On this day ten years ago, Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of the company he founded and appointed Tim Cook as the new head of Apple, as MacRumors recall. Two months later, Steve Jobs passed away. Tim Cook took over Apple at a time when the company’s future seemed uncertain. No one knew if he would continue in Jobs’ footsteps or create a new vision for Apple’s future. A day after becoming CEO, Cook sent a letter to Apple employees, promising that even though Jobs is no longer in charge, Apple “is not going to change.” The first device to be launched with Tim Cook as CEO was the iPhone 4S in 2011, which was announced a day before Jobs’ death. Jobs had overseen the development of the device. The first iPhone to be fully developed under Tim Cook was the iPhone 5 in 2012. The iPhone 5 represented a major turning point in the history of the iPhone, as it underwent a significant redesign, with a larger screen.
Two years later, the Apple Watch was announced as Cook’s first “One more thing” product, a phrase Jobs used for revolutionary and important products. The Apple Watch was not only Apple’s first completely new product in the post-Jobs era; it was also Apple’s first new product under Cook. Cook’s second “one more thing” came in 2017, the year that marked the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone. For this special occasion, Apple announced the iPhone X, with the largest iPhone redesign in its history.
In the following years, Apple launched new products and services, and would go on to become the first company in the world to move a trillion dollars. Looking ahead, Cook, who has turned 60, has said that he does not expect to remain Apple’s CEO for the next ten years, but his influence on the company is surely not over yet.