Cook fala sobre seus 15 anos como CEO da Apple: salvar uma vida com o Apple Watch é seu maior orgulho, e seu maior erro foi o Apple Maps

Bloomberg reports that the outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted during an employee meeting with his successor John Ternus that launching Apple Maps in 2012 was his first major mistake during his tenure, which led to the dismissal of the software chief; what he is most proud of is the health features of the Apple Watch.
(Background: Cook’s 15-year record: Apple’s market value increased tenfold, profits surged by 699%, and 540 stores worldwide)
(Additional background: Cook announced his resignation as Apple CEO, with John Ternus confirmed as his successor)

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• Launching Maps, the first crisis
• The first letter saying “The Watch saved my life”
• From 350 billion to 4 trillion, and those bets that didn’t pay off

At Apple’s Jony Ive Theatre, Cook stood next to his successor Ternus, facing all employees, and talked about the list of mistakes he claims are “going to be very astonishing in length.”

The background of this employee meeting is that Apple just announced that the CEO succession will be completed by September 1: after 15 years in office, Cook will officially hand over the reins to hardware engineering chief Ternus, Bloomberg reports the details of this conversation.

Launching Maps, the first crisis

Cook said that replacing Google Maps with Apple Maps on the iPhone in 2012 was his “first real major mistake” after taking over as CEO.

How bad was it? The map navigation was full of errors: wrong directions, misnamed landmarks, and overall experience far inferior to Google’s version. Cook admitted: “The product wasn’t ready at all; we thought it was ready because we tested local places nearby.”

The aftermath of the Maps incident was the first high-level personnel shake-up during Cook’s tenure, which was the dismissal of software department head Scott Forstall. Forstall was a close partner during Jobs’ era, and his departure symbolized Apple’s move into a post-Jobs management structure.

Cook’s subsequent handling was noteworthy: he publicly apologized and proactively told users to download other map apps. “We apologized and said: Use those apps, they’re better than ours. That was a big dose of humble medicine.”

To this day, Cook’s comment is: “Now we have the best map app in the world. We’ve learned what perseverance means, and we’ve made the right decisions after making mistakes.”

The first letter saying “The Watch saved my life”

Cook said that there are “many moments to be proud of” in these 15 years, but what stands out most is the health features of the Apple Watch.

When the Apple Watch was first introduced in 2014, its core health feature was heart rate monitoring; later, it added blood oxygen detection, electrocardiogram, hypertension detection, and other functions. Cook recalled his reaction upon receiving the first user letter saying “The Watch saved my life”:

“It was a user telling me that the watch saved his life. Of course, now I receive such letters every day, but the first one hit me the hardest and made me stop in my tracks.”

From 350 billion to 4 trillion, and those bets that didn’t pay off

When Cook took over Apple in August 2011, the company’s market value was about $350 billion; today, Apple has surpassed $4 trillion, more than ten times higher. During this period, he promoted large and small-sized iPads, more iPhone models, AirPods, and the comprehensive expansion of online services.

Cook admitted that his list of mistakes is “very astonishing in length,” but under his leadership, Apple largely avoided other common large-scale recalls and shipment cancellations seen in the consumer electronics industry.

Apart from the Maps incident, two other bets that did not reach the finish line were: the failure of the wireless charging pad AirPower before its official release, and a ten-year-long autonomous driving car development project that ultimately ended without results. However, Bloomberg pointed out that neither of these evolved into a crisis that shook the company’s foundation.

At the employee meeting, Ternus also previewed the upcoming product roadmap, declaring that Apple will once again “change the world.” Cook said he is healthy and plans to stay long-term after transitioning to Chairman.

From the map disaster to the watch saving lives, this longest-serving Apple CEO’s farewell speech left behind more of a manual on how to take responsibility for mistakes and persist.