The best (and worst) Apple products under Tim Cook [Video]

People love to compare Tim Cook’s tenure to that of Steve Jobs’. They say that Apple hasn’t been able to innovate under Tim Cook and that he never had his iPhone-level moment. In Cook’s defense, no other company or CEO has had an iPhone-level moment since that 2007 announcement. But just because he never had his iPhone moment doesn’t mean nothing happened. Under Tim Cook, Apple didn’t just coast. It built on what Steve Jobs created, and instead of chasing one massive breakthrough, Apple built multiple billion-dollar businesses, expanded into new categories, and turned its ecosystem into one of the most powerful in tech. Think about it, AirPods, Apple Watch, the transition from Intel to Apple silicon, all market disruptors that happened under Tim Cook. So let’s take a look back and see everything from the Tim Cook era.

Be sure to watch our video where I rank all the Tim Cook-era products from 2011 to today.

Tim Cook era products

There is a lot to highlight about products and services during the Tim Cook era. But if you had to pick some of the defining highlights, there are a few standouts. The first that comes to mind is AirPods, which became a cultural icon and, arguably, Apple’s most successful accessory of all time. They are everywhere, and you know exactly what they are when you see them. Then there is the Apple Watch, which went from a questionable product in 2015 to a health device that millions of people rely on. Then you have the game-changing transition from Intel to Apple Silicon, which delivered massive gains in performance and efficiency almost overnight. Below is the full list of products from the Tim Cook era in chronological order.

• Apple Pay (2014)
• Apple Watch (2015)
• Apple Music (2015)
• iPad Pro (2015)
• Apple Pencil (2015)
• AirPods (2016)
• Apple TV+ (2019)
• Apple Arcade (2019)
• Apple News+ (2019)
• Apple Card (2019)
• Apple Silicon / M1 (2020)
• Apple Fitness+ (2020)
• Apple One (2020)
• AirPods Max (2020)
• App Tracking Transparency (2021)
• iCloud+ (2021)
• AirTag / Find My network (2021)
• Apple Vision Pro (2024)
• Apple Intelligence (2025)

When you look at this list, it feels different from the Steve Jobs era. Jobs had a few products that were insanely impactful: G4 iMac, iPod, iPhone. But with Cook, instead of having one or two defining products, he was able to build multiple product categories all at once and thrive within that space. He also had meaningful products like the AirPods, Apple Watch, and new services, which allowed Apple to enhance its best product: its ecosystem. There has just been nothing like it. The Cook era was not about re-inventing the wheel; it was about enhancing everything Jobs did and bringing it to the masses.

Ranking these products

I thought it would be fun to create a tiered list to rank these products. Please keep in mind that this is completely subjective and my opinion. Feel free to sound off in the comments below and either agree or disagree!

For S-tier, I wanted to place the products that were game changers. Products or services that we now use on a daily basis, whether we know it or not. So I put:

• AirPods
• Apple Watch
• Apple Silicon (M series chips)
• Apple Pay
• Continuity features
• App Tracking Transparency

Then, for the A tier, this was more just a personal choice. The iPad Pro will forever have a special place in my heart, so I had to place it there, as well as:

• iPad Pro
• Apple Pencil
• Apple TV+
• AirTags

Then the B tier is for those in between products. Products that are amazing but maybe too expensive, like the Vision Pro, or products that are great in the US but unavailable in other countries, like the Apple card. Here is my B tier.

• Vision Pro
• Apple Music
• Apple Arcade
• iCloud+
• Apple Card
• Creator Studio
• AirPods Max 2

Then the others are just products I don’t use, products other people don’t use, or services that aren’t ready yet (like Apple Intelligence).

Final thoughts

For me, I will look back at the Tim Cook era as a huge success. Sure, there was no insane iPhone-level product. But he wowed me with all the other products that are now staples. Most Apple users will have an iPhone, along with an Apple Watch and AirPods, because they all work so cohesively together. Tim Cook led the way in changing expectations for laptops by making his Macs with Apple Silicon more efficient and powerful. And even though the Vision Pro is too expensive, the hardware and software are absolute magic. I wish more people could experience the Vision Pro because it truly is one-of-a-kind.

So what do you think? Did Apple lose its way during Cook’s tenure? How would you grade Tim Cook’s 15 years as CEO? Let’s discuss below!

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