook 's time in the role has , self-evidently , been highly successful , and many commenters are tipping him to be Steve 's eventual successor -- with these stand-in periods acting as a carefully managed succession plan . But is Tim really the guy for the job , given that Steve is still active as CEO in the background , and all big decisions are still cycling through him ? Could someone else from inside Apple be a better fit , or is there someone working elsewhere we can imagine as the next Apple CEO ? Tim Cook Currently Apple COO , repeat stand-in for Steve Jobs . Demanding , keen-minded , unemotional . A science