Tim Cook

Apple dedicated its homepage Monday to the memory of former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at 100 years old. Carter lived longer than any other U.S. president and seemed to do more than most former heads of state after his term in office.

“Today, we honor President Carter’s lifetime of service and his commitment to leaving the world better than he found it. May he rest in peace,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a post on X. Both the X post and the Apple website showed the same image of Carter in work clothes with a tool belt on a construction site. The Plains, Georgia, native worked for many years building homes for the homeless through nonprofit group Habitat for Humanity.

December 27, 2010: Almost four months after the second-gen Apple TV’s debut, Cupertino says it has sold 1 million of the streaming video devices.

The news shows that Apple’s set-top box is gaining momentum. However, Apple’s PR move — which included a preemptive press release issued on December 21 that said Apple “expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week” — is also a low-blow shot at competitor Roku, which recently said it planned to hit the 1 million unit mark by the end of 2010.

December 22, 2013: After months of false starts, Apple finally secures a deal with China Mobile to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest telecom company.

With 760 million potential iPhone customers in the offing, the deal shapes up as Apple’s most important yet for growing its brand in China. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook says the country soon will become the company’s biggest market.

Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed King Charles III of Great Britain to Apple’s U.K. headquarters Thursday in the iconic Battersea Power Station, Apple said. And it showed off a raft of photographs from the occasion, below.

“We were honored to welcome His Majesty King Charles to Apple Battersea — our home in the U.K. — and we’re proud to support The King’s Trust in its vital work educating and empowering young people,” said Cook. “We look forward to our continued growth here, building on more than 40 years of history in the United Kingdom.”

December 10, 2012: Apple fixes an Apple Maps error that caused several motorists in Victoria, Australia, to become stranded in the remote Murray-Sunset National Park.

The early Apple Maps glitch showed the town of Mildura nearly 45 miles from its actual location. In the aftermath, Victoria police describe Apple’s navigation app as “potentially life-threatening.” That’s pretty much the opposite of “it just works.”

December 5, 2002: Cupertino says it served its millionth unique customer in the Apple Store online, marking a significant milestone for the company. It is a benchmark worth celebrating for Apple, which launched its online store just five years earlier.

“Reaching our 1 millionth customer is a major milestone, and is proof positive that our online shopping experience is second to none,” Tim Cook, Apple’s executive vice president of worldwide sales and operations at the time, says in a statement. “The Apple Store is a popular way for a growing number of consumers and businesses to buy Apple products, and with extensive build-to-order capabilities, easy 1-Click shopping and free shipping on orders, it’s never been easier to buy a Mac online.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed details about the company’s approach to artificial intelligence and defended its Vision Pro headset in an extensive interview Wednesday. In a now-familiar refrain, he discussed the company’s strategic entry into generative AI while addressing criticisms about Apple’s seemingly delayed response to the AI boom.

“We never talked about charging for it,” Cook said of Apple Intelligence. “We view it sort of like multitouch, which enabled the smartphone revolution and the modern tablet.”

November 11, 2015: Apple’s first iPad Pro goes on sale after months of speculation about the giant-size tablet. With its much larger screen, professional-oriented targeting and dreaded (optional) stylus, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro represents Apple CEO Tim Cook’s cleanest break yet from Steve Jobs’ vision for iOS devices.

And it turned out all the better for it!

When companies talk about quarterly earnings, executives often deploy language designed to puff up, excuse or obfuscate their companies’ recent performance. The goal is to excite investors over implied future success. And ultimately to give the company more money. Always. More. Money. The Apple quarterly earnings call takes place Thursday afternoon.

But when you’re the iPhone giant — with a mind-blowing market cap and a seemingly never-ending supply of hit products, including ongoing growth in services — you typically don’t need to craft hopeful-yet-non-material statements or deflect questions designed to get at the true bottom line.

So CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri will report on all the numbers (likely Maestri’s last time on the call as CFO, as he steps down January 1, 2025). Analysts predict a healthy jump in revenue in the quarter quarter, from $89.5 billion in Q3 to as much as about $94.5 billion. Note that Apple counts the period as Q4 because it starts its fiscal year with Q1 in the previous year’s holiday season.

October 29, 2012: Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS software, is fired from the company after the disastrous Apple Maps launch. After Forstall is ousted, Apple divvies up the roles he previously handled among other high-level execs.

Jony Ive assumes leadership of the Human Interface team. Craig Federighi becomes head of iOS software. Eddy Cue takes control of Maps and Siri. And Bob Mansfield “unretires” to lead a new technology group.

You can encapsulate Apple’s approach to innovation in four words, according to a new profile of CEO Tim Cook: “Not first, but best.” It’s not a new sentiment, but Cook doubles down on it in a long magazine article that came out over the weekend, complete with interesting tidbits about his life and his journey with Apple, past and present.

And in a colorful side note: The man apparently loves Diet Mountain Dew. And yet Apple Park doesn’t stock it, so he doesn’t get to drink it as much as he used to. (Theory: Cook banned it himself in an act of self-discipline.)

October 14, 2005: Tim Cook takes the reins as Apple’s chief operating officer, continuing an upward climb through the company’s ranks that will make him CEO less than six years later.

“Tim and I have worked together for over seven years now, and I am looking forward to working even more closely with him to help Apple reach some exciting goals during the coming years,” Steve Jobs says in a statement.

October 5, 2011: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies at the age of 56 in his home in Palo Alto, California.

Jobs’ official cause of death is respiratory arrest arising from complications related to a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer eight years earlier, and officially stepped down from his role as Apple CEO in August 2011, just weeks before his death.

On Monday’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the host hits the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York City to pick up his new iPhone 16 — and ends up taking a very long walk in Central Park with Apple CEO Tim Cook. And is a walk-and-talk filmed on iPhone 16 of Tim Cook and Jimmy Fallon in Central Park funny? Well, here and there it is.

Along their mildy amusing way, the two chatted about the new handsets, upcoming Apple Intelligence features and favorite hot dog condiments.

September 19, 2014: The iPhone undergoes its biggest upgrade — both figuratively and literally — since the original, with the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets. The iPhone 6 design brings a new 4.7-inch form factor, while the iPhone 6 Plus expands to a massive 5.5 inches.

The previous-generation iPhone 5 measured only slightly taller than its 3.5-inch predecessors. But with the iPhone 6, Apple abandons the small smartphone form factor to take on big-screen Android “phablets.”

Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer (CFO) since 2014, will transition to head of Corporate Services on January 1, 2025, the iPhone giant said Monday. Kevan Parekh, Apple’s vice president of Financial Planning and Analysis, will assume the role of CFO.

“Luca has been an extraordinary partner in managing Apple for the long term. He has been instrumental in improving and driving the company’s financial performance, engaging with shareholders, and instilling financial discipline across every part of Apple,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “We’re fortunate that we will continue to benefit from the leadership and insight that have been the hallmark of his tenure at the company.”

August 24, 2011: With his health worsening, a cancer-stricken Steve Jobs resigns from his role leading Apple. Tim Cook assumes the role of Apple’s seventh CEO.

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs writes in his retirement letter to the Apple board. “Unfortunately that day has come.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he uses his Vision Pro headset every day and explains why he thinks the device is “very revolutionary,” in an interview published Thursday.

“I think it delivers stunning entertainment,” Cook told The Sun in an interview tied to the AR/VR headset’s U.K. launch. “It unleashes this infinite canvas for productivity. It gives you new ways to connect and collaborate. These are just huge ideas that affect all of the things that we do every day, so I’m a huge believer in it.”

June 22, 2009: Steve Jobs returns to work at Apple, a couple months after undergoing a liver transplant as part of his treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Although Jobs has been steadily getting back into work for the past several weeks, the news is made official when a quote from him appears on a June 22 press release about iPhone 3GS sales. An Apple employee also alerts the media after spotting Jobs on campus.

With his return confirmed, everyone wants to know how long Jobs will continue to lead Apple.

Apple unveiled its bold plan to weave artificial intelligence into its devices Monday, focusing on how the company plans to make AI personal. The new AI-powered features, which will launch in beta later this year under the umbrella term of “Apple Intelligence,” will follow Apple’s unique approach to computing.

“At Apple, it’s always been our goal to design powerful personal products that enrich people’s lives by enabling them to do the things that matter most as simply and easily as possible,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook as he took the wraps off Apple Intelligence during the WWDC24 keynote. “We’ve been using artificial intelligence and machine learning for years to help us further that goal. Recent developments in generative intelligence and large language models offer powerful capabilities that provide the opportunity to take the experience of using Apple products to new heights.”

John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, reportedly sits at the top of the list to step into Tim Cook’s shoes when the current Apple CEO steps down.

But the real question is, does Ternus have what it takes to fill a role that Steve Jobs once did so brilliantly?

CEO Tim Cook is very enthusiastic about the artificial intelligence features coming to iPhone, Mac and iPad. On Thursday, he spoke glowingly about Apple’s unique advantages in this area, and talked about the “transformative power and promise of AI.”

iOS 18, macOS 15 and iPadOS 18 are all expected to include new AI features when they launch this autumn.

April 24, 2015: The original Apple Watch launch means consumers, who endured a seven-month wait after the device’s unveiling at a keynote the previous September, can finally strap an Apple wearable onto their wrists.

Apple CEO Tim Cook describes the smartwatch as the “next chapter in Apple history.”  Behind the scenes, however, the first Apple Watch launch is a moment long in the making.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook confirmed during his visit to China that Vision Pro will launch later this year in the country. Currently, the company’s $3500 mixed reality headset is only available in the US.

Apple opened preorders for the Vision Pro in mid-January 2024, following its announcement at WWDC 2023. The headset went on sale in the US in the first week of February.

Apple reportedly settled a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of hiding news of declining iPhone demand in China. It concerns comments made by CEO Tim Cook during an investor call back in 2018.

The iPhone-maker allegedly will pay out a $490 million settlement, according to a preliminary settlement filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California.