Following his visit to Ireland on Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been spotted in the United Arab Emirates this weekend, as highlighted by tbreak media. Cook posed for photos at Apple reseller Virgin Megastore at the Al Wahdi Mall in Abu Dhabi yesterday, while several photos from today place him in Dubai at the massive Dubai Mall.
The reason for Cook's visit is unknown, but Apple users in the region are unsurprisingly speculating that he may be meeting with relevant parties about the possibility of an Apple retail store. MacRumors received an unconfirmed tip last year claiming that Apple was making plans to open a major store at The Galleria in Sowwah Square in Abu Dhabi, a luxury mall that opened late last year, but no additional reports of such a project have yet surfaced. The source claimed that the store would not open for several years and that it could arrive as the world's largest Apple retail store.
Alternatively and much less interestingly, Cook may simply be visiting to check up on the company's existing reseller network and maintain relationships with government officials in the region.
Update: Khaleej Times reports that Cook met with UAE Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and other officials today.
Shaikh Mohammed and Cook discussed an array of issues regarding future of the IT sector in the backdrop of international transformations and the sector’s role in developing and advancing education.
Cook with UAE Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
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Wednesday March 11, 2026 7:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Starting today, the seven new Apple products that were announced last week are available at Apple Stores and beginning to arrive to customers.
The colorful MacBook Neo and all of the other new products are on display at most Apple Store locations around the world starting today. Apple Stores have inventory of the new products for both walk-in customers and Apple Store pickup, but...
Is it me, or does Tim always seem like he's out of the office in Cupertino and somewhere else? Shouldn't he be in the office as much as possible to work on products instead of traveling to nyc to meet with investors and things along those lines?
Why should he? Tim doesn't strike me as the product visionary type of guy Steve was. He's likely dead weight in the research lab. He probably delegates them to his band of merry men, is kept updated via email, and travels around the world doing what he does best - securing new supply chains and inking fresh business deals. You know, the sort of stuff which ensures that people keeping buying Apple products and filling their coffers. :D
:confused: From what I gather, Tim Cook is dead weight everywhere. They had said he was some sort of supply-chain genius but I'm always seeing how product supply is completely falling behind demand for both the iPhone and new Mac Pro. He's definitely dead weight to the company. Apple is totally getting trounced by Samsung when it comes to moving products. Apple needs to build some huge robotic factories that spit iDevices out at mach speed. The news media says that every business deal Tim Cook makes is going to be a massive failure because almost no one can afford Apple products. So that isn't helping very much, either. Another quarter and Apple falls into an even deeper value abyss. Dammit! Apple has become a joke of a tech company scorned by the computer industry and Wall Street. :(
I can't find a single accurate statement in your rant. Oh well.
:confused: From what I gather, Tim Cook is dead weight everywhere. They had said he was some sort of supply-chain genius but I'm always seeing how product supply is completely falling behind demand for both the iPhone and new Mac Pro. He's definitely dead weight to the company. Apple is totally getting trounced by Samsung when it comes to moving products. Apple needs to build some huge robotic factories that spit iDevices out at mach speed…..
Wow, there are some harsh comments about Tim in some of the above posts, but your criticisms stand out. There is to my knowledge no race going on for quantitative superiority. Apple has stated publicly on many occasions they are aiming to build the best products they know how to; products that are fun and easy to use; products that inspire, educate and entertain. I believe they've kept that promise.
…..The news media says that every business deal Tim Cook makes is going to be a massive failure because almost no one can afford Apple products. So that isn't helping very much, either...
Apple's sales figures say otherwise. And since when is what some news media say "the gospel"?
…..Another quarter and Apple falls into an even deeper value abyss. Dammit!…..
The stock market is no reflection of the 'here and now'; they think long term, and they have reservations about Apple's future, and their ability to stay at the top, and keep producing those record-breaking quarters.
…..Apple has become a joke of a tech company scorned by the computer industry and Wall Street. :(
That is your opinion, to which you are entitled, but to say they are "a joke" and "scorned" is a bit of a wild exaggeration. No company will stay at the top forever, but many of us are expecting (and looking forward to) Apple to produce at least two or three more industry-changing product categories.
Let's see where we are in --give or take-- eighteen months.
Is it me, or does Tim always seem like he's out of the office in Cupertino and somewhere else? Shouldn't he be in the office as much as possible to work on products instead of traveling to nyc to meet with investors and things along those lines?
Tim doesn't work on products. That's not the type of exec he is. The other executives like Jony take care of that.
Here's what I don't understand: what exactly do people expect of Cook? He's done a pretty good job of running the company so far. And by that I mean he's done a good job of running a huge company; his title is "CEO of Apple," not "Miracle Worker." Here's my reasoning:
1. Apple's profits have increased every year since the debut of the iPhone, whether Jobs or Cook was in charge. It's not as though Apple is doomed. I think it's pretty impressive that their profits are still going up when they're already so astronomically high.
2. Apple has to ship a whole lot more iPhones when launching a new device than any of their competitors, yet they still manage to ship the right amount. The "right amount" being enough to keep demand and popularity high, not one for every single person who wants an iPhone. Apple knows their s*** about supply and demand. If there was one iPhone for every person on planet Earth at launch, it would take forever to launch a product and demand would drop. You wouldn't see lines outside Apple Stores that display just how crazy people are for their products, which makes people without Apple products go "Hmm, there must be something cool about those devices if people want them so badly" and Apple's competitors go "Wow... Wish that was us."
3. Apple has done some pretty incredible stuff with display resolution and product weight while Cook has been in charge. Go hold an iPad Mini or Air at your local Apple Store, then compare it to the 4th gen iPad launched just one year earlier and see for yourself!
4. Making these products takes time. Many of the devices that have come out since Jobs's death were probably developed while he was alive for the most part. How much can we really attribute to Jobs, and how much to Cook? If the products are still great, who cares?
5. No one, not even Apple, "revolutionizes the industry" every two years, which is how long Cook has been CEO. Since Jobs came back to Apple in 1997, the company launched three groundbreaking product lines: the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Jobs was CEO for four years before the iPod came out! Was he a failure for those first four years because he didn't oversee the launch of a revolutionary product? Not at all.
6. What a bunch of entitled babies... "Waaaah, Apple hasn't made me an iWatch and an iTV yet, waaaah, Apple makes products I want but charge too much for them, waaaaah, Tim Cook isn't Steve Jobs." Apple doesn't owe you anything. If you like their products, buy them. If you don't like them or think they're overpriced, don't. Apple is a business. The point of what they do is to make money. I'm sure they're happy to hear about people's lives being improved by their products and that products that DON'T EVEN EXIST YET (iWatch and iTV) are in such high demand, because it means the money will keep pouring in. Ultimately, though, profit is the name of the game for them, so they will run their business in whatever fashion they think is most profitable. It's nothing malicious; that's just how businesses work. And if you ask me, Tim Cook knows EXACTLY what he's dong.
