Apple has announced that CEO Tim Cook will step down after 15 years at the helm, with John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, set to take over.
Cook became Apple’s chief executive in 2011 following Steve Jobs’ death. At that point, the iPhone 4s was the newest handset—best known for debuting Siri, Apple’s voice-activated assistant.
Siri quickly entered everyday life, but Apple’s ambitions didn’t end there. Over the years, iPhone upgrades accelerated, and in 2016—around the time of the iPhone SE and iPhone 7—Cook made a bold pledge about the kind of innovations customers could expect. The big question is whether the company ultimately lived up to it.
Appearing on Mad Money 10 years ago, Cook said: “We are going to give you things that you can’t live without that you just don’t know you need today.” He also pointed to what he described at the time as ‘great innovation in the pipeline for new iPhones’, suggesting those developments would give people a real reason to move to newer models.
That interview came before Face ID existed, when unlocking an iPhone still relied on touching a sensor. Apple introduced Face ID with the iPhone X, which arrived in 2017.
Between the iPhone 7 and the iPhone X, Apple released the iPhone 8. It brought notable improvements—wireless charging being the standout—though its overall look remained close to the previous generation.
The iPhone X marked the major aesthetic shift, moving to an all-screen front and adding Face ID so users could unlock their device simply by looking at it.
Nearly two decades after the first iPhone launched, Apple’s current lineup has moved on to the iPhone 17, including Pro and Pro Max versions.
And Apple’s devices haven’t been limited to phones. In 2015, the company introduced the first Apple Watch, unveiled by Cook alongside the iPhone 6, expanding Apple’s reach into wearables.
Cook’s tenure has been widely seen as transformational for the company. Reflecting on his time at Apple after the departure news, he said: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company.”
He also praised his successor, saying: “ “John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor.”