Tim Cook and John Ternus at Apple Park. | Apple Tim Cook has announced that he will step down as the CEO of Apple on September 1, handing over the reins to Apple’s head of hardware engineering, John Ternus as he transitions to the role of executive chairman. The announcement marks the end of a nearly 15-year run at the helm of Apple, which Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011. Cook has been at the company since 1998. He will remain in his current role through the summer to transition Ternus as the new CEO — a move that was approved unanimously by Apple’s board of directors. “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company.…