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Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Steve Jobs was marketing genius, and a bold leader that wasn’t afraid to take risks. Some of those risks paid off, and formed the basis of the company Apple has become.

After Steve’s success and in a maturing technology market, it wasn’t more risk-taking that was needed - it was a steady hand. Tim Cook has provided that, and guided Apple to becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Apple are now falling behind in a few key areas though - such as AI, AR, and foldables. It may be a good time for Tim to take a break, and allow some fresh perspective at the top to prepare for the next decade.
 
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Existing foldables make for poor devices. Coz the screen gets creased and broken in the middle over time.

Even when the screen is not yet broken, you still have a little uneven bump in the center.

There's also the problem of pocket lint and other debris gumming up the hinge mechinism, or of debris getting caught between the closed screen panels, causing damage to the display.

I think the foldable is just a bad idea.

AI is more hype than anything. There is no "intelligence." Thus it is better called "A" than "AI" ... just call it "Artificial" and leave out the "intelligence" part.

The LLMs today are so dumb they're probably a legal liability for companies like Apple, coz sooner or later some kid's iPhone "AI" is gonna talk the kid into suicide or something.
 
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Its a great idea and Ternus could be good as he's a hardware guy not supply chain or books focused (even though he will have to be). Would be nice to have a guy who is a bit more hands on with the tech.

People knock Tim's run but the pressure would have been immense, and he has overseen some pretty big things, such as making their own chips, airpods, apple watch, vision pro (which I view as a project with huge future potential upside and they have to start somewhere). Developing your own in house processor alone is a crowning acheivement.
 
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Plutonius said:
That's why Cook was much better as a CEO than Jobs in terms of Apple as a corporation (making profit) and Apple shareholders.

Profit is everything for a corporation and shareholders.
Click to expand...

And what drives excellent profits for Apple? 1+ Billion active/repeat customers who are delighted with Apple products.

Poor products -> Unhappy Apple customers -> Poor Apple sales/revenue -> Poor stock performance.

Great products -> Very happy Apple customers -> Outstanding Apple sales/revenue -> Outstanding stock performance.

It's no more complicated than that. Cook has done an outstanding job as CEO of Apple as demonstrated by the above and Apple's 1+ Billion happy and repeat customers who love Apple products.

Apple customers are the final arbiters of Apple's success. Not internet/forum pundit opinions.
 
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Thank Steve and the good lord for Tim Cook. He's done an amazing job as Apple CEO. The only other truly successful CEO of Apple was Steve Jobs. While nothing is ever perfect. He took Apple to literally being (once or twice) the most valuable company in the world.
I hope we get a new mac pro with a M5 ultra. I would actually prefer if we get an Apple dedicated GPU card as well. With something like 160 core GPU , 256GB ram with NE built in. Something you can expand on. Say even add 4 of them to a box. And absolutely smoke any other option out there for that kind of work. Not that I need it. But just for Apple to push the limits to heights even Nvidia can't match without 8 times the power draw and 4 times the price. 🤓
 
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tomtad said:
Apple-event-201010-Steve-Jobs-announces-Ping.jpg
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That was a short-lived niche add-on to iTunes that was dropped pretty quickly. People forget how Apple used to drop products and services when they decided they were bad ideas.
 
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cheesygrin said:
Steve Jobs was marketing genius, and a bold leader that wasn’t afraid to take risks. Some of those risks paid off, and formed the basis of the company Apple has become.

After Steve’s success and in a maturing technology market, it wasn’t more risk-taking that was needed - it was a steady hand. Tim Cook has provided that, and guided Apple to becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Apple are now falling behind in a few key areas though - such as AI, AR, and foldables. It may be a good time for Tim to take a break, and allow some fresh perspective at the top to prepare for the next decade.
Click to expand...
I agree with most of the above. Foldable aren’t a thing. Apple is not behind in it. Nor are they behind in ai. Ai is different things to different people. And a fresh perspective doesn’t mean a better perspective.
 
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I7guy said:
I agree with most of the above. Foldable aren’t a thing. Apple is not behind in it. Nor are they behind in ai. Ai is different things to different people. And a fresh perspective doesn’t mean a better perspective.
Click to expand...

Spot-on. Apple pivoted mid-course and is taking a different approach to AI, manufacturing their own AI servers in their Houston factory for deployment across the country (and probably eventually around the world). I'm assuming that's an approach that's better with respect to privacy.

But people here shouldn't worry about Apple AI. Most everyone here said they'd immediately turn it off as soon as it appears on their phone.

What I don't understand is why most here are going non-linear over Apple's AI being late when they've previously vowed to turn it off as soon as it's on their iPhone.
 
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Cook has been an amazing CEO. Only real miss was completely avoiding the most important new tech - AI. But otherwise he has steadily grown the company. Will be almost impossible to replace.
 
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I7guy said:
I agree with most of the above. Foldable aren’t a thing. Apple is not behind in it. Nor are they behind in ai. Ai is different things to different people. And a fresh perspective doesn’t mean a better perspective.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of when Apple skipped the netbooks, and went with an iPad instead.

I've seen people turn themselves into pretzels trying to add Ai to everything. Without ever thinking what they maybe giving up to use that tech. Apple has the hardware to run Ai more efficiently. And in my view the right mindset to see it forward in a more secure and private way. I believe that's the right way to go. Efficient hardware, and proper software implementation and rules to use it correctly. Unfortunately, it's taking longer than we would like to get all of that the way it was promised. But, the end result may very well prove worth it. I too wouldn't say they are behind. Just going in a different direction than the pack. Which is what Apple does best.

If the rumors are true and Cook is going to step down. Then next year may very well bring the completion of everything Apple has been working towards. And a new CEO will carry it forward.
 
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djphat2000 said:
Reminds me of when Apple skipped the netbooks, and went with an iPad instead.

I've seen people turn themselves into pretzels trying to add Ai to everything. Without ever thinking what they maybe giving up to use that tech. Apple has the hardware to run Ai more efficiently. And in my view the right mindset to see it forward in a more secure and private way. I believe that's the right way to go. Efficient hardware, and proper software implementation and rules to use it correctly. Unfortunately, it's taking longer than we would like to get all of that the way it was promised. But, the end result may very well prove worth it. I too wouldn't say they are behind. Just going in a different direction than the pack. Which is what Apple does best.

If the rumors are true and Cook is going to step down. Then next year may very well bring the completion of everything Apple has been working towards. And a new CEO will carry it forward.
Click to expand...

An excellent analysis.
 
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jonnysods said:
Its a great idea and Ternus could be good as he's a hardware guy not supply chain or books focused (even though he will have to be). Would be nice to have a guy who is a bit more hands on with the tech.

People knock Tim's run but the pressure would have been immense, and he has overseen some pretty big things, such as making their own chips, airpods, apple watch, vision pro (which I view as a project with huge future potential upside and they have to start somewhere). Developing your own in house processor alone is a crowning acheivement.
Click to expand...

I wonder, why Steve Jobs did not chose Ternus back in 2011 and he chose Cook.
Ternus came to Apple back to 2001, so it was already a decade at Apple in 2011.
 
sjsharksfan12 said:
I've been watching old videos of Steve Jobs presenting new products and while everyone wants the return of live events, there was something I noticed ab out Steve that I don't feel with Tim. Steve was very relatable to the common consumer. Instead of just advertising the product, he would relate the product to everyday life. For example, I watched a presentation when he was talking about the Ipod and pointing out how jean pockets have the main pocket, but also another pocket within and asks what that other pocket is for. Then he pulls out the ipod and he had my attention.
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When it comes to watching old videos, remember that Jobs was an excellent salesman. He knew how to build a message and present it. He understood what car companies understand. When it comes to technology and consumers, the vast majority buy your product for what it does for them and how it makes them feel. Jobs sold a small handful of human-relatable functions and an armload of feeling about it.

Cook is not a salesman.
 
cool11 said:
I wonder, why Steve Jobs did not chose Ternus back in 2011 and he chose Cook.
Ternus came to Apple back to 2001, so it was already a decade at Apple in 2011.
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Most likely due to Tim already having a lot of previous success, and the board most likely liked him. As did Steve.
 
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vantelimus said:
When it comes to watching old videos, remember that Jobs was an excellent salesman. He knew how to build a message and present it. He understood what car companies understand. When it comes to technology and consumers, the vast majority buy your product for what it does for them and how it makes them feel. Jobs sold a small handful of human-relatable functions and an armload of feeling about it.

Cook is not a salesman.
Click to expand...
I would say Jobs was to customer emotional connection to products. As Cook is to getting that product delievered from a vast array of business that produce each little piece. They both had strengths. Cook is definitely not a salesman on the level of Jobs. But Jobs couldn't have pulled off what Cook did in getting all these products (For better or worse) out as he did. If anything, we all wish we had Jobs back and healthy enough to have been around the last 14 years. Right along side Cook. Best of both worlds.

I also think Steve would have gone thermonuclear on EPIC. ;)
 
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ab2c4 said:
I don’t know who is responsible for these iPhone with flat sides with right angle back edges (and no, gently curved edges don’t count), I hope under new leadership we get phones with rounded sides and edges again (aka iPhone 6 through 11) THAT ARE COMFORTABLE TO HOLD! I also hope the next person brings back colorful watches.

He had a good run though. I’m sure it’s a tough and demanding job.
Click to expand...
You mean slippery to hold? Because my iPhone XR is doing that right now.
 
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