As Tim Cook steps down, we look at Apple’s more mixed launches under his leadership

As Tim Cook steps down, this piece explores Apple’s slower pace in AI, absence in foldables, and the limited reach of Vision Pro despite its innovation.

As Tim Cook prepares to step down as CEO of Apple Inc. in September this year, there is no denying that he turned Apple into a $4 trillion tech giant. However, it certainly wasn’t all smooth sailing. Here, we take a look at the launches where Apple may have missed the mark under Cook’s leadership. Or put simply, these were products that failed to match the hype of highly successful offerings like the AirPods and the Apple Watch.

Apple was late to the AI game

A quick look at where Apple fell short under Tim Cook’s leadership. (Apple)

By Amit Rahi

For the past seven years, I have tracked consumer tech through constant shifts in hardware, platforms, and the way people actually use devices. Covering everything from budget gear to flagship hardware, I focus on what readers need to know, not on buzzwords or launch cycle hype. My expertise spans gaming laptops and chairs, high-performance PCs, gaming monitors, printers, smartwatches, earphones, headphones, Bluetooth speakers, tablets, and more, with a particular emphasis on how these products hold up in daily use. Reviews, explainers, buying guides, and news pieces all share the same goal: giving readers enough detail to make confident decisions without wading through fluff. Away from deadlines, I spend a lot of time gaming and watching films and anime, which naturally filters back into the work. Performance, comfort, display quality, and sound are judged the way players and viewers experience them, not just by lab numbers, which keeps my coverage grounded in real scenarios rather than just benchmarks.

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AI is the biggest buzzword in the industry right now, and while other tech giants such as Google or Microsoft have reached newer generations, Apple Intelligence is clearly not advanced enough to compete with Gemini or ChatGPT. At a time when competitors are moving fast and setting expectations, Apple had to partner with Google to deliver on its AI ambitions.

We still don’t have an iPhone foldable

Then there are foldable devices, which have already become a popular product category. Brands like Samsung Electronics have spent years refining their Galaxy Fold series smartphones, while Apple has stayed out of this category completely. The display tech has matured to a level where we now have foldables with no visible crease on the screen. Waiting for a technology to mature is a classic Apple move, but it also means missing the chance to define the category early.

‘Spatial Computing’

Finally, there is the Apple Vision Pro. It is easily one of the most ambitious products Apple has shipped in years. The technology is impressive and the execution is polished, but the high price and limited use cases and limited availability (yes, it is still not available in India) keep it from being truly mainstream.

That said, Apple focuses on caring about its users to deliver a complete experience without compromising their trust and privacy. It is common belief and an industry-wide sentiment that Apple has mostly been late to the party for a very long time, but once it joins, it redefines the industry to a level where all other brands tend to follow.

We never thought brands would ship smartphones without the charging brick, but here we are.