Tim Cook Visits iPhone X Supplier, Normandy Cemetery, and 'My Little Paris' Startup on French Trip [Updated]

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in Paris today ahead of a meeting with the French president Emmanuel Macron at 4:15 CEST. Before that meeting happens, Cook has a full itinerary for his day and the CEO has been documenting parts of his travels on Twitter.

Cook's first Tweet noted his visitation to Eldim, a company based in Normandy that specializes in creating advanced optical metrology tools. Eldim is a component supplier of the upcoming iPhone X, providing Apple with critical components of the iPhone X's Face ID biometric security system.

tim cook visits eldim

Specifically, Eldim is said to be responsible for the eye detection abilities of Face ID -- a crucial factor in Apple's new software, which can detect when a user's eyes are open (unlocking the iPhone X) or closed (keeping the smartphone locked). Eldim CEO Thierry Leroux called the collaboration with Apple "an incredible adventure." Leroux further stated that, "for us it was a bit like sending someone to the moon." Tim Cook was said to have responded with a congratulations and telling the company and its 42 employees, "it's great what you did for us!" (via Mac Generation and Ouest-France).

While in Normandy, Cook visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which honors the American lives that were lost in Europe during World War II.

tim cook normandy graveyard

Cook also made a surprise visit to a startup called "My Little Paris" where he shared a roast chicken with employees. My Little Paris specializes in recommending sites and attractions to see around the city. Originating as a weekly newsletter created by Fany Péchiodat and sent to her friends and family, the original idea has since evolved into a $42 million startup.

tim cook my little paris

Next up should be Cook's meeting with Macron. The topics of discussion for this meeting are being kept secret, but the two men are largely expected to talk about the issue of corporate tax law in France. In August, France and Germany announced preparations to stop tech companies like Apple from exploiting tax loopholes in their respective countries, with Macron leading the crackdown on international tech companies in France.

Cook's visit to France in 2017 follows a troublesome period of months for Apple back in 2016, when the European Commission ruled that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland and ordered the company to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes. Apple appealed the decision in December of 2016 by arguing the European Commission made "fundamental errors" in its ruling, but the Cupertino company has noted that it expects the case to continue for several years.

In the wake of these reports, Cook called the tax avoidance claims "total political crap," writing an open letter that stated Apple has become "the largest taxpayer in the world," and that the company "follows the law and we pay all the taxes we owe."

Update: Cook also visited the offices of "CoachGuitar," an app that teaches users how to play the guitar.


Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

justiny Avatar
80 months ago
Get to work Tim.
Jesus Christ, can you guys give it a rest?

I swear to God, Cook could find a cure for cancer and you guys would find yet another reason to s*** on him. As an Apple stock holder, he’s doing just fine.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
80 months ago
Oh goodness I need more coffee. I completely misread the headline and thought the iPhone parts supplier was called “Normandy Cemetery.” Goodness. Gave me quite a start.

The sight of all those crosses and realizing the heroic lost lives they represent remind me not to be complacent about the resurgent embrace of fascist thought seeping into society today from any extreme of the political spectrum.

I can’t imagine the emotional impact visiting that site in person must have. I hope for a chance to visit it myself someday. Well done to Tim Cook for paying his respects there.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
80 months ago
I have visited Normandy and I can tell you it is a very humbling experience, as is when you visit Dachau in Germany..... A lot of good people lost their lives, so we could live a better life...
I can imagine the feeling. I remember when I first visited the Vietnam War memorial in DC. In those days people were very vocal in their criticism of how different it was from traditional memorials. But when I saw all those names I was...there are no words for how I felt.

Especially as I looked next to me at my dad who managed to come back alive. Though truthfully the man who was deployed there a few months after I was born never really came back. I realized that comparing how he was in letters he wrote to my mom early in his deployment and how his personality was after he came back. But I did get someone back.

And each of those names on the Vietnam War memorial and each of those crosses in Normandy Cemetery represent not just one life lost but all the lives of all the people who loved and needed and wanted desperately for that soldier to come back to them and who had to adjust to life without them. I think that’s part of what we feel when we behold places like this: the weight of all those lives lost and all those lives changed as a result of loss.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CB1234 Avatar
80 months ago
Oh goodness I need more coffee. I completely misread the headline and thought the iPhone parts supplier was called “Normandy Cemetery.” Goodness. Gave me quite a start.

The sight of all those crosses and realizing the heroic lost lives they represent remind me not to be complacent about the resurgent embrace of fascist thought seeping into society today from any extreme of the political spectrum.

I can’t imagine the emotional impact visiting that site in person must have. I hope for a chance to visit it myself someday. Well done to Tim Cook for paying his respects there.
I have visited Normandy and I can tell you it is a very humbling experience, as is when you visit Dachau in Germany..... A lot of good people lost their lives, so we could live a better life...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gugy Avatar
80 months ago


The sight of all those crosses and realizing the heroic lost lives they represent remind me not to be complacent about the resurgent embrace of fascist thought seeping into society today from any extreme of the political spectrum.

I can’t imagine the emotional impact visiting that site in person must have. I hope for a chance to visit it myself someday. Well done to Tim Cook for paying his respects there.
I had the same thought when I visited Arlington cemetery. It’s crazy what’s happening today in US.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
meaning-matters Avatar
80 months ago
This is great. Nice that Mr. Tim Cook shares the story.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how functions. As noted by The Washington Post,...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...