Apple CEO Tim Cook: Health Industry is 'Ripe for Simplicity and a New View'

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke this morning at Startup Fest Europe, a festival geared towards helping startups grow, where he gave some sage business advice and shared some insight into Apple's future plans in the television and healthcare industries.

Some of Cook's most interesting comments were on healthcare, which has been a focus for Apple in recent years with ResearchKit, HealthKit, and the Apple Watch. According to Cook, healthcare could be significantly improved through the use of apps and it's one area where the App Store has potential for growth.


Cook went on to say that health is something that interests Apple because it's an area where hardware, software, and services can come together into "something that's magical." Apple said health is a "huge problem in the world" that's ripe for a revamp.

The things that interest us the most are things where we can bring our ability to integrate hardware, software, and services into something that's magical and enriches people in some way. If you look at some of the things we're doing that do not drive revenue but they have massive interest in them from our teams - health is very much one of those. [...]

The net of that is we believe that health is something that is a huge problem in the world, a huge issue, and we think it is ripe for simplicity and sort of a new view and we'd like to contribute to that. So that's an area where we're very focused.

He also made some predictions on the Apple Watch, once again stating that people will one day look back at the watch and wonder how they lived without it. The "holy grail" of the watch, he says, is being able to monitor more and more of what's going on in the body, something that's not possible today, but will be possible in the future. He likened the future of healthcare and monitoring devices to the systems available in cars.

For those of you that own a car. You get in your car, you crank it up, you drive for a while. If it gets a little too hot a light comes on and says you know pull over or check out. If you need an oil change, it comes on and says check the oil. It has all of these things in it that alert you that you need to do something. What is the equivalent for the body?

Well, it's our minds, but our minds unfortunately convince all of us all too often not to seek help. And many times, we don't even know. There's no symptom. So if you could have a device that knew so much about you, it would be pretty incredible and would extend life and extend quality. I'm not saying one device will do all of that, but when you solve such a big problem it takes several contributions. That's the way I feel here.

Other tidbits of information from the interview included Apple's stance on becoming a carrier, to which Tim Cook said the company's expertise "doesn't extend to the network," and Apple's interest in the entertainment industry and its desire to be a catalyst for change.

We also believe in the entertainment realm that apps are the future of TV and so we've launched our new Apple TV product, but it's clear to us as we pull that string that there's a lot left to do, and we'd like to be a catalyst in changing the world of entertainment and so we're continuing to work on that.

When it comes to business advice, Cook ended the interview by saying companies shouldn't be worried about cannibalizing their products and shouldn't compromise. "Don't get full of yourself. Don't smoke your own exhaust. Don't worry about cannibalizing yourself," he said. "I think being hungry -- not being driven by money, but being driven by some higher purpose and building great products -- is really key. Never do something strictly for money. Do it for love, do it for passion."

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...

Top Rated Comments

MacFather Avatar
122 months ago
Deleted.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Asarien Avatar
122 months ago
How will Apple change the health, television and automotive industries when they can't even figure out a useable UI for Apple Music and iTunes Match?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robjulo Avatar
122 months ago
Lol. The Mac is a premium product with a premium price. There are no premium cars that do not offer air conditioning standard. That is the point you do not get. It is a premium price point with substandard components. But is ok because everything is "magical".


I'm so sick of this comment. And the 16GB iPhone one too. Did someone force you to take it with the HD instead of the Fusion or SSD? Upgrade it and then it is a just over 2-Grand machine with a SSD drive. Then decide if it's worth it.

It's the same thing auto makers have done for years. Air conditioning on many cars is a option. Who in their right mind buys a car without air conditioning. Answer: Almost no one. They OPT for it. It just allows the car company to say the base price is such and such and then you add what you need.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
niun Avatar
122 months ago
I stopped at, "If you look at some of the things we're doing that do not drive revenue".
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Juicy Box Avatar
122 months ago
He also made some predictions on the Apple Watch, once again stating that people will one day look back at the watch and wonder how they lived without it.
I am not quite there yet Tim.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
i5pro Avatar
122 months ago
Geez..."magical" why is everything "magical?" It's time to retire that term magical.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)