Friday, January 2, 2026

Apple needs a visionary QB again: It’s past time for game manager Tim Cook to hand off the ball

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Apple needs a visionary QB again: It’s past time for game manager Tim Cook to hand off the ball

MacDailyNews

Jan 2

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Apple CEO Tim Cook first attended the Sun Valley Conference in 2012 and has been a consistent attendee ever since, save for a few years during the COVID-19 pandemic. DAVID PAUL MORRIS—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES — Apple CEO Tim Cook (photo: David Paul Morris — Bloomberg/Getty Images)

In American football, a “game manager” quarterback is one who protects the ball, executes the playbook, and keeps the scoreboard ticking through steady, conservative play. Tim Cook has been precisely that for Apple: an operations maestro who took the reins from the legendary Steve Jobs in 2011 and transformed the company into a financial juggernaut, ballooning its market cap from $350 billion to over $4 trillion through supply-chain efficiency, massive stock buybacks, and incremental refinements of products created under Apple’s visionary co-founder Steve Jobs.

Yet, as Jobs himself might have envisioned, Cook was never meant to be the long-term playmaker — the electrifying, risk-taking, charismatic visionary who redraws the field with bold, game-changing innovations. Jobs built Apple on “insanely great” breakthroughs: the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Under Cook’s stewardship, however, the company has increasingly relied on iteration rather than revolution, neglecting opportunities in AI (like the long-stagnant Siri), launching underwhelming entries like Vision Pro in rushed form, and prioritizing financial engineering over audacious product leaps.

Nearly 15 years into his tenure — one far longer than Jobs likely intended for a transitional “caretaker” CEO — Apple stands at a crossroads. With executive departures signaling the end of an era and succession planning accelerating, it’s time for Cook to step aside. The world’s most valuable company deserves a charismatic, exciting leader once more: a true visionary capable of reigniting the magic that made Apple not just profitable, but culturally unstoppable.

Richard Waters for Financial Times:
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The Financial Times’ report that succession planning at Apple is now in high gear makes it seem increasingly likely that the pre-eminent consumer tech company will soon be under new management.
Strong demand for the iPhone 17 lifted Apple’s stock market value past $4tn for a while over the past month. With a strong tailwind from the huge stock buybacks that Cook instigated as one of his first acts as chief, the share price is up 20-fold from the day he took over in 2011.
But, with artificial intelligence threatening the biggest upheaval to the tech world in decades, Cook will also leave huge questions. His successor will need to demonstrate a stronger appetite for risk and a willingness to bet on a new vision for how technology can reshape people’s lives…
His successor will need to show that they can both co-opt AI to reinforce what Cook built while also harnessing its disruptive potential to ride the next consumer tech wave.
The botched launch of Apple Intelligence — key parts of which were delayed early this year — was worrying. How much that will matter in the long run is hard to tell… But there are obvious risks to taking a back seat in the AI revolution. If LLMs are at the centre of innovation, then acting merely as a rent collector while leaving it to others to define the next must-have digital experiences would put Apple in an uncomfortable position.
Also, if LLMs come to represent what is essentially a new operating system, they will have strategic importance.

Hopefully, the days of a COO masquerading as an Apple CEO are finally drawing nigh. Apple deserves a visionary leader who can once again drive relentless, world-changing product innovation. – MacDailyNews, December 9, 2025

The Vision Pro headset represented his biggest gamble on a new device… But as a compelling vision of how mixed-reality headsets will change your life — the kind of thing that Steve Jobs excelled at — it was a flop. Instead, Meta has stolen a lead with a more lightweight, fashion-conscious range of “smart” glasses…
Apple’s next chief will need to increase the scale of the company’s bets. Among the first jobs: convincing its shareholders, who have become accustomed to the iPhone’s steady profits, that it is time to look beyond Tim Cook’s gravy train.

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MacDailyNews Take: As our own SteveJack wrote last July:

Steve Jobs famously said of Tim Cook, “Tim is not a product person, per se.” That has turned out to be an understatement, especially with the fact that the Apple Watch, AirPods, and even the Vision Pro concept began under Jobs.
I’ve closely observed Apple for decades and I believe that Steve Jobs never meant for Tim Cook to be Apple’s CEO in 2025.
When Jobs handpicked Cook as his successor in 2011, many believed it was a strategic move to stabilize the company during a tumultuous transition following Jobs’ untimely death. However, I contend that Jobs intended Cook to serve as a short-term CEO, a 3-5 year placeholder to mollify investors, not to lead Apple for nearly a decade and a half, stagnating its innovative spirit, jettisoning innovative executives, while relying on financial engineering, mainly in the form of hundreds of billions of dollars in buybacks, to prop up the company’s success.
Jobs, a visionary known for his relentless pursuit of groundbreaking products, built Apple into a cultural and technological titan with the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. His genius lay in anticipating consumer needs before they did. Cook, hired from Compaq in 1998 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations, was the operational mastermind behind Apple’s supply chain efficiency, going all-in on CCP-controlled China to maximize Apple’s profit margins.
Jobs clearly valued Cook’s logistical prowess, but I believe Jobs saw Cook as a caretaker, not a long-term visionary, expecting him to maintain stability for a few years until a product-focused, visionary successor emerged.
Under Cook, Apple’s market capitalization soared from $376 billion in 2011 to over $3.9 trillion in early 2025 making it the world’s most valuable company (it has since shed some $800 billion over the year, falling to third place behind Nvidia and rival Microsoft). Yet, much of this growth stems from financial engineering, service expansions like iCloud and Apple Music, and a steady stream of annual incremental product updates, rather than revolutionary Jobsian innovation.
The Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro were initiated under Jobs’ tenure, with their completion coming during Cook’s tenure. The Apple Car project, also conceived by Jobs, was abandoned after a long, chaotic, and costly period under Cook.
It’s clear that Cook lacks the disruptive, charismatic spark Steve Jobs infused throughout Apple. Basically, all of Apple’s successes under Cook are iterations of Steve Jobs’ products and services.
Cook’s lack of hands-on product involvement has slowed innovation, with half-baked products like the Vision Pro being launched to consumers too early and, unsurprisingly, failing to sell. Apple clearly missed the generative AI (GenAI) paradigm shift under Cook and has been struggling to catch up ever since. Steve Jobs likely would not have released the Vision Pro and visionOS in the condition they were launched under Tim Cook. Jobs very likely would have not neglected Siri (which he purchased) for over a decade and a half and would almost certainly have foreseen GenAI early. Very likely, Jobs focus on Siri would have led him and Apple to GenAI first. Visionary Jobs’ main focus was about creating “insanely great” products; Cook’s seems to be about iteration and other, side pursuits.
If Jobs intended Cook as a relatively short-term placeholder, the question remains: who was meant to follow? Speculation points to figures like former software chief Scott Forstall — who Cook rather quickly forced out of the company, ostensibly over the botched Maps launch (which way okayed by Cook, by the way) – and head product designer Jony Ive, who left Apple after years of feeling unchallenged under Cook. Jobs highly valued both executives, even granting Ive more operational power than Cook at the time of his death. Today, Ive is collaborating with OpenAI on a potentially revolutionary AI product, not working for Apple. The departure of these executives, whether explicit or tacit, conveniently solidified Cook’s long-term hold on the CEO role.
While Cook’s canned-video tenure has been financially stellar overall, Apple has for many years coasted and thrived on Jobs’ lingering momentum, propped up by Cook’s beige operational savvy and financial engineering. After Cook’s tenure finally, blessedly ends, only time will reveal if Apple can rediscover its Jobsian revolutionary edge.

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Stay active in the new year with Apple Watch and Apple Fitness+

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Stay active in the new year with Apple Watch and Apple Fitness+

MacDailyNews

Jan 2

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This month, Apple Fitness+ is introducing new ways to stay active and motivated to kick off 2026, including a new lineup of workout programs, Artist Spotlight workouts, and new guests in Time to Walk.

Apple Watch is the ultimate fitness and health companion to support users in reaching and maintaining their goals in 2026. And this month, new programs are coming to Apple Fitness+, the award-winning fitness and wellness service, to help users stay active.

Apple Watch offers daily fitness motivation to millions of people across the globe, along with powerful insights into their workouts, training, and health. A new analysis of data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study identified participants with Apple Watch consistently increase their exercise levels in January and maintain them well into the new year. For additional motivation, Apple Watch users can earn the Ring in the New Year limited-edition award and participate in an Apple Watch “Quit Quitting” Challenge on Strava this month.

Starting January 5, Apple Fitness+ introduces four brand-new workout programs that offer users weekly training plans to help take the guesswork out of how to reach their goals. The Artist Spotlight series launches new workouts with full playlists featuring KAROL G and Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show superstar Bad Bunny. And this season of Time to Walk features new episodes with Penn Badgley, Mel B, and Michelle Monaghan.

Apple Watch Helps Users Stay Motivated and Consistent in the New Year

Many people give up their New Year’s fitness resolutions by the second Friday in January, also known as Quitter’s Day. A new analysis of data contributed by approximately 100,000 participants in the Apple Heart and Movement Study over four years identified participants with Apple Watch consistently keep up their exercise levels through Quitter’s Day and beyond.
Each year, following a decrease in average exercise minutes during the November and December holiday period, the average daily exercise minutes of Apple Watch users in the study not only rapidly increased in January, but also continued to progress into the spring. During the first two weeks of January, over 60 percent of Apple Watch users increased their daily exercise minutes by over 10 percent from their December average. Notably, many Apple Watch users kept up those exercise levels through Quitter’s Day and into the following months. Nearly 80 percent of those who increased their exercise minutes maintained those increased exercise levels through the second half of January, with 90 percent of that group also maintaining elevated levels through February and March.
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Stay active in the new year with Apple Watch and Apple Fitness+

The analysis included study participants who elected to share Activity data and consistently wore their Apple Watch over multiple years. The Apple Heart and Movement Study, conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association, and Apple, included over 250,000 people across the United States who consented to participate.

Get and Stay Active with an Apple Watch Limited-Edition Award and Challenge in Strava

To kick off the new year, Apple Watch users can earn the Ring in the New Year limited-edition award when they close all three Activity rings for seven days in a row in January.

This month, Apple Watch users can earn the Ring in the New Year limited-edition award when they close all three Activity rings for seven days in a row.

For the first time, Strava users with an Apple Watch can also participate in a special “Quit Quitting” challenge in the Strava app throughout the month of January to help motivate them to stay active and committed. After joining the challenge, users who log 12 workouts anytime within the month will earn an Apple Watch badge in the Strava app.

New Fitness+ Programs to Restart, Refocus, and Recommit

Fitness+, now available in 48 countries and regions around the world, is introducing a new series of multiweek programs designed to help build momentum and stay consistent in the new year. For users looking to return to working out, the Make Your Fitness Comeback program features three popular workout types: Strength, HIIT, and Yoga. The four-week plan features three workouts per week — one of each type — for just 10 minutes. Every week builds on the previous week to help users progress in their journey to return to fitness.

The Build a Yoga Habit in 4 Weeks program is designed to help users add yoga into their fitness routine. These workouts are designed to increase flexibility, cut down on stress, and build strength and stability. Every week, users will get two 10-minute flows — one slow and one energetic — that complement their existing workout routines and help build a habit.

The Back-to-Back Strength and HIIT program provides three 20-minute workouts pairing these two popular workout types on Fitness+: 10 minutes of Strength and 10 minutes of HIIT, three times per week, over the course of three weeks. The workouts are designed to be done one right after the other with no break in between.

Strength training is one of the fastest-growing workout types in the world, and the Strength Basics in 3 Weeks program helps users who are new to strength training learn the fundamentals, while those returning to a strength routine, they can brush up on solid technique for common moves. The program launches January 12 and consists of three workouts per week, each one focusing on a different body area, to learn and practice common strength moves to build confidence and improve users’ technique.

Music That Moves and New Guests in Time to Walk

The Fitness+ Artist Spotlight series returns with new workouts featuring music from world-renowned artists. New workouts include the music of Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter KAROL G, and dropping February 2, Fitness+ adds new workouts to the Bad Bunny Artist Spotlight series, celebrating the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.

The award-winning Time to Walk series — where guests share stories, photos, and songs that shaped their lives — brings new episodes starting with actor and producer Penn Badgley; Spice Girls member, singer, songwriter, and TV personality Mel B; and actor Michelle Monaghan to follow later this year.

More Ways to Keep Moving with Apple

• Fitness+ is available anytime, anywhere, on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. When users have Apple Watch or AirPods Pro 3, the experience is even more motivating with their personal metrics displayed onscreen during a workout — including real-time heart rate and calories burned.

• Users can follow a premade, personalized Custom Plan or create their own Custom Plan by selecting workout days, preferred activities, durations, trainers, and music. Fitness+ then provides a personalized schedule of workouts with reminder notifications to help maintain consistency.

• Strava subscribers can receive up to three months of Fitness+ at no cost.4 Users can also share a Fitness+ workout to Strava, and the Strava app will display rich details to track their fitness journey and share with their community on Strava.

Apple Watch is the world’s most popular watch, and throughout the year, Apple Watch offers users motivating and actionable insights that break down barriers between users and their fitness and health information. Users can also:

• Track a wide range of workouts with scientifically validated custom heart rate and calorie algorithms in the Workout app, which uses a powerful AI and ML model for motion — trained on 50 million hours of activity data — to provide advanced metrics for running, cycling, swimming, hiking, and more.

• Stay motivated with Activity challenges and sharing, keep an eye on their progress with weekly summaries and trends, and monitor key fitness metrics like training load, cardio fitness, and cardio recovery.

• Track their sleep, receive insights on heart health, track their menstrual cycle, manage their medications, monitor environmental noise levels, and more.

• Benefit from a suite of third-party app experiences like Strava and Runna for runners; Golfshot and 18Birdies for golfers; and more.

The Apple Watch lineup supports everyone’s goals in the new year:

• Apple Watch Series 11 offers the most comprehensive set of health features yet with hypertension notifications and the ECG app, longer battery life, an even more durable cover glass, and 5G cellular capabilities, all in its thinnest and most comfortable design.

• Apple Watch SE 3 offers remarkable health, fitness, connectivity, and safety features, and the powerful capabilities of the S10 chip including an Always-On display and fast charging, at an incredible value.

• Apple Watch Ultra 3, the ultimate sports and adventure watch, features Emergency SOS via satellite, the largest display ever in an Apple Watch, 42-hour battery life, and powerful health insights.

The Apple Watch lineup — including Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch SE 3 — supports everyone’s goals in the new year.

Pricing and Availability

• Apple Watch Series 11 starts at $399 (U.S.), Apple Watch SE 3 starts at $249 (U.S.), and Apple Watch Ultra 3 starts at $799 (U.S.). Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and Apple Watch SE 3 require iPhone 11 or later with iOS 26 or later.

• Apple Fitness+ is available as a subscription service for $9.99 (U.S.) per month or $79.99 (U.S.) per year, and can be shared with up to five other family members.

• Apple Fitness+ is included in the Apple One Premier plan, which, where available, also gives customers access to Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and iCloud+ with 2TB of storage, and can be shared with up to five other family members.

• New subscribers to Apple Fitness+ may get three months free when they purchase any new Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV capable of running the latest operating system software, AirPods Pro 3, or Powerbeats Pro 2 from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller.

• Apple Fitness+ requires iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16.1 or later, or Apple Watch Series 3 or later with watchOS 7.2 or later paired with iPhone 6s or later with iOS 14.3 or later.

• Eligible users of Wellhub can access Fitness+ at no cost, and an Anytime Fitness membership includes access to a Fitness+ subscription. Prospective members who try Anytime Fitness can also get up to two months of Fitness+ for no cost.

MacDailyNews Take: Now’s the time. Don’t give up!