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We’ve arrived at something of a crossroads for the world’s favorite smartphone manufacturer and maker of shiny things. On August 24, 2011, Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO and Tim Cook took over. Today, September 1, Cook leaves the CEO role as new CEO John Ternus steps in.
Fifteen years ago, Apple had to prove that it could survive without Steve Jobs. We now know the answer to that question. Yes, it could — but it stopped behaving quite so much like the maverick company that had thrived on innovation, arrogance, and boldly striking out into new territory. Under Cook, Apple became more disciplined, more predictable, and increasingly focused on refining its established product lines.
It’s perhaps unfair to paint Cook purely as a custodian and refiner of Jobs’ greatest hits — Apple did release the Apple Watch and Vision Pro under his guidance, after all — but history will remember him as the great refiner rather than as a creative genius like Jobs. As Cook hands over the reins to Ternus and Apple prepares for its next chapter, let’s look back at his tenure and how he changed the company.
1. He made Apple rich(Image credit: Apple)The first thing Cook did was not try to be Steve Jobs. When he inherited the role, Cook was looking at a product lineup that was the envy of every smartphone and computer manufacturer in the world — Apple had the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, App Store and iTunes — and he exploited it to the max.
Cook turned Apple into an incredibly efficient global machine, and perhaps we should have seen it coming. Before becoming CEO, he had been Apple’s COO, responsible for worldwide sales, operations, and its supply chain.
Cook turned Apple into a money machine. When he took over, Apple was worth just under $350 billion. That was nothing to be sniffed at, but this year its market value briefly crossed $5 trillion. Apple’s entire revenue in 2011 was $108 billion; in Q3 2026 alone, it generated $109.4 billion. Incredibly, Apple now makes as much money in three months as the company Cook inherited made in an entire year.
2. He made Apple a services companyTim Cook and Alicia Keys on stage at Apple's 50th anniversary celebrations. (Image credit: Apple)Considering how many services Apple now runs, and how much money I give it every month, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always like this. When Steve Jobs was in charge, Apple was very much a hardware and software company. Of course, it had iTunes, which gave it incredible connections to the music industry because of its iPod heritage, but in those days you bought music; you didn’t rent it. Now that has all changed.
In 2011, when Cook took over, Apple essentially had iTunes, the App Store and AppleCare. Cook-era Apple gave us Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Pay, Apple Card, Apple News+, Apple Arcade, Fitness+, iCloud+ and the much bigger subscription business around them. It was an impressive shift in Apple’s direction, giving it a reliable stream of recurring revenue while pulling customers even deeper into its ecosystem.
3. Apple Watch and AirPods expanded the ecosystem(Image credit: Getty Images)Rather than arriving with a bang, the Apple Watch was something of a slow burn. It’s hard to imagine it now, but at launch it felt as though Apple didn’t really know what it wanted the Watch to be. It was several things at once — a fitness tracker, a fashion object, an app platform and a luxury item. There was even an 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, with prices ranging from $10,000 to $17,000.
In classic Tim Cook fashion, however, the product was refined over time. Apple added increasingly sophisticated health features, including ECG readings and fall detection, allowing the Watch to build up a much more useful picture of your health. What started as a product with a heart-rate monitor and three activity rings developed into a health and fitness watch that deserved its place in the market.
AirPods were a different story altogether. I remember people thinking they were too expensive for earphones, but they hadn’t factored in how easy AirPods made connecting Bluetooth earphones to an iPhone, or switching between other Apple devices such as a MacBook and Apple Watch. They were a big success almost immediately.
Together, Apple Watch and AirPods also made the iPhone more valuable. They weren’t simply accessories; they extended Apple’s ecosystem onto our wrists and into our ears, making its products harder to leave behind.
4. Apple silicon demonstrated that Apple could still execute huge technological transitions(Image credit: Apple)Apple silicon is probably Cook’s biggest technological achievement. Moving the Mac from Intel processors to Apple’s own chips in 2020, while bringing its huge library of existing software and millions of users along with it, was an immense challenge. Yet Apple made the transition look almost routine.
The M-series chips transformed the Mac. They delivered far better performance per watt, substantially longer battery life and much less heat than the Intel processors they replaced. Suddenly, even Apple’s thinnest MacBook Air could offer the sort of performance that had previously required a much bigger, hotter and noisier machine.
The transition also gave Apple control over the Mac’s technological roadmap and brought its computers onto the same fundamental architecture as the iPhone and iPad. Apple had changed the Mac’s processor architecture twice before, but the smoothness of the Apple silicon transition showed that Cook’s Apple could still make an enormous technological bet — and execute it brilliantly.
5. Privacy became a defining philosophy(Image credit: Getty Images / Justin Sullivan)Perhaps Cook’s most important contribution was turning privacy into one of Apple’s defining principles. Cook repeatedly described privacy as a fundamental human right, but Apple also backed up that language with features that materially changed how its products worked. Even today I still associate Apple with privacy, and I think a lot of other people do as well.
Under Cook, Apple introduced the controversial App Tracking Transparency, which forced apps to ask before tracking people across other apps and websites. It added privacy labels to the App Store, Mail Privacy Protection, Sign in with Apple and more on-device processing, while expanding end-to-end encryption across its services.
Apple even took on the FBI in 2016 rather than create software that could bypass the security of a locked iPhone.
Of course, privacy also became extremely effective marketing for Apple, and it was a lot easier for Apple to go down this route when it made money from hardware instead of selling ads. Apple's record on respecting privacy in China isn't spotless, but under Cook it felt like Apple genuinely cared about protecting your data.
Gone but not forgottenTim Cook isn't actually leaving Apple. He's still on the board, just not the CEO. While Cook’s record of being in charge has been more than impressive, he never quite managed to produce a product that changed the world the way the iPhone did. The Apple Vision Pro was perhaps his biggest attempt, but its timing was unfortunate. Just as it tried to persuade the world to put on a headset, Apple was being blindsided by the rise of generative AI, which left Siri looking seriously underpowered.
Perhaps judging Cook’s reign against the Apple that produced the iPhone is unfair — a product like that is a once in a lifetime event. Now it is John Ternus' turn at the helm, and he’s going to need to get a grip on Apple’s AI experiments and produce a coherent vision for the future. Tim Cook has put him in a very good position.
- JBL has just unveiled its new Cove line of home speakers
- 3 models which vary in shape and size (but note the Denon resemblance)
- Designed for home use, and to work with various JBL technologies
When you think of JBL speakers, your mind probably goes to the likes of the JBL Go 5 or JBL Xtreme 5: portable party devices which you take on the go. However, the brand's new offerings are totally different.
JBL has unveiled its Cove range, consisting of three speakers that are designed to stay at home. That's not to say they're not portable, but you're not meant to take them camping or to the beach.
The family is made up of the smaller Cove M1, larger (but portable) Cove P1, and even larger (and not quite portable) X1. All three models are set to sell from October 2026.
All three models have a range of useful features: they can self-tune depending on the room they're in, automatically apply balances to avoid distortion, and pair together to create multi-room noise. They don't just pair with each other: they can also connect with the JBL Bar Mk2 to add real surround sound to your movies and TV.
These are all Wi-Fi enabled speakers, though they can connect via Bluetooth. This means they support Google Cast, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Roon Ready, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect, and they'll apparently also support Alexa+ at some point after launch.
Their design makes us think about two things. Firstly, they'll be able to fight for a spot in our best wireless speakers guide, and second, their resemblance to the Denon 200, 400 and 600 range is hard to overlook — and given our glowing review of the Denon Home 400, JBL's Cove X1 (main image) is up against some stiff competition. That's not to say the new range can't wow us, just that it's tough at the top.
Music at home? Head to the Cove(Image credit: JBL)The cheapest model of the family is the JBL Cove M1, which is due to sell for €229.99 (about $260, £200, AU$400). This has 2x 30mm and 1x 20mm silk dome tweeters, and a 4" woofer.
It's the only model to lack Dolby Atmos support, and it's designed to be compact so it can fit in various nooks of your home.
Next up, the Cove P1 will sell for €449.99 (about $520, £380, AU$760), and it has all the same drivers as the M1.
So why the higher price? Well, it's the only model with a built-in battery, letting you bring the sound into your garden. It'll last for 14 hours, with a recharging dock included to power it up. IT also has an IP56 rating, unlike the other models, in case it gets caught in a spell of rain.
For a little more, you can buy the Cove X1, which will go for €499.99 (about $580, £430, AU$860). It has 4x 30mm tweeters and 2x 4" woofers, so it'll offer a much more advanced sound than its siblings.
It's designed to offer "3D room-filling" sound, and for that price you'd hope so.
The Shards episode 8 is streaming on Hulu for US viewers and Disney+ internationally soon, and you won't want to miss it after last week's tense double bill.
In Homecoming part 1 and 2, we saw a homecoming queen crowned (naturally), creating some tensions between Debbie and Susan. With the latter winning something again, this strained friendship group is only becoming more complicated.
But with The Trawler still out there, teen drama around popularity seems irrelevant. The killer's identity has not been unmasked yet, and is anyone really safe? Disturbingly, the killer left the severed head of Matt for Bret to find, and that unsettling visual has no doubt stuck with you.
We'll be picking up after this shocking moment in episode 8, titled Hamlet. Here's what you need to know about it.
What time can I watch The Shards episode 8 on Hulu?For US viewers, The Shards episodes 6 and 7 will drop on Wednesday, September 2 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.
Here's when you can stream the new episodes in other countries.
- US – Wednesday, September 2 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
- Canada – Wednesday, September 2 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
- UK – Thursday, September 3 at 2am BST
- India – Thursday, September 3 at 6:30am IST
- Singapore – Thursday, September 3 at 9am SGT
- Australia – Thursday, September 3 at 11am AEDT
- New Zealand – Thursday, September 3 at 12pm NZDT
The season finale is right around the corner, as episode 8 marks the penultimate episode of The Shards. It's just one episode this week after last week's double bill, but I'm sure it'll be no less thrilling.
For dates as well as the episode titles for the upcoming The Shards releases, take a look below.
- The Shards Episode 1 “Pilot”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 2 “Don’t You Want Me”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 3 “Help Me! Rhonda!”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 4 “Robert’s Party”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 5 “Murder on the Dancefloor”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 6 “Homecoming Part One”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 7 “Homecoming Part Two”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 8 “Hamlet”: Wednesday, September 2
- The Shards Episode 9 “Stairway to Heaven”: Wednesday, September 9
- Most specs of the upcoming Enough Phone have been revealed
- Highlights include a tiny 5.3-inch screen and a 3,500-4,000mAh removable battery
- The Enough Phone will be coming to Kickstarter soon
Compact smartphones are almost impossible to come by these days. Apple hasn’t made one since the iPhone 13 mini in 2021, and most Android phones have screens of over 6 inches. But while the industry is trending larger, there is still a market for small phones, and the Enough Phone aims to serve it.
This handset was first announced in late June, but back then, little was known about it. Now, the company behind it has revealed many of the specs and shared photos of a dummy unit.
The Enough Phone is intended to have a 5.3-inch 720 x 1520 LCD screen, making its display marginally smaller than the iPhone 13 mini’s 5.4-inch one. Its overall dimensions are 132.8 x 63.8 x 12mm, making it similar in length and width but far thicker than the 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.7mm Apple device.
(Image credit: Enough Phone)A relatively large battery but basic specsThat chunky design might be disappointing, but it allows for a far higher-capacity battery, with the manufacturer aiming for one of 3,500-4,000mAh. Plus, this will be a user-replaceable battery.
Not all the specs have been confirmed yet, but other ones listed here include a mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7500 chipset, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a single-lens 50MP rear camera, a 32MP front-facing one, Android 17 with an OdysseyOS overlay, a fingerprint sensor, 5G, NFC, a microSD card slot, eSIM support, and a polycarbonate back.
So, in all, the Enough Phone sounds fairly basic, but between its compact screen, removable battery, and microSD card slot, it could stand out — if the price is right.
Sadly, the price is still to be confirmed, and in fact there’s no guarantee that it will launch at all, as the company hopes to fund it via Kickstarter, with a campaign said to be starting soon. So, if you’re interested, keep an eye out for that — or sign up to the company’s mailing list.
- Sony is launching a new free ad-supported service on PS5 consoles
- Its 100 live channels cover a wide range of titles across film, TV, news, sports, and more
- Live TV on PS5 is available to US users now, with availability for Canada and other regions to follow
Sony is dipping its toes back into free streaming channels with its new Live TV on PS5 platform — following platforms such as Tubi, Google TV Freeplay, and The Roku Channel.
The gaming and entertainment giant announced Live TV on PS5 yesterday (August 31), revealing that PS5 owners in the US can now access the service’s 100 ad-supported live channels and on-demand titles. Sony also has plans to expand Live TV on PS5 to Canada and additional regions, and will roll out the free service to Bravia TVs later this year.
For a new free streaming platform, Sony is already going big with its entertainment offerings. As far as its movie channels go, Live TV on PS5 has a slew of titles spanning action, horror, sci-fi, and more, all while housing popular anime titles from Crunchyroll.
The service also has a rich catalog of TV titles, including shows such as Community, The Shield, Hell’s Kitchen, The Walking Dead, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, Deal or No Deal USA, and Fear Factor.
Movies and shows aside, current affairs and news viewing is also available for free, offering programming from NBC News Now, Fox Weather, and LiveNOW from FOX. Additionally, you can also access channels including FOX Sports, NASCAR, NBC Sports Now, and UFC, so sports fans aren’t being left out of the experience.
Just like other platforms in our roster of best streaming services, Sony will keep Live TV on PS5 refreshed with new programming, titles, and channels to expose you to new content and keep you on your toes. Hopefully its library won’t remain stagnant and outdated, but it’s not as if Sony doesn’t know what it’s doing — it’s dipped its toes into the FAST channels waters before.
PlayStation Vue was a live TV service that allowed you to watch titles without the need for a cable box, before Sony axed it in 2020. It’s safe to say that PlayStation Vue was a widely admired service, and countless PS owners have been reminiscing about its nostalgia on Reddit following the announcement of Live TV on PS5 — however, whether the new platform will be a welcomed addition is debatable.
Comment from r/gamingSony’s decision to kill off physical games and shift to digital ownership is still under intense scrutiny, not to mention the uproar that came when Sony deleted 500 movies users paid for following a licensing conflict. So there’s still the burning question regarding ownership: if everything is digital, do users really own it? There’s also the question of how different Sony’s FAST streaming service is to existing platforms.
In the Reddit discussion mentioned earlier, some users flagged that a lot of the FAST channels available on Live TV on PS5 are strikingly similar to the ones already available on services such as Tubi and Pluto TV, as one user said it ‘sounds like the same channels as [my] Roku TV’. Similarly, another commenter wrote that Sony’s streaming platform looks ‘like a copy of Roku TV, where they only show reruns and older shows, or lesser known shows’.
The common denominator with the best free streaming services are the providers, as another user highlights in the thread, so running into the same types of programming across these platforms isn’t out of the ordinary. For users who use their PS5 consoles as their main media hub, it’s a solid free upgrade and it’s there if you want to use it. At the same time, you can already download Tubi and Pluto TV on PS5, so the competition is tough.
Skynet has missed another appointment. Depending on which Terminator timeline you prefer, the murderous artificial intelligence should have become self-aware in 1997, 2004, 2011, 2017, or perhaps last Tuesday. Each date has passed without a nuclear exchange. The machines have mostly occupied themselves by flattering users, mangling fingers in photos, and confidently inventing facts for gullible people to believe.
That has not stopped Silicon Valley from treating artificial general intelligence as both an imminent miracle and an approaching monster. AGI supposedly marks the moment a machine can match human intelligence across a broad range of tasks, though nobody can agree on which tasks, which humans, or what counts as intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks it already happened and nobody noticed. “For many tasks, we could say that we’ve already achieved AGI,” he said during Nvidia’s latest earnings call. He added that such milestones are “kind of senseless at this point.” So much for Skynet.
But he is right that AGI has become close to useless as a measure of progress. Companies can redefine it according to whatever their newest model happens to do well. It's a promotion, not a scientific standard.
Apocalyptic decoyBut AI isn't harmless even if it's not inclined to play with nuclear bombs. There are less theatrical dangers from AI fueled by old-fashioned human greed and malevolence.
Today’s AI can produce endless fodder for scams. It can clone voices and faces well enough to trick loved ones out of money, use phishing messages to hack secure servers, and flood social networks with synthetic accounts that never tire of arguing. None of this qualifies as AGI under any serious definition, but the distinction offers little comfort to the person hearing a fake recording of a relative begging for money.
The fixation on AGI may actually make life harder for regulators.
Profit isn't a good yardstickHuang argued that the concept of AGI should be replaced. We should consider if it is “doing productive and useful work” and “generating profitable tokens.” That makes sense for Nvidia, but to ordinary people worried about AI, profitability is not much of a safety test.
Scams are profitable. That's why there are so many. Firing human employees for an AI model that is 30% as good at 10% the price is profitable (in the short term). Neither result is something to brag about when describing the result of your product.
Retiring AGI as the organizing obsession and fear of the industry makes sense, but that doesn't mean AI companies can relax. Intelligence is too complex to serve as the sole trigger for concern. Power might be a better lens. We can measure who uses AI, and how, as well as who is expected to clean up when they fail. Then we'll know how explosive an impact it's had on our lives.
Conversations about liability, identity verification, ownership, and other legal details don't have the visual excitement of mushroom clouds, but regulators should make AI companies discuss them instead. We need to keep an eye on the human hands on the keyboard, not the perpetually delayed Skynet.