Apple's Public Relations Department Opening Up Under Tim Cook

152516 apple logoFor years, Apple Public Relations has issued press releases for major product announcements, handed out exclusives and loaner units to a few select reporters and columnists, and occasionally signed off on an interview with one of the senior executives when it suited their marketing message. That strategy gave the company millions of dollars in free marketing with news outlets writing about every bit of information they can find.

These days, according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple's public relations department is a little more proactive. Last week, Apple issued a press release to announce iOS 6.1, a comparatively minor software release.

At the same time, Apple communications staff have recently sent reporters more favorable third-party reports about the company, including a study predicting that by 2014, Apple will be as accepted in the enterprise as Microsoft is today. Apple, and indeed virtually all its competitors, send reporters favorable studies from time to time. But the five reports Apple has sent since the start of the year, mostly related to mobile market share, represent more than recent months.

The Journal says the PR efforts "represent a recognition that competition is heating up", according to a WSJ source, with a caveat that it wasn't a big shift in protocol.

Of course, even when Apple PR is more forthcoming, it can still rely on the press to cover every move it makes.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
airtag purple

Apple's Website Lists AirTag 4-Pack at Shockingly Low Price [Updated]

Friday November 7, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag. This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked. Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
ikea smart home devices

IKEA Debuts 21 HomeKit-Compatible Smart Bulbs, Sensors, and Controls

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:08 pm PST by
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered. There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
Apple fitness plus feature

Future of Apple Fitness+ 'Under Review'

Sunday November 9, 2025 5:30 am PST by
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue. Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple to Hide Selfie Camera Under Display of 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display. Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
maxresdefault

In-Depth iPhone Battery Experiment Pits Slow Charging Against Fast Charging

Friday November 7, 2025 1:19 pm PST by
HTX Studio this week shared the results from a six-month battery test that compared how fast charging and slow charging can affect battery life over time. Using six iPhone 12 models, the channel set up a system to drain the batteries from five percent and charge them to 100 percent over and over again. Three were fast charged, and three were slow charged. Another set of iPhones underwent...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
167 months ago
I don't know.. this guy Cook.. this guy blows.. Double downing on secrecy.. oh wow.. All the moves he makes, looks very very shaky and doubtful..

I feel the same way about your punctuation.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
167 months ago
"a study predicting that by 2014, Apple will be as accepted in the enterprise as Microsoft is today."

Ooh, I love fantasy novels!
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ericinboston Avatar
167 months ago
"...including a study predicting that by 2014, Apple will be as accepted in the enterprise as Microsoft is today."


So let me get this straight...within 10 months:

1)Apple software (what software?) will be as accepted as MS SQL Server or MS Office or MS Windows.

2)Apple Macs will be as accepted as Windows-based machines in the corporate world (we've been hearing similar stories for 25+ years). Even though there are no business Support contracts by Apple...you know...those corporate contracts about supporting hardware, upgrades, pricing, implementation teams, development teams, escalation/dedicated teams, etc. And where are the hundreds of thousands of Mac/Apple IT people to even do the work at Company X?

3)Apple iPads will be as accepted as MS tablets (you know, the one MS just released a few months ago which has no traction). This would be a true statement, but it's sure not saying much! Why not say that Apple will be as popular as nuns handing out cigarettes to children at bus stops?


Apple has a very, VERY long road to any kind of corporate acceptance. The very basics (regardless of how good a product(s) you think Apple has) are entirely missing from Apple: technical support, roadmapping, open-ness, pricing. Not to mention the fact that Apple has a very my-way-or-the-highway approach.

Apple is consumer-focused...plain and simple. Which is fine. Comparing phones and MP3 players to core hardware/software that RUNS businesses is abdsurd.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
deconstruct60 Avatar
167 months ago
...The fact Apple needs an entire department to do what one one of many areas Jobs handled solo is telling indeed. Sad day.
LOL. Jobs didn't do all PR by himself. What is sad is folks perpetrating that fraud.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Renzatic Avatar
167 months ago
Macs far outsold Windows just 20 years ago. That's about the time Microsoft screwed Apple in the courtroom to get their Mac GUI because of a poorly written paragraph in the Office for Mac contract. The contract failed to clearly limit the use of the Mac GUI to Office, which at the time was the biggest selling software package on the Mac and by far the biggest seller for Microsoft. Microsoft used that court win to create Windows.
Read up on your tech history again. That contract loophole was only a small part of a much greater whole that ended up costing Apple the rights to the GUI.

The major part was that Apple didn't invent the GUI to begin with, and couldn't claim ownership of something someone else had already done beforehand.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Northgrove Avatar
167 months ago
I don't know.. this guy Cook.. this guy blows.. Double downing on secrecy.. oh wow.. All the moves he makes, looks very very shaky and doubtful..
What.

Making press releases when you decide to make them doesn't impact secrecy in any way. They make the announcements when the products have been released! The difference is that they may just be more willing to make them now. I can't see how that in any way is a bad thing.

----------

Exclamation point on the end of the Jobs Era. The fact Apple needs an entire department to do what one one of many areas Jobs handled solo is telling indeed. Sad day.

Jobs wrote all press releases?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)