Tim Cook wants to launch one big new product before departure

This month marks exactly ten years since Tim Cook took office as CEO of Apple. The chances of him sticking to it for another ten years seem very slim. Still, Cook has big plans…

Tim Cook: one more big new product

It’s an open secret within Apple itself: Tim Cook (1960) would like to unveil a ‘big new product category’ one last time before he leaves. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes this in his weekly Power-on newsletter. In fact, in the decade he’s been at the helm, he’s launched one really new product and that’s the Apple Watch. But what will be the second major product that Tim Cook will put to his name?

You might think right now: it will come after all, the Apple Car, because there was a lot to do this spring. But no. Cook would mainly focus on augmented reality (AR). The major new product category probably refers to Apple’s future augmented reality glasses.

According to Gurman, Apple plans to release a mixed reality headset as early as next year. It combines augmented reality and virtual reality. It should be a niche product, aimed at developers. Then there is the AR glasses – ‘Apple Glass’ – and we can expect them sometime in the middle of the decade. It is intended for the consumer market.

When will Cook leave?

Gurman speculates that Cook will likely retire sometime between 2025 and 2028. Also because he also has a salary contract that expires in 2025. Cook said in an interview earlier this year that ten years at Apple’s helm is a long time, and that another ten years seems unlikely to him. But an exact end date is not yet in sight. Apple is already said to be looking for a successor and internally preparing various top managers for the task.