Apple’s New CEO Will Need to Stave Off Exodus of Top Talent

John Ternus, Apple Inc.’s next chief executive officer, is up against a major challenge as he settles into the role: retaining top talent during a time of historic turnover.

After years of relative calm, the company has suffered a wave of recent departures — both among C-suite executives and rank-and-file engineers. It’s up to Ternus, who succeeds Tim Cook in September, to stabilize the workforce.

Apple got a recent taste of just how easy it is to lose some of its most prized talent. At the end of last year, celebrated chip executive Johny Srouji told Cook ...