Today Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO — I've been an Apple computing journalist since 2004, here are the 5 ways that Cook changed Apple for the better

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.