The 11 Most Significant Moments of Tim Cook’s Tenure As Apple CEO.
It’s the end of an era: On Monday , Tim Cook announced his intention to step down as Apple’s CEO . He will be succeeded by John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, in September, making Apple’s second CEO since Steve Jobs stepped down in 2011. In the nearly 15 years since Tim Cook took the helm, Apple Inc. has seen a lot happen, but some moments stand out more than others. I’ve highlighted 11 products and decisions the company announced or made during Cook’s tenure that, in my view, defined the period.
Apple introduced Siri in 2011.
Tim Cook’s first major product announcement actually took place while Steve Jobs was still alive. On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4s, and while the phone looked fairly similar to the iPhone 4, it introduced one feature that still defines the company today: Siri. It was a groundbreaking concept for iPhone users; instead of checking the Weather app, you could ask Siri what the temperature was outside; instead of setting your own alarms, you could ask Siri to do it for you; if you were driving, you could ask Siri to read your messages or check your calendar for upcoming events.
Of course, Siri has evolved from an iPhone exclusive to a smart assistant found in all Apple products—even if it’s not the most functional option on the market. The company announced an AI update for Siri back at WWDC 2024, but the updates have been continually delayed .
Apple’s Maps app first came out in 2012 (and it wasn’t a success).
Apple Maps wasn’t always the default navigation app on the iPhone. In fact, for the first five years of the smartphone’s existence, Apple used a built-in version of Google Maps for route planning. But in 2012, the company decided to split from Google and release its own mapping app.
You may or may not prefer Apple Maps today, but in 2012, it was a completely different app—and by that , I mean a complete failure . Apple Maps was missing cities, missing landmarks, and even featured a driver driving off an overpass on its icon. This PR nightmare was so bad that Apple’s former VP of iOS, Scott Forstall, left the company, refusing to sign an apology for the app . While many of us who lived through that experience still distrust Apple Maps, many iPhone users now choose it over other options.
In 2014, before AirPods even appeared, Apple acquired Beats by Dre.
Before Apple revolutionized the wireless headphone market with AirPods, the company sold two types of wired over-ear headphones: standard EarPods and premium ” in-ear headphones ,” which closely resemble the wired AirPods Pro. But the company didn’t directly transition from these headphone options to AirPods: before doing so, it decided to acquire Beats by Dre. The deal was huge : Apple paid $3 billion for Beats and decided to retain the brand. It took several years before the company began offering its own premium headphones under the Apple brand, so from 2014 to 2016, Beats were the most popular “Apple headphones.”
The company introduced the first Apple Watch in 2014.
When Apple first announced the Apple Watch in 2014 , its premium “Edition” line truly made a splash. (Apple selling a $10,000 watch made of gold? Who would buy that?) But while it could easily have been mistaken for a purely luxury product at the time, it eventually attracted mass-market attention thanks to more affordable options that replaced the premium materials with aluminum. Apple still offers higher-end Apple Watch models, but quickly ditched the gold (and the five-figure price tags).
The first watch was similar in many ways to today’s: it paired with an iPhone, supported messaging, heart rate tracking, and interchangeable bands. But the Apple Watch has also evolved significantly. Sure, it’s much faster today, but it also offers many more features, including cellular connectivity, sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring, and an SOS emergency call if you ever need help. Tim Cook seems particularly passionate about the product , frequently sharing stories of customers who have changed their lives thanks to the watch or whose lives it saved.
In 2018, Apple became the first American company to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion.
On August 3, 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded company in the US to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion . It was a significant moment, especially considering how close Apple came to financial ruin in the 1990s and how some doubted the company’s future after the death of Steve Jobs. The company continued to reach financial milestones over the years, and today , Tim Cook steps down from the company with a market capitalization of $4 trillion .
Apple introduced the first wireless AirPods in 2016.
Apple famously released the iPhone 7 without a headphone jack . While it was possible to use an adapter to connect existing wired headphones to the phone, the company had a solution: buy wireless over-ear headphones instead. Apple colleague Phil Schiller’s comments that this decision was a result of “courage” are still ridiculed, but Apple clearly had the last laugh. AirPods became incredibly popular and arguably played a huge role in popularizing wireless headphones in general. The original product was relatively expensive—$169 for a seemingly wireless version of the free EarPods that came with every previous iPhone—but it became incredibly popular. Apple now offers “entry” AirPods, a noise-canceling version, “pro” AirPods with replaceable ear tips, and over-ear headphones that are prohibitively expensive. Like the Apple Watch, it’s one of those products you can’t help but see on the street.
The Apple TV streaming service was first announced in 2017.
I remember when Apple first announced Apple TV—a streaming service, not an existing streaming device. At the time, it was just another streaming service to keep up with, and I was already experiencing subscription fatigue. Sure, Apple was huge, but trying to break into a market dominated by Netflix, Hulu, and HBO seemed foolish. That’s probably why I don’t run a trillion-dollar company: Apple TV+ is now Apple’s streaming service, home to some of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows currently airing , including Ted Lasso , Breakup , Downsizing , and For All Mankind .
In 2017, to mark Apple’s 10th anniversary, the iPhone X was released with significant design changes.
Over its nearly 20-year history, the iPhone has undergone numerous design changes and upgrades, but perhaps none compares in scale to the iPhone X. For the product’s 10th anniversary, Apple completely redesigned its appearance and functionality. Gone are the Home button, large top and bottom bezels, and the LCD screen; in their place are Face ID and an edge-to-edge OLED display (minus the camera notch, of course). This design still looks quite fresh almost 10 years later: no one would bat an eye if you were using an iPhone X today—though, unfortunately, it doesn’t support the latest version of iOS.
Apple began developing its own chips in 2020.
If I had to single out one moment as the most important, it would be Apple Silicon. In 2020, Apple officially abandoned Intel, opting instead to create its own chips for the Mac. The company had already done this for the iPhone, and the same successful formula worked for a product line that was desperately in need of improvement. Since then, Apple has had complete control over the Mac: it produces both the hardware and the software and can optimize the experience to its liking. The current Mac lineup is arguably the best ever, but at the same time, many people who bought one of the first M-series Macs five years ago are still using them. I’m writing this on an iMac with an M1 processor, which I have no plans to upgrade anytime soon.
Apple announced its Vision Pro mixed reality headset in 2024.
After years of speculation, Apple finally entered the headset market in 2024 with the Apple Vision Pro . This mixed reality headset combines impressive hardware with a unique operating system (visionOS), providing the perfect experience for Apple users interested in XR. You can connect your MacBook to the headset to display a virtual ultra-widescreen monitor; make FaceTime calls using a virtual character; and watch videos shot on your iPhone in spatial reality.
Still, the Vision Pro is a tough choice for most people. Its high starting price ($3,499) exceeds most of the company’s professional Macs, and its functionality is significantly inferior. It may be technically superior to other products on the market, but when you can buy the Meta Quest for almost a tenth of the price (with far better software support), there’s no compelling reason for most people to pay that much. Thus, the Vision Pro is a rare miss for Apple today, but it’s a significant moment nonetheless.
The new MacBook Neo, released this year, cut the price of the base MacBook Air in half.
Apple Silicon processors may be the most important development in Tim Cook’s Mac lineup, but the MacBook Neo is likely to be the most important Mac yet. Apple took the iPhone chip, placed it in a simple MacBook case, and priced it at $599 ( $499 with an education discount ). Despite 8GB of RAM and macOS running on an “A” series chip rather than an “M” series, most users will likely be able to get the job done with the Neo, at half the price of the previous entry-level MacBook Air. It’s too early to say how much of an impact this device will have on the personal computer market, but I suspect it will be colossal.