Q: Does Apple have the balls to buy Instinct? @markgurman believes famously M&A-shy Apple could be more trigger-happy with acquisitions under John Ternus. The biggest signal is new M&A leadership at the company. Mark broke the story a few weeks ago that Adrian Perica, the former head of M&A, was moved to a new position under Eddy Cue on the services side of the business. Steve Smith, Perica's former deputy, is now Apple's head of M&A. Mark believes this shakeup happened for two reasons: 1. Eddy Cue will eventually need a successor, and Perica is being positioned as a candidate. 2. John Ternus and the hardware team have had a decades-long gripe that Apple buys no one, and now they're finally in charge. "The joke with Apple M&A is they do nothing. It's the easiest job in the world. This is how the hardware guys think of it." "Ternus wants someone who will get cracking."