Tim Cook stops being CEO: this has been his years leading Apple after consolidating the modern era of the iPhone manufacturer

Tim Cook will step down as CEO of Apple to make way for John Ternus as successorstarting a new stage with those from Cupertino as executive president, after 15 years of iPhone innovation and consolidate the company as one of the most valuable and influential today.

In full celebration of Apple’s 50th anniversary, the technology company has decided to give a script twist to its executive structure. The current head of the hardware unit, John Ternus will become the new CEO of the apple company to replace Tim Cook, who will take over the position of executive president, effective September 1.

Timothy Donald Cook (1960, Alabama, United States) is currently recognized for his extensive and consolidated technological career that, although it reached its peak with Apple, began much earlier.

They are first job foray It began at the hand of the giant International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), where he spent 12 years holding management positions in the manufacturing and distribution division for North America and Latin America. He then moved to the high-performance electronic equipment company Intelligent Electronics and, after that, jumped to the computer company Compaq.

Cook did not set foot in the Cupertino facilities until the year 1998, when was it hired by then-Silicon Valley icon and Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

His first steps at Apple were like responsible for the global supply chain, although he also held positions responsible for the company’s global sales and operations, as well as Apple’s service and technical support in all markets and countries.

Likewise, his achievements in technology include the management of Apple’s Macintosh division, as well as provide a key boost in the continuous development of strategic relationships with distributors and suppliers.

During this period, he already stood in front of the company’s management on some occasions, due to Steve Jobs’ medical absences caused by his long-term pancreatic illness. Finally, Tim Cook was appointed CEO in August 2011at which time he took the reins of the technology company months before the disease overcame Jobs, who died on October 5, at the age of 56.

Since then, the manager has grappled with the expectations of matching the figure of technological genius that Jobs held and, although perhaps with a different style, he has managed to consolidate Apple as one of the most valuable and influential companies of the world today.

STRATEGY AND PRODUCTS ON WHICH YOU HAVE BETTED THE MOST

Recognized for a more collaborative and low-key leadership style than his predecessor, Cook has been known over his 15 years of leadership for a more work-focused demeanor, as an executive who is guided by data and who knows how to listen to those around him.

With this perspective, Cook has led the launch and consolidation of key productswith obvious changes in its product offering, although always remaining faithful to the company philosophy: think about design as a user service.

For example, during his years as CEO, he left behind one of what was considered a key device for the company. It is none other than the iPod, that lost presence in the company’s strategy due to market evolution. Specifically, it They stopped manufacturing in 2022 in favor of music streaming services for mobile devices, with Apple Music.

Regarding the iPhone, its star device, highlights the change in strategy led by Cook towards bigger screens, in contrast to the vision that Jobs had. Especially since the iPhone 6 series, when they became 4.5 and 5.5-inch smartphones, compared to the reduced sizes of previous models such as the iPhone 4. Following this evolution, the latest iPhone models have screens of up to 6.9 inches, as is the case with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Los iPadfor their part, have expanded their options with products such as iPad Mini (2012), the Air version (2013) or the iPad Pro (2015), with the intention of adapting to the needs of each user and making them more powerful and thinner, all focused on productivity and entertainment.

For both iPhone and iPad, we have opted for different designs of straight and rounded edges, for an all-screen format eliminating the well-known bottom center button, increasingly visual panels such as Liquid Retina XDR displays, as well as an increasingly relevant approach to the camera and photographic capabilities.

Under his leadership, Apple also made the strategic leap into own chips with Apple Silicon which were initially launched with the M1 version on the 13-inch MacBook Pro and Air computers and the Mac Mini desktop.

The power of these chips is introduced in the iPad range, and has continued to evolve until October of last year, when the M5 was presented, moving towards era of artificial intelligence (AI).

Likewise, Cook oversaw the launch of new product categories like him Apple Watch, the first smart watch that arrived in Spain in 2015 to later consolidate itself as one of the best-selling wearables, with specific functions focused on sports and health care.

The same thing happened with the AirPods, which arrived in 2016 as a new device that reinvented headphones as it was a way to listen to audio without cables, with high-quality sound.

Furthermore, beyond its devices, Cook’s leadership has also led a expansion of service business, which includes Apple Music, Apple TV+ y Apple Pay, among various changes for the apple company.

In addition to all this, Cook has placed topics such as user privacy, diversity and carbon neutrality at the center of corporate discourse, committing the company to ambitious environmental objectives.

AI AND MIXED REALITY

Among the newest devices that Apple has recently incorporated, in the last stage of Tim Cook’s leadershipyou can’t stop talking about your Apple Vision Pro mixed reality (MR) headset, which was launched in February 2024, with a price of $3,499 and access to more than a million applications from iOS and iPadOS.

This viewer presents an interface that uses the design language of iOS and Mac, you can control with eyes, hands and voice; and intact screen with EyeSight systemwhich projects the image of the eyes of the user.

Regarding the artificial intelligence (AI), It is one of the fields in which Apple has fallen behind under the direction of Cook and in the face of the rise of other technology companies such as OpenAI, Meta or Google.

However, it has marked a revolution in its iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS operating systems, mainly, thanks to Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI-powered tools with writing options, message summary or photo editing forms, which arrived with iOS 18.1.

It also aims to mark a new experience with its renewed assistant Siri, which is expected to arrive this year 2026 to offer a vision of integrated AI, hand in hand with the Google Gemini models.

Yet, Tim Cook will continue as CEO of Apple during the coming months in a transition period, in which its annual conference will be held WWDC developers on June 8 and where their renewed Siri assistant will be unveileduntil finally John Ternus takes over as CEO and Cook steps aside to become CEO, from where will continue to lead the company.

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