Today Marks 10 Years Since Tim Cook Became Apple’s CEO
On this day ten years ago, Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of the company he built and officially named Tim Cook as Apple’s new head. Two months later, Steve Jobs passed away and the future of Apple lay solely on the shoulders of Tim Cook.
Tim Cook took over Apple at a turbulent time when Jobs was battling pancreatic cancer and the company’s future seemed uncertain. Questions were widespread after Tim Cook took over, including whether Cook would continue in the footsteps of Jobs or create a new vision for the future of Apple.
A day after he became CEO, Cook sent a letter to Apple employees, promising that despite Jobs no longer being at the helm, Apple “is not going to change.”
The first device that launched with Tim Cook as CEO was the iPhone 4S in 2011, which was announced one day before Jobs’ death. Jobs had overseen the development of the device, but it was the first iPhone that had launched under Tim Cook.
The first iPhone to have been fully developed under Tim Cook was the iPhone 5 in 2012. The iPhone 5 represented a major turning point in the iPhone’s history, as it was the first time since the iPhone 4 in 2010 that the device got a significant redesign. The iPhone 5 featured an all-new thin design and was the first iPhone with a larger display.
Two years later, the Apple Watch was announced as Cook’s first “One more thing” product announcement, a phrase that Jobs had pioneered and used only to signify major revolutionary products. The Apple Watch was not only the first completely new product from Apple in the post-Jobs era; it was also the first new product for Apple under Cook.
Cook’s second “One more thing” reveal would arrive in 2017, the year that marked the tenth anniversary of the first iPhone. For this special occasion, Apple announced the iPhone X, featuring the biggest redesign to the iPhone in its history.
In the years that followed, Apple under Cook would release new products and services, and would go on to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company. Looking forward, Cook has said he doesn’t expect to remain Apple’s CEO for the next ten years, but his influence on the company is surely not done just yet.
