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Tim Cook, named CEO of Apple Inc. in August 2011.

Courtesy of Apple

Jobs resigned as CEO because of ill health in August 2011 and was succeeded by chief operating officer Tim Cook. Jobs died from cancer two months later.

In the early years of Cook’s tenure, Apple introduced no all-new products but rather brought out new versions of previous products, such as the iPhone 4S, which contained a personal assistant program, Siri, that could respond to spoken commands and questions (2011); the iPad Mini, a smaller version of the iPad (2012); and the iPad Pro, a large version of the iPad intended for business use (2015).

In 2014, Apple made its largest acquisition by buying the headphone manufacturer and music-streaming company Beats by Dre, founded by music producer Dr. Dre and music executive Jimmy Iovine, for $3 billion.

Also in 2014, the company launched Apple Pay. The service helped popularize mobile payment systems and changed how consumers viewed digital transactions, functioning like a convenient and secure digital ATM card.

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The Apple Watch was introduced in 2015.

Courtesy of Apple

In 2015, Apple introduced a smartwatch, the Apple Watch, which marked the company’s entry into wearable technology. Integrating fitness, health monitoring, and online and iPhone connectivity, the Apple Watch became a major business segment within the company’s expansive suite of products.

AirPods, a set of wireless earphones, were introduced in 2016 and became a top seller in the market. And in 2018, Apple launched the HomePod, a smart speaker with Siri voice control, designed to compete with Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices.

Propelled by the popularity of the iPhone, in 2018, Apple became the first company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization. Two years later, Apple doubled that figure, another first.

In 2020, Apple introduced its own line of microprocessors, branded Apple Silicon, beginning with the M1 for Mac computers, which had previously used Intel chips. The M1 delivered faster performance and greater power efficiency than previous Intel-based models. The company subsequently released updated versions: the M2 in 2022, M3 in 2023, M4 in 2024, and M5 in 2025.

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Tim Cook served as Apple CEO from 2011 to 2026.

© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

From 2020 through the mid-2020s, Apple released regular upgrades to its iPhone, iPad, and Mac lines, maintaining its focus on incremental design and performance improvements. The company also continued to set market records, becoming the first publicly traded company to reach a $3 trillion valuation during intraday trading in 2022, closing above that level for the first time in 2023, and surpassing $4 trillion in 2025.

In January 2025, Apple entered the final stages of verifying its first U.S.-made processor chips at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (TSM) plant in Arizona for use in Apple devices.

During Cook’s tenure, Apple expanded beyond its hardware business into services and other businesses while becoming one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies, with a market capitalization of about $4.6 trillion when he stepped down as CEO.

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John Ternus’s first product launch as Apple CEO featured the debut of the foldable iPhone Duo.

© Karl Mondon—AFP/Getty Images

In April 2026, Apple said Cook would step down September 1 as CEO. John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, was named to succeed him, while Cook became executive chair of Apple’s board of directors. Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001, had helped oversee the development of such products as the iPad, AirPods, and Apple Watch.

Apple grew from a Silicon Valley start-up into one of the world’s largest and most valuable technology companies. Along the way, products including the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch helped reshape personal computing, digital media, mobile communications, and consumer electronics. The company also survived periods of declining sales and market share, leadership upheaval, and near bankruptcy before its revival under Steve Jobs and continued expansion under Tim Cook.

Apple captured its approach to reinvention in its 1997 advertising slogan “Think different,” introduced as the struggling company sought to redefine itself.

Frank Rose, West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer (1989), contains a great deal of anecdotal information about Apple, particularly during John Sculley’s stewardship.

Steven Levy, Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything (1994), is a breezy account of the creation of the Macintosh computer and the development of the graphical user interface.

Jim Carleton, Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders (1997), is an exposé of the business and engineering mistakes that nearly bankrupted Apple during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Owen W. Linzmayer, Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Colorful Company, 2nd ed. (2004), is an exhaustive history of Apple from its beginnings to the introduction of the iMac and iPod.