Apple CEO Tim Cook Responds to Retirement Rumors

[Flight Plan]

When he does retire I wonder when someone here will first say ‘Tim cook wouldn’t have let that happen’ I give it 6 months

Not nearly that long.

Well, if I remember your post at the time of his retirement, I'll make sure it won't take 6 months 😎

Pffft, I'll make sure it takes 6 minutes!

I guess these retirement rumors will pop up every few months now, til it actually happens. He is/was a great CEO for Apple, Jobs did wise choosing him.

I agree with you. Earpods, Apple Watch and ESPECIALLY Watch Ultra? Amazing. iPhone up to 17 now with a folding version on the horizon? And iPads and Macs with Apple silicon? He was and still IS a great CEO for Apple. And no, I didn't love everything he did.

My M4-MBP says you're laughably wrong

My M6 MBP (when I finally get it) will laugh at how wrong he was!

You can't knock the performance from a investor's perspective.

You ain't lying.

Tim Cook haters are such a joke. Apple has the best CEO, in. the. world. Go ahead, name another CEO that puts customer privacy first over profits.

They still, in the long run, went ahead with CSARS, didn't they? But yes, other than that, I agree with you.

Tim Apple has burnt through everything Jobs left in the pipeline, so it's time to cash out.

Steve Jobs died 14 years ago. He was amazing, but he didn't lay a huge nest of golden eggs before he passed. Meaning that his "pipeline" was emptied out probably 10 years ago.

And finally, the "Tim Apple" insult has been old, lazy, and just plain lame for a decade now.

Many here can't seem to understand how Cook propelling Apple to having 1+ Billion active/repeat/happy customers who love to purchase Apple products year after year after year directly translates into Apple having outstanding products that people love to buy.

And thus the Cook hate continues. Every day, going back 20 years. Apparently it feels good and is empowering to some.

Yep.

My M5 MacBook Pro, iPad Pro M5 11 Inch with Magic Keyboard, AirPods Pro 3s, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and iPhone 17 Pro Max definitely says that too

If my wife is any example that would be 1+ billion minus 1 and she is a non-technical user. I have lots of friends and family (also non technical users) that happen to not be teenagers, and they also hate what Apple software has become.

"...hate what Apple software has become..." People just say that but I can't see that actually being the case.

Let go boomer

I think this is a bigoted comment. It's a form of age discrimination that is inappropriate.

People always will complain about the negatives.

If complaining were an olympic sport...

But Tim has lead over some of the best Apple products. He introduce Apple Watch an AirPods. Not to mention my beloved iPhone mini.

I’ll never understand the Tim hate. Every company is going to have failed products and good ones.

I think the worst thing about the retail IT and software industry today is the "subscription model". But that's not Tim Cook's fault. Okay, well I DO blame him for making the iPad version of Logic a subscription-only deal. But that's all.

 

[carrrrrlos]

If geezers can “run” 'merica in their 80s, Tim’s got some runway.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

My M4-MBP says you're laughably wrong

Tim didn't have to "imagine" the M4 MacBook Pro. He just had to, like most years, tell his engineering team to prep it for a similar but faster chip.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I think this is a bigoted comment. It's a form of age discrimination that is inappropriate.

Agreed. I usually report said post as it is meant to be offensive.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

If geezers can “run” 'merica in their 80s, Tim’s got some runway.

And Tim is doing a better job.

 

[Alfonson]

Bro at this point, just retire.

Liquid Glass is a mess.
Apple Intelligence is an oxymoron.

Could care less about both. Except that over ear headset Apple released a lot of sweet products lately.

 

[klowy79]

Tim really wants to be heavily involved during this challenging time. He's a very good business/logistics guy. He's made some poor decisions on staff over the years, but he's kept Apple growing. Without him Apple wouldn't be here today. He saved Steve.

That’s funny.

 

[btrach144]

Love him or not, he's made Apple into an insane machine. There's been hiccups but I think he's done a pretty good job.

My wishlist:

1. iPad profiles. When you have two younger kids, they can share an iPad. I shouldn't have to buy two iPads.
2. Homekit Devices (at least a doorbell and security camera)
3. Cheaper XDR display. Make it like $2999.
4. Backlit touchid keyboard
5. Home management software for devices. Between my family, I estimate we have 22 devices. On major update days, it can be a chore to start the updates, apply the updates, and verify the install. Give me a remote management dashboard for my family so I can see what devices have updates and schedule them for while they sleep. Check back the next morning that they're good.

 

[kingtj1971]

Tim Cook has been in the seat for so long and made Apple the behemoth it is today. At the time of Steve Jobs passing Apple was valued at ~$340 Billion ($490B today) and is now ~3.75 Trillion. Cook announcing retirement would single handedly impact industry relations and the stock market...you don't do that on Good Morning America or announce it without board approval.

Most of Apple's huge valuation has to do with the company expanding far beyond a focus on the desktop computer. I think that was something that would have happened with or without Tim Cook at the helm. Tim started out following a multi year roadmap/plan that Jobs had laid out before he passed away -- so he was just following instructions for a long time.

I always felt unimpressed by Tim as CEO, to be honest. He was previously a supply chain management guy so had the skills to help Apple do better at manufacturing the right amount of product for launches and refreshes. That's likely what Jobs saw in him. That was historically a weak spot for Apple. But he absolutely gutted/destroyed the magic of the keynote speech/product announcement that Jobs started and made famous. Under Cook, all of it felt staged.

He also seemed to focus far too much on the iPad as a replacement for the laptop/notebook computer, and maybe even the personal desktop computer -- when it clearly only supplements them. The Mac took a big hit from that mindset, and I'm not sure it ever recovered, even after Apple moved it to the M series CPUs?

So sure, Apple as a whole rakes in a lot more cash now. But they did it mostly by selling cellphones and streaming music and video content. They lost sight of what the company really exceled at; making the ultimate personal computer.

 

[Jeeve Stubbs]

All CEOs are the same. They firmly deny any retirement rumors until the end. And it makes sense, business-wise: they don't want to be perceived as a lame duck.

 

[Black Belt]

Just fire him if he doesn’t leave peacefully. Need someone with more vision and more ability to get products done on time which he is so bad at it’s a joke.

 

[kagharaht]

Leave already. The sooner the better. He can hang out with his new Billionaire friends at you know where.

 

[teaneedz]

still hoping somebody gets "retired" over the stupidly broken ios keyboard which just continues to get worse

 

[Abazigal]

Just fire him if he doesn’t leave peacefully. Need someone with more vision and more ability to get products done on time which he is so bad at it’s a joke.

I don’t think the board is rushing to get rid of him anytime soon (so any departure would likely be on Tim’s terms), and I won’t be surprised if he continues to stay on in some advisory role. For example, the new CEO might focus solely on internal company affairs, while Tim Cook continues to manage external and political matters concerning Apple.

 

[cmiller4642]

Most of Apple's huge valuation has to do with the company expanding far beyond a focus on the desktop computer. I think that was something that would have happened with or without Tim Cook at the helm. Tim started out following a multi year roadmap/plan that Jobs had laid out before he passed away -- so he was just following instructions for a long time.

I always felt unimpressed by Tim as CEO, to be honest. He was previously a supply chain management guy so had the skills to help Apple do better at manufacturing the right amount of product for launches and refreshes. That's likely what Jobs saw in him. That was historically a weak spot for Apple. But he absolutely gutted/destroyed the magic of the keynote speech/product announcement that Jobs started and made famous. Under Cook, all of it felt staged.

He also seemed to focus far too much on the iPad as a replacement for the laptop/notebook computer, and maybe even the personal desktop computer -- when it clearly only supplements them. The Mac took a big hit from that mindset, and I'm not sure it ever recovered, even after Apple moved it to the M series CPUs?

So sure, Apple as a whole rakes in a lot more cash now. But they did it mostly by selling cellphones and streaming music and video content. They lost sight of what the company really exceled at; making the ultimate personal computer.

I’m pretty sure the M1 MacBook Air is one of the best selling laptops of all time

 

[ThomasJL]

When Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO, he appointed someone radically different from him to replace him. It's unlikely that Tim Cook will do that when he steps down as CEO. Cook will likely appoint someone similar to himself who will serve as a bean counter that puts shareholders first and cutomers last.

It would be great for customers if Scott Forstall was appointed as CEO, but that will not happen, even though Forstall was a visionary as well as Apple's most Jobs-like employee at the time he was fired.

Shortly after Jobs died, there were people referring to Forstall as Apple's "CEO-in-waiting." There is spectulation that that may have been one of the reasons, if not the main reason, that Cook fired Forstall, even though the Apple Maps-related situation was the reason cited for the firing. By firing Forstall, Cook didn't have to worry about people sooner-or-later calling for Forstall to replace him as CEO.

 

[paul4339]

Cook was an operations & supply chain expert, Jobs transitioned this part to Cook first; and kept the other parts for himself (product development and dealing with other legal matters) allowing Cook to do what he’s good at and time to transition - he was acting CEO on three separate occasions.

The same should be applied to Ternus;

If Ternus is good at product development and engineering, allow him to transition to that first - which is exactly what Apple is doing making him head of hardware and software.

… with Cook keeping the stuff that he’s good at - this allows Ternus time to do a great job to fix the product and roadmap side of things while; while Cook does stuff like dealing with Congress, tariffs, and supply chain… spreading Ternus (or whomever next CEO will be) too thin, too fast means that they will do a mediocre job at several things as opposed to a great job at the stuff they are good at.

 

[cmiller4642]

When Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO, he appointed someone radically different from him to replace him. It's unlikely that Tim Cook will do that when he steps down as CEO. Cook will likely appoint someone similar to himself who will serve as a bean counter that puts shareholders first and cutomers last.

It would be great for customers if Scott Forstall was appointed as CEO, but that will not happen, even though Forstall was a visionary as well as Apple's most Jobs-like employee at the time he was fired.

Shortly after Jobs died, there were people referring to Forstall as Apple's "CEO-in-waiting." There is spectulation that that may have been one of the reasons, if not the main reason, that Cook fired Forstall, even though the Apple Maps-related situation was the reason cited for the firing. By firing Forstall, Cook didn't have to worry about people sooner-or-later calling for Forstall to replace him as CEO.

I read the reason he was forced out was because the other executives couldn’t work with him. Apparently Jony Ive wouldn’t sit down in the same room with him unless Tim Cook was there.

 

[svish]

Think Tim will remain as CEO for another two years at least before taking on the role of Chairman of the Board. Anyway nothing will ever be known until Apple actually decides to make it public.

 

[Reelmower]

Cook didn't say in that interview that he won't step away from his current CEO role. Consider that he won't have "life without Apple" if he becomes Emeritus CEO or Chairman of the Board or takes on some honorific title that allows someone else (like Ternus) to take over the day-to-day hands-on management while Cook eases into semi-retirement as a kind of elder statesman figurehead.

Agreed. His statement made me believe the rumors.
I’m a fan of where Apple is right now. My M4 MacBook Air is amazing and my favorite computer ever. The same is true of my iPhone 16 and AirPod Pro 2. Tim has handled supply chain masterfully.

 

[XboxEvolved]

It’s pretty obvious that he is stepping down at least as CEO. The reshuffling and emphasis on certain executives, more emphasis being put on John Ternus. Also when the computer history museum had an event moderated by David Pogue, the top executives were in the audience from Apple to represent, but Cook was not present.

Indeed I think Cook will likely remain chairman but it’s time Apple has a fresh new 50.

 

[ghanwani]

The folding iPhone will cause him to fold.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Leave already. The sooner the better. He can hang out with his new Billionaire friends at you know where.

You'll all be very disappointed when the next CEO does the same thing. Kissing the ass of the person in charge is going to keep happening.

 

[Joe Bogger]

Please take Eddi with you when you close the door behind

 

[attila]

Tim Cook explained in an interview that Steve Jobs wanted a normal transition from CEO to next CEO for once, as previously, all appointed CEOs were due to some kind of crisis.

With all those execs leaving, this looks like a new crisis for Apple. Not sure Tim Cook will leave before that has stabilised.