When Tim Cook took over Apple in 2011, the big question was whether anyone could follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs. For many, Jobs was Apple.
A massive fifteen-year stint later, it’s clear that Cook has delivered – and then some. Not with a single breakthrough product like the Jobs-era iPhone or iPod, but a long list of hits, experiments and the occasional misstep that reshaped what Apple is today.
Here are 15 of our favourite Apple products that defined Cook’s decade-and-a-half legacy, both for better and for worse.
Apple Watch
The Apple Watch was the first big “post-Jobs” category – and it didn’t receive a particularly warm welcome initially. Early versions leaned awkwardly into fashion, complete with gold editions and luxury marketing, despite early Apple Watches only being supported for a relatively short period of time.
But, slowly but surely, Apple’s wearable found its footing. Today, the Watch is less about style and more about health with features like heart rate monitoring, ECG and fall detection, and has become one of the company’s most important products as a result.
It also helps that it plays so nicely with connected iPhones, offering a level of interoperability that most Android-based wearables still can’t quite match.
AirPods
Considering how popular AirPods are in 2026, it’s funny to look back at the reactions on social media when they were first revealed in 2016. People generally disregarded the buds, comparing them to electric toothbrush heads, but within a year of launch, they were everywhere.
As with the Apple Watch, Cook’s sprinkling of magic meant the buds worked very well with iPhones, iPads and Macs. They offer great sound and features like seamless handoff between devices, and they’ve vastly improved in the years since, not only in features but also in the overall design with the Pro and Max variants.
iPhone X
While the original iPhone was a Jobs-era innovation, the iPhone X was the moment that the modern iPhone was born.
It ditched the staples of the iconic iPhone design – the Home button and bezels – for an all-screen design with the now instantly recognisable Face ID notch. It was a controversial change at the time, but it’s a design that Apple still uses on its iPhone lineup today.
Apple Silicon
If there’s one product that feels like a true Cook-era mic drop, it has to be Apple Silicon.
Ditching the dominant force that was Intel to build its own chips was a huge risk – especially considering Mac apps would essentially need to be rebuilt for the platform to fully take advantage of the power on offer. But that risk paid off, almost immediately.
The M1 MacBook Air was absurdly fast, silent and efficient compared to practically anything else around, and it has only improved with newer versions in the years since.
iPad Pro
The iPad Pro is Apple’s long-running attempt to answer a simple question: Can a tablet replace your laptop?
Even after all these years, the answer is still… it depends. But with the Pencil, keyboard and increasingly powerful M-series desktop chips, it has become the go-to tool for creatives and professionals who favour touchscreen over traditional mouse input.
Apple Music
Cook didn’t just drive hardware – he also pushed Apple into the increasingly lucrative services business.
With its sights set on the dominant Spotify, Apple Music was the company’s first foray into services, and it was a massive success. It has a vast collection of songs available in Hi-Res format and Dolby Atmos for an immersive listening experience, and it, of course, plays exceptionally well with iOS, macOS and iPadOS.
Apple Pay
The launch of Apple Pay changed the way that we pay for products and services, both online and in the real world. It’s a feature that we don’t even think about these days – we just pull out our phones and pay with a tap – but Apple was one of the first to make that possible back in 2014.
Apple Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro is Cook’s “what’s next?” product, a £/$3499 headset that Apple insists isn’t VR but ‘spatial computing’. It’s early tech, expensive and a bit awkward – but also undeniably impressive compared to cheaper headsets from the likes of Meta with its M-series power and high-end graphics.
But whether it becomes the next iPhone or next HomePod remains to be seen – given the waning interest in VR headsets, it’s quite possible it could be the latter.
iPhone SE
Not every Apple product needs to be cutting-edge, and the iPhone SE is a great example of that.
Cook’s supply chain mastery was on full display here, reusing older components with newer internals to offer the iPhone experience at a much more affordable price. It wasn’t perfect, of course, but it had a special place for those who missed the ‘old school’ iPhone look.
Apple Pencil
Steve Jobs famously said nobody wanted a stylus – but it turns out that people did when it came to the big screens of iPads. They just didn’t want bad ones.
The Apple Pencil helped transform the iPad into a legitimate creative tool, especially for artists, designers and good ol’ note-takers, with an experience that still isn’t quite matched by Android stylus alternatives.
MagSafe
MagSafe – the iPhone variant, not that used in Macs – was a game-changer when it was released with the iPhone 12, so much so that the framework has since been baked into the Qi2 standard for all phones to follow.
It just makes so much sense: using a ring of magnets, not only does the phone snap into place perfectly on wireless chargers, but it also lets you add a bunch of accessories like battery packs, wallets, or even camera grips without messing around with different cases. Just snap it on and pull it off when you’re done.
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro had a few bumps in the road under Cook’s leadership. People loved the old style of MacBook Pro, but Cook’s Apple reinvented it in 2016, removing fan-favourite features like MagSafe charging and SD card slots and introducing an OLED touch bar that quickly became the butt of the joke.
It took until 2021 for the MacBook Pro to reverse course, ditching the gimmicky touch bar and its reliance on USB-C and bringing back MagSafe charging and a plethora of ports, which, combined with Apple’s M-series silicon, now make it one of the best laptops around.
MacBook Neo
We couldn’t talk about the MacBook Pro without at least mentioning the MacBook Neo, which could be considered Cook’s Magnum Opus ahead of stepping down.
For years, the MacBook Air was Apple’s entry point into the macOS ecosystem, but it still cost close to a grand, if not more. The problem is that there are plenty of cheaper Windows-based laptops, and those tend to win out for budget-focused buyers.
But then came along the MacBook Neo, and despite sporting an iPhone-level A18 Pro chipset, it excels in the budget market in both general performance and battery longevity, all for just £/$599, which makes pretty much every cheap Windows laptop look underpowered and expensive. A defining moment indeed.
Magic Mouse 2
The Magic Mouse 2 was a beautifully designed mouse with one tiny problem: you have to charge it from the bottom. Which means you can’t use it while it’s charging. Yes, the memes were great for this one.
It’s such a small decision, but it perfectly captures the “design over practicality” criticism that followed Apple for years, and for better or worse, will be remembered as a defining Cook-era product.
Polishing cloth
Yes, really.
A £/$19 Apple-branded cloth to clean your screen. It became an instant meme – not because it’s bad, but because it so perfectly represents Apple’s confidence in its brand.
Only Apple could sell that… and have it go out of stock.
Jokes aside, Under Cook, Apple stopped being just a computer company and became a part of basically everything we do, from how we pay for coffee to what we wear on our wrists. It wasn’t always a perfect run, but he turned the post-Jobs era into a massive, unstoppable ecosystem that most of us now couldn’t imagine living without.
It’s safe to say that John Ternus is now the one with big shoes to fill.
