i'm on the fence on the comment from Patrick McGee that Apple basically is responsible for the China growth. true, Apple trained millions upon millions of people in China, helped their national industry get trained, but those $55B meant an increase of how many trillions on US companies. a lot of the modern behemoths (and a great part of Google and Meta's value) come directly from what Apple has created. it's very easy to point fingers at Apple (and Tesla and other companies are guilty of this) for educating and increasing the productivity, quality and expertise of a country everyone is using as their manufacturing facility. of course there are problematic parts of his legacy, but pretty much every company that has a smartphone can trace where they are to Apple
Agreed, it wasn't just an Apple thing. Basically every corporate and the government decided by late-90s that outsourcing was the play. As noted by Steven Sinofsky, the # of places that could do Apple volume was basically one by early 2010s.
Thanks for the read, Eric! I never fully realized how many products/features were actually dropped under Cook. Very happy I dug in (and I'm extra grateful for the timeline putting up so many gem memes).
A small point, but in the article you quote someone talking about Cook's innovation in having 2fa texts pull the number out of your texts automatically. I would expect that to be something that android did first, but I don't really know
Greater focus on AI-integrated hardware ecosystems
Opportunity to align innovation with sustainability and long-term user value
The next era of tech leadership will not be defined by size alone. but by how companies integrate intelligence, hardware, and human experience responsibly.
This transition reflects a larger shift in the tech world:
From building dominant platforms → to shaping what the future of human-technology interaction actually becomes.
i'm on the fence on the comment from Patrick McGee that Apple basically is responsible for the China growth. true, Apple trained millions upon millions of people in China, helped their national industry get trained, but those $55B meant an increase of how many trillions on US companies. a lot of the modern behemoths (and a great part of Google and Meta's value) come directly from what Apple has created. it's very easy to point fingers at Apple (and Tesla and other companies are guilty of this) for educating and increasing the productivity, quality and expertise of a country everyone is using as their manufacturing facility. of course there are problematic parts of his legacy, but pretty much every company that has a smartphone can trace where they are to Apple
Appreciate the read Carlos.
Agreed, it wasn't just an Apple thing. Basically every corporate and the government decided by late-90s that outsourcing was the play. As noted by Steven Sinofsky, the # of places that could do Apple volume was basically one by early 2010s.
Great breakdown as always.
Thanks for the read, Will!
Absolutely brilliant! Insightful, well written, fun to read, just superb!
Thanks for the read, Eric! I never fully realized how many products/features were actually dropped under Cook. Very happy I dug in (and I'm extra grateful for the timeline putting up so many gem memes).
A small point, but in the article you quote someone talking about Cook's innovation in having 2fa texts pull the number out of your texts automatically. I would expect that to be something that android did first, but I don't really know
Thanks for the read Nicholas !
Almost certainly came from Android first. A running joke with iPhone is Apple releases a product 5 years after but everyone thinks its brand new.
Thank you for the article. It’s the best “after Jobs” piece out there
Thanks for the read TDP!
Apple may move from refinement → reinvention
Greater focus on AI-integrated hardware ecosystems
Opportunity to align innovation with sustainability and long-term user value
The next era of tech leadership will not be defined by size alone. but by how companies integrate intelligence, hardware, and human experience responsibly.
This transition reflects a larger shift in the tech world:
From building dominant platforms → to shaping what the future of human-technology interaction actually becomes.