A look at Tim Cook’s 15-year legacy as CEO of Apple - BERITAJA

After 15 years astatine the helm, Tim Cook is stepping down arsenic CEO of Apple and handing complete the reins to the company’s elder vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus. Cook, who joined Apple successful 1998, succeeded Steve Jobs successful 2011 and went connected to toggle shape Apple into a powerhouse worthy $4 trillion. 

With his clip arsenic CEO coming to an extremity connected September 1, let’s return a look astatine immoderate of the highlights of Cook’s 15 years arsenic the leader of 1 of the about influential companies successful the world. 

Financial growth

Apple was already an influential institution erstwhile Cook took the reins, but nether his leadership, the company’s marketplace capitalization accrued tenfold. When Cook took complete successful August 2011, Apple was weighted astatine conscionable nether $350 billion. The institution passed $1 trillion successful 2018, $2 trillion successful 2020, $3 trillion successful 2022, and $4 trillion successful 2025. Now, the tech elephantine presently sits astatine $4.01 trillion. 

The tech elephantine reported $112 cardinal successful nett income for the fiscal twelvemonth ending successful September 2025, which was 8 times what Apple saw successful September 2010. The institution was capable to execute that 699% summation contempt galore issues, including the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions betwixt the U.S. and China. Cook, who was formerly main operations serviceman and credited arsenic the brains down Apple’s world proviso concatenation nether Steve Jobs, expanded Apple’s scope successful China and added roughly 200 stores to the company’s world web during his tenure arsenic CEO.

New merchandise categories

Image Credits:Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Cook expanded Apple’s iPhone and computers ecosystem into a broader web of complementary devices that includes wearables and gadgets. 

Apple launched the Apple Watch successful 2015 and has since turned it into a full-fledged wellness and fittingness companion complete pinch humor oxygen search and ECG monitoring. Apple past disrupted the earphones marketplace successful 2016 pinch the motorboat of the first AirPods, changing the wireless headphones category. It past launched its first over-the-ear headphones successful 2020. It’s besides worthy noting that Apple purchased Beats successful 2014. 

The tech elephantine besides released the Apple Vision Pro successful 2024, positioning it not conscionable arsenic a VR headset, but arsenic a spatial computing platform. The launch, however, grounded to resonate pinch consumers who didn’t want to walk respective 1000 dollars to acquisition the gadget.

Under Cook, the institution besides released iPads astatine various sizes and aggregate value points, and fundamentally turned the devices into full-on computers that could grip a assortment of different tasks for personal, work, and schoolhouse use.

Of course, Cook besides oversaw cardinal changes to the iPhone, including the preamble of the much affordable iPhone SE, arsenic good arsenic advancements for illustration Face ID and edge-to-edge displays.

Although Apple moved distant from the “i” branding successful caller merchandise releases nether Cook, he oversaw the awesome description of the company’s merchandise lineup.

Services description  

Image Credits:Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images

Under Cook, Apple built a powerful services business. The tech elephantine launched Apple Pay successful 2014, which is now utilized by an estimated 818 million group globally. In 2019, the tech elephantine launched its Apple TV+ (now Apple TV) streaming service, whose contented has since earned hundreds of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Apple launched its Apple Music streaming work successful 2015 to return connected Spotify, and the work now has complete 112 cardinal subscribers. In 2019, Apple launched Apple Arcade and has since built it retired pinch a portfolio of premium games. 

Although Jobs first announced iCloud successful 2011, the retention work has since grown vastly nether Cook, including the motorboat of iCloud+ successful 2021. Additionally, Cook oversaw the improvement of the App Store and many times defended its 30% committee structure. 

Apple’s services business generated $109.16 cardinal successful gross during the fiscal twelvemonth ending successful September 2025. The conception accounted for a important information of the company’s full $416.16 cardinal gross for the year.

Shift to in-house processors

Image Credits:Harun Ozalp/Anadolu / Getty Images

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple began transitioning from Intel processors to its ain Apple Silicon chips successful 2020 and completed the displacement crossed its Mac lineup by 2023. The consequence was longer artillery life, higher performance, greater powerfulness efficiency, and more. 

AI era

Image Credits:Hakan Nural/Anadolu / Getty Images

Apple entered its AI era successful 2024 pinch the motorboat of Apple Intelligence. Since then, however, the institution hasn’t had immoderate awesome breakthroughs, and has faced important delays successful launching its anticipated revamped AI-powered Siri (it’s expected to rotation retired sometime this year).

The tech elephantine remained mostly absent from the broader tech industry’s generative AI title that kicked disconnected erstwhile OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched successful 2022. Earlier this year, Apple and Google announced that Google’s Gemini would power its next-generation AI tools.

$600 cardinal U.S. spending commitment 

Image Credits:Win McName / Getty Images

Cook joined President Donald Trump past twelvemonth to denote a $600 cardinal U.S. spending commitment, marking the tech giant’s biggest finance scheme ever. The four-year scheme includes expanding hiring and manufacturing activity successful the country, pinch a attraction connected building a stronger home semiconductor and precocious exertion proviso chain.

Apple Park

Image Credits:Kirby Lee / Getty Images

Jobs’ imagination for Apple Park came to life nether Cook’s activity successful 2017. The 175-acre headquarters, which replaced Apple Campus, houses much than 12,000 employees. It features thousands of autochthonal and drought-resistant trees and is powered by 100% renewable energy. 

Today, Apple Park is the backdrop of the company’s caller merchandise launches.