[HN Gopher] Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO 'as soon as ne...
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Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO 'as soon as next year
Author : achow
Score : 43 points
Date : 2025-11-15 21:18 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (9to5mac.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (9to5mac.com)
| bnchrch wrote:
| If you check my comments Im a routine critic of Apple.
| Specifically its mis-management of Siri.
|
| But, in my mind, Tim Cook is also responsible for the only
| exceptional qualities of Apple. Namely its production of the M
| series chips and the Vision Pro (yes really).
|
| They better have someone outstanding in mind as a replacement.
|
| Otherwise I could easily see the successor mildly improve Siri/AI
| functions, while continuing Apples new disastrous design language
| and drop the ball on the supply chain and vertical integration
| that makes their hardware products second to none.
| dude250711 wrote:
| With the right visionary, $2k phones and $500 textile cases
| will not be impossible...
| epolanski wrote:
| Changing chip is way too little of an accomplishment in 10+
| years of leadership of what was once the biggest tech company
| on the planet.
|
| The company isn't growing from years, and it's only saved by
| the positive offset coming from advertisement and app store
| growth.
| pshc wrote:
| MacBooks outclass any other laptop in the market thanks to
| those chips.
| wk_end wrote:
| Listen, I don't really like the direction Apple has taken
| either, but since Tim Cook became CEO of Apple in August 2011
| the company's stock went from like $15 to like $275; it had a
| value of $400 billion and now it's worth $4 trillion, ten
| times as much. Any characterization of him as some kind of
| failure who killed Apple ("once the biggest tech company on
| the planet", "isn't growing", "only saved"...) is completely
| out-of-touch.
| sharts wrote:
| How can we be sure this is specifically due to Cook and not
| the ecosystem overall?
|
| A lot has changed since 2011. Some was likely Cook
| continuing execution of things lined up by Jobs. Some could
| just be tech sector in general, etc.
| manmal wrote:
| It sailed on Jobs' monumental accomplishments, and still
| does. Including AirPods and Vision Pro, much of what fell
| into Cook's era was already well underway when Jobs died.
| Cook is a fantastic executor, fulfilling Jobs' legacy. But
| the tank is empty now, has been for a while.
| victorbjorklund wrote:
| It's not the only thing. The scale up of Apple is massive and
| so is the supply chain. Those are not really things consumers
| don't see directly (just indirectly)
| 827a wrote:
| Ternus is the leading candidate; VP of Hardware Engineering. He
| was very likely more directly responsible than Cook for all the
| things you liked about Cook's Apple.
|
| My fear for Apple right now is how most decisions they make
| appear to incentivize them toward becoming a perpetual middle-
| man in all aspects of your interactions with their products.
| They don't manufacture much of anything anymore; its on-
| contract. They design the M-Series chips, but don't make them.
| Their software sucks; they'd rather just take 30% of your
| interaction with actually-good software. Their AI and search
| sucks; they just pay Google $30B a year for theirs. Etc and
| etc.
| nadermx wrote:
| What incentive do they have otherwise?
| rhubarbtree wrote:
| Wait, Apple Pay Google for search?
| alberth wrote:
| Ternus team didn't create M-series.
|
| Johny Srouji team did instead.
|
| https://www.apple.com/leadership/johny-srouji/
|
| https://www.apple.com/leadership/john-ternus/
| comrade1234 wrote:
| Word is the next CEO is going to be picked ala Charlie and the
| chocolate factory. I hope that when you bought your Miyake iPhone
| sock you kept the bone-white ticket naming you the next CEO.
| PedroBatista wrote:
| The type of guy Cook is, was the "best" and safe choice for a
| company like Apple on the trajectory it was. Now everyone is a
| multimillionaire on the bank but the culture inside is quite
| hollowed out. Good luck for the next guy, he'll need all of it.
| vlark wrote:
| Bring back Woz.
| usui wrote:
| How serious is this comment? As a thought experiment, this
| intrigues me. Imagine Steve Wozniak suddenly pops in as CEO.
| What might happen to the company in the following years?
| amlib wrote:
| I would like to think it turns into VALVe
| unpopularopp wrote:
| So more lootboxes and illegal underage gambling everywhere?
| Cool bring it on!
|
| Also I'd imagine a Valve like Apple would only release a
| new phone or laptop every 5 years or so lol
| usui wrote:
| Valve is privately-owned with its BFDL potentially owning
| half of it. We also haven't seen a leadership transition
| yet. It could relatively quickly go entirely bad after Gabe
| Newell is gone.
| PaulCarrack wrote:
| I don't know if OP is serious, but more than once, his name
| has come up on this topic in discussions in the past that
| I've had with people in my social circle who work at Apple.
| He obviously gets much respect and is considered an
| engineer's engineer.
|
| I don't think anyone would be against Woz stepping into to
| revitalize Apple. The real question is whether Woz would do
| it.
| hackerbeat wrote:
| Only Craig Federighi can turn the ship around.
| ryandrake wrote:
| Cook's been great for massively scaling Apple (and its stock
| price) up, but the art, vision, and soul of the company is gone.
| It's just a stock price maximizing lawnmower now, just like every
| other corporate stock price maximizing lawnmower. If that's what
| shareholders want, fine, I guess. But I'd be bored just
| manufacturing the same boring rectangles every year. I think
| Steve would have been, too.
| gyomu wrote:
| Steve wanted to become chairman of the board and teach at
| Stanford. Given how much he trusted Tim, I'm not so sure the
| company would have taken a dramatically different path had he
| been around longer.
| skywhopper wrote:
| They're still not quite as bad as most alternatives but yeah,
| most of the principles that made them stand out are falling
| away.
| tptacek wrote:
| I couldn't disagree more. Some of the worst Apple computers
| I've owned date to the Jobs era. All of the best have been from
| the Cook era. Apple Silicon has been an enormous success.
|
| (My first Apple was a TiBook, for what it's worth.)
| cryptoboy2283 wrote:
| He's cooked
| grumblingdev wrote:
| Yes!!! Such great news.
|
| Apple has really gone to shit. I am confronted by Apple
| performance and bug pain every hour of my life. I always think:
| how can someone think this is acceptable? Steve Jobs wouldn't.
|
| Everything is such trash I could go on for hours.
|
| I realized a long time ago that if the person at the top doesn't
| care then no one will. It seems hard to believe but it makes
| sense when you consider individual incentives, politics, and the
| complexity of software. Everyone wants a safe promotion and
| doesn't want to take the risk to push things forwards.
|
| Apple Silicon seems great but the Intel MacBook was the worst
| piece of shit ever so they kind of had to. I have a 2019 that was
| the top of the line but can't do anything without overheating.
| It's barely usable for any second laptop tasks.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Wow such anger.
|
| > I am confronted by Apple performance and bug pain every hour
| of my life.
|
| Why do you keep buying Apple then?
| UnreachableCode wrote:
| Is it at all possible he has an Intel Mac from 2018 that he
| hasn't been able to upgrade yet, likely due to insane cost?
|
| Bedside that's my thing
| rilindo wrote:
| Person probably issued Apple laptops from work, which, funny
| enough is probably why they get performance issues, as work
| is going to drop in the usual CPU killing anti-virus and
| other corporate tooling.
| chihuahua wrote:
| Even without buying Apple, many jobs issue mandatory
| MacBooks. I can understand the frustration of having to deal
| with these. In my case, it's mostly the window management
| aspect of MacOS that infuriates me. I even spent $30 of my
| own money to buy uBar to make it a bit more usable. But uBar
| itself is buggy so it's not a perfect solution.
| risho wrote:
| their software is not great but they literally make the best
| hardware on the planet right now. you don't get to being a 4
| trillion dollar market cap by being trash. they must be doing
| something right.
| gyomu wrote:
| I worked with John in the 2010s, brilliant guy, very human too.
| Couldn't think of a single better person at the company.
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