I7guy
macrumors Westmere
Antennagate shipped and wasn’t fixable.
Apple CEO Tim Cook Should Be Replaced, Research Firm Says
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progx
macrumors 6502a
I remember the roasting Steve Jobs got on here too.
It didn’t stop the popularity of the iPhone 4 either.
progx
macrumors 6502a
Maybe I should ask Grok and mention I’m of Eastern European heritage? 😏
Morlock
macrumors newbie
Ah yes, Antennagate. The one thing you could reach for — from 2010.
Steve Jobs owned it. Addressed it personally. Gave everyone free bumpers. And the iPhone 4 still became a cultural juggernaut.
You know what he didn’t do? Blame the user and ship five updates pretending it was fine.
Meanwhile under Tim:
– Siri’s still confused in 2025
– Vision Pro launched half-baked for $3500
– AirPower vanished
– Project Titan ghosted
– “Apple Intelligence” draws ducks and Genmoji
But hey, at least the stock’s up. 🙃
progx
macrumors 6502a
Steve famously said to not hold the phone that way. I remember all the posts on here roasting him during that time. I still bought an iPhone 4, plus got the free case too.
I thought everyone cheered for Tim turning off Siri recording everything on your device to help in its development. Personally, I’m happy Siri is confused.
Describe half-baked? It was pretty understandable they wanted to dip their toe in the space and see what kind of consumer was interested in the device. It was never intended to be a low cost option, but I suspect Vision and other wearables are coming in the future that aren’t going to be $3500z
Yes, it did vanished and Eddy Cue explained why too.
It was winded down, but all of it was rumors and Apple never officially announced it to the public. It was a project that Steve Jobs thought of in 2008, but Tim Cook formalized in 2014.
SlaveToSwift
macrumors regular
The iPad was a bigger iPhone, that’s not revolutionary.
And if the ipod was “revolutionary” then so was AirPods and Apple Watch.
But good point, Apple hasn’t released any software in last 15 years, at least none as innovative as relabeling ClarisWorks as iWork LOL.
SlaveToSwift
macrumors regular
Good thing that Apple doesn’t have a huge market share of AI customers at risk then.
Morlock
macrumors newbie
Ah, the "actually, that failure was fine" defense.
– Siri’s confused — but that’s okay because she respects your privacy while remaining useless.
– Vision Pro is half-baked — but that’s okay because $3500 test balloons are normal now?
– AirPower vanished — but hey, Eddy Cue explained it in a sentence, so it’s cool.
– Titan was never real — until it quietly wasn’t and left a billion-dollar crater.
You're working overtime to normalize mediocrity like Apple’s a scrappy startup just “learning as they go.”
Here’s a thought:
If your best counterpoints to Apple’s failures are “they meant to” and “they explained it,” maybe you’ve stopped holding them to the standard that made them great in the first place.
Your first link just cited lack of apology for Maps as the reason for departure.How about I give you some sources. He wanted Mac development to fade and a focus directly on iOS devices (such as iPhone and iPad). Steve Jobs believe the Mac would fade, but Forstall wanted Apple to primarily make iOS based products and eventually leave the PC.
Forstall's firing reportedly met with 'quiet jubilation' at Apple | AppleInsider
Employees at Apple are said to be extremely satisfied with the ouster of iOS software chief Scott Forstall, who had apparently worn out his welcome at the company.appleinsider.com
Scott Forstall and Jony Ive refused to attend each other’s meetings
www.networkworld.com
Second link says he didn't care for other products on other teams and was just focused on iOS.
There's nothing to suggest he wanted Mac to fade. He was just laser focused on iOS and didn't want any distractions from other teams.
Abazigal
Contributor
The iOS App Store model started with Steve Jobs, and the idea of a 30% cut had already existed way before (with Nintendo). I suppose one can argue that Tim Cook should have seen the writing on the wall and taken preemptive steps to reduce anti-trust pressure (eg: not be so sticky about steering, exempt non-gaming apps from the 30% cut, open up more permissions).
However, the way the DMA is structured to specifically target US tech giants, I believe Apple would have remain in the EU’s crosshairs regardless, because what they want of Apple goes against the very heart of what makes Apple unique (its integration).
It would have been interesting to see how Steve Jobs would have responded to the DMA, had he lived long enough.
Fandroid killer
macrumors regular
Say hello to actual features and very very useful multitasking that you've been lacking since the dawn of iphone
Black_Mage
macrumors regular
He will retire once he has convinced everyone to buy their mom an iPhone.
And without Jobs getting a tour of nearby Xerox PARC (Palo Alto research Center) and seeing their computer with a graphical user interface driven by a mouse (thanks to SRI's Doug Engelbart), Apple would likely have not introduced the Mac.
Ditto with the iPhone... having worked closely with Motorola engineers (who wrote the book on cellular telephony - Martin Cooper) developing Apple's ROKR (which flopped), there would likely not be an iPhone introduced when it was.
UK-MacAddict
macrumors 65816
Because thats what its actually worth even with the a profit margin. iPhone prices have been artificially inflated ever since the iPhone X when it inexplicably made a £400 jump in price in the UK despite offering nothing new in terms of technology. Tim Cook can't replicate Steve Jobs vision so he's just milking customers like a cash cow. The only thing he knows how to do is raise prices and he's running out of room on that strategy.
Company wouldn't crash, in fact sales would soar especially in price sensitive markets like China and India. Untapped market of millions of customers.
Tim Cook is a bean counting logistics guy. He helped steady the ship after Steve Jobs but Apple needs to go back to being product led. Steve Jobs was always about making the best product at reasonable prices and never paid dividends to shareholders. He was a terrible CEO wasn't he....
Morlock
macrumors newbie
If the post gets too close to the truth, just hit delete, right?
No insults, no spam — just an uncomfortable mirror held up to a company that used to be about bold ideas… and a fanbase that used to expect more than emoji reactions and stock price worship.
If there’s no room for real discussion in a thread about whether Apple needs new leadership, maybe we’ve already answered the question.
No insults, no spam — just an uncomfortable mirror held up to a company that used to be about bold ideas… and a fanbase that used to expect more than emoji reactions and stock price worship.
If there’s no room for real discussion in a thread about whether Apple needs new leadership, maybe we’ve already answered the question.
Morlock
macrumors newbie
Politics should serve the people.
Business should serve the customer.
When you blur the two, you’re not being inclusive — you’re being opportunistic.
Cook didn’t just “donate to the ceremony.” He’s been navigating both sides for years — not as a value-driven leader, but as a brand manager protecting Apple’s global market perception.
Yes, Jobs picked Cook — to run operations, not to lead with vision. Somewhere along the way, logistics became leadership, and the product soul eroded.
Apple didn’t become political because the world demanded it.
It became political because it knew how to monetize activism without actually taking a stand.
Business should serve the customer.
When you blur the two, you’re not being inclusive — you’re being opportunistic.
Cook didn’t just “donate to the ceremony.” He’s been navigating both sides for years — not as a value-driven leader, but as a brand manager protecting Apple’s global market perception.
Yes, Jobs picked Cook — to run operations, not to lead with vision. Somewhere along the way, logistics became leadership, and the product soul eroded.
Apple didn’t become political because the world demanded it.
It became political because it knew how to monetize activism without actually taking a stand.
urnotl33t
macrumors 6502a
“either die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”.
The flying monkeys have descended on their next target. Target, Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, …
Once the monkeys have destroyed all targets (“destroy! Destroy Jupiter2, destroy!”) there will be no more worlds left to conquer… then they will turn on themselves and eat each other from within (because this is the only plan they know, and “from within” is the only disguise they have.. because THAT’s an original idea 🙄). The monkeys are the employees, too. Ironically.
For them, there is no “step 2”. It’s just “destroy!”. They have no plan. They have no leader. They can be frightened (fire them from payroll, or just a few as an ”example”). They can never be pleased, they only demand ransom, and constantly shift their goalposts. They’re everywhere, tho, and they let you know who they are because they never shut the F up, for they are narcissists.
The flying monkeys have descended on their next target. Target, Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, …
Once the monkeys have destroyed all targets (“destroy! Destroy Jupiter2, destroy!”) there will be no more worlds left to conquer… then they will turn on themselves and eat each other from within (because this is the only plan they know, and “from within” is the only disguise they have.. because THAT’s an original idea 🙄). The monkeys are the employees, too. Ironically.
For them, there is no “step 2”. It’s just “destroy!”. They have no plan. They have no leader. They can be frightened (fire them from payroll, or just a few as an ”example”). They can never be pleased, they only demand ransom, and constantly shift their goalposts. They’re everywhere, tho, and they let you know who they are because they never shut the F up, for they are narcissists.
XboxEvolved
macrumors 65816
John Ternus should definitely be the next CEO. I think it would make sense for Cook to become Chairman in the next couple years. Ternus definitely has the DNA of Apple in him; he joined the company right when they were getting out of their dark years in 2001 under Jon Rubenstein so he is probably the best pick overall at the company.
jimimac71
macrumors 6502a
There are people at Microsoft to replace before Tim Cook.
The Microsoft Rewards program has very tight rules making getting points nearly impossible.
These points can be used to extend Windows 10 updates for a year.
Microsoft is dragging their feet with that.
Yeah, I realize the next Mac OS this year is probably the final version for Intel Macs.
Microsoft is potentially killing off 240 million perfect useful computers that cannot install Windows 11 legitimately.
With Tim Cook it is like getting rid of a sports team manager because the team had a bad year.
AI is making my Internet searches miserable and I can't get rid of it.
Virtually all tech companies live for selling more new products, not thinking for a second what happens to the old stuff.
My Windows computer is 10 years old and if it can go another year, fine.
I do want to replace everything with the iPad 11. My iPad 7 stuck with iPad OS 18.
The Microsoft Rewards program has very tight rules making getting points nearly impossible.
These points can be used to extend Windows 10 updates for a year.
Microsoft is dragging their feet with that.
Yeah, I realize the next Mac OS this year is probably the final version for Intel Macs.
Microsoft is potentially killing off 240 million perfect useful computers that cannot install Windows 11 legitimately.
With Tim Cook it is like getting rid of a sports team manager because the team had a bad year.
AI is making my Internet searches miserable and I can't get rid of it.
Virtually all tech companies live for selling more new products, not thinking for a second what happens to the old stuff.
My Windows computer is 10 years old and if it can go another year, fine.
I do want to replace everything with the iPad 11. My iPad 7 stuck with iPad OS 18.
jjudson
macrumors 6502a
There once was a company called BlackBerry...
...who thought they were too big to beat...