5 ways Tim Cook remade Apple

Tim Cook will be stepping down as chief executive of Apple and transitioning to a new role as executive chairman in September, the technology company announced Monday. The leadership change, approved unanimously by the company’s board of directors, will take place over several months, Apple says. John Ternus, currently senior vice president of hardware, will be the company’s next CEO.

The shift marks the conclusion of Cook’s decade-plus stint leading Apple and the end of an era.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 and, as chief operating officer, served as a temporary CEO several times before formally taking the helm in 2011, after Steve Jobs, then battling cancer, resigned. Jobs died later that year, and Cook helped forge Apple’s identity after the loss of its iconoclastic cofounder.

Under his leadership, the company says, Apple underwent a series of major changes, including the formation of several new hardware product lines and the expansion of its footprint to more than 200 countries and territories. For shareholders, Cook shepherded the company as its market capitalization grew from $350 billion to $4 trillion and revenue nearly quadrupled.

Here are five ways Cook changed Apple.

Forging Apple’s post-Jobs identity

When Tim Cook became CEO in 2011, there were open questions about how Apple, long associated with Jobs, might evolve under Cook, who had previously served as chief operating officer. “The problem here isn’t the operations of Apple and their ability to execute and keep doing what they’ve been doing,” one analyst told The New York Times just after the resignation. “The problem, really at the core… is that Steve Jobs’s inspiration is irreplaceable.”

But Apple has arguably remained a technology giant under Cook, including after the departure of its top designer, Jony Ive, in 2019. While the company hasn’t announced products as revolutionary as the iPhone, it has released plenty of popular hardware, including the Apple Watch, AirPods, and, more recently, the Vision Pro, Apple’s virtual reality headset. (Cook also oversaw the death of the iPod in 2022.)

While Cook never attracted Jobs’s cult-like following, his influence is clear in the financials. Since 2011, Apple’s stock price has jumped from about $13 to more than $250.

Expanding Apple’s services ecosystem

Under Cook, Apple massively expanded its services business, building an attractive and cohesive ecosystem of software and apps that are tightly integrated into its products. While apps like iTunes and iBookstore are now gone or rebranded, Apple has established a consumer software empire that includes Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Fitness.

Just a few months ago, the company’s Services business hit an all-time revenue record. Notably, Apple and Cook accomplished all of this while largely navigating antitrust scrutiny and allegations of anticompetitive behavior, particularly around the App Store.

There’s also Apple TV, which went live in 2019 (then as Apple TV Plus) and has since become a major, celebrity-driven streaming service. Some of its best shows include the space drama For All Mankind, the psycho-sci-fi hit Severance, and the star-studded drama The Morning Show. In 2025, it racked up 81 Emmy nominations, and earlier this year Apple became the exclusive broadcaster of Formula 1 racing in the United States.

Building an in-house chip strategy

Under Cook, Apple transitioned to making its own computer chips. While the company had already designed chips for products like the Apple Watch and iPhone, it began integrating what it calls Apple Silicon into its Mac product line in 2020, replacing Intel processors.

The goal was to lean into vertical integration and prepare Apple’s hardware for the rise of artificial intelligence-based applications. When the M1, the first Apple Silicon chip, was released, company executive Johny Srouji said that “when it comes to low-power silicon, M1 has the world’s fastest CPU core, the world’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, and the amazing machine learning performance of the Apple Neural Engine.”

Deepening the company’s ties to China

Apple’s relationship with China predates Cook’s tenure as CEO, but he has helped massively expand the company’s supplier base in the country. Today, China provides the vast majority of Apple’s supply chain. On the sales front, iPhone shipments in the country are growing, and Apple’s storefronts there saw a record number of visits last year.

Cook has been personally involved in these efforts, making frequent trips to China, meeting with top political and business leaders, and participating in national events. In 2013, Cook personally apologized to Chinese customers after facing criticism from state-backed TV over Apple’s approach to customer service and warranties.

Navigating the Trump era

Tim Cook has managed Apple through the first Trump presidency and much of the second, helping shepherd the company through a tariff war, a complicated relationship with China, and a volatile commander-in-chief. Cook has participated in several press events with President Donald Trump, touted plans for Apple to increase U.S. manufacturing, and dined with the president. He once gave Trump an engraved Corning glass plate with a 24-karat gold base.

Trump has apparently enjoyed the attention. In response to news that Cook was retiring, he posted positively about the outgoing CEO on Truth Social, describing Cook as an “amazing manager and leader,” an “incredible guy,” and someone who “gets the job done, QUICKLY,” without hiring consultants.

“Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable,” Trump wrote, “and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on.”