Customer Emails to Tim Cook Said to Have Helped Shape Apple Watch Development

iphone apple watch ecgDuring his time as Apple CEO, Steve Jobs was well known for personally responding to some of the customer emails he received, which has even led to some of his best replies being collected in a book.

Customers who email current Apple CEO Tim Cook also occasionally receive responses, and a CNBC report over the weekend reveals how these emails are processed and often shared with other executives within Apple.

According to people familiar with how the process works, Cook has an assistant whose job it is to read the mail, forward some to him for personal attention, and share others to a group distribution list of executives on the relevant teams. They forward the letters to their reports, and so on down the chain. Many of these "Dear Tim" letters are ultimately passed around by rank-and-file employees, according to one current and two former employees.

In an example of how customer emails can influence product decisions, the report highlights how some of these messages played a particularly influential role in the development of the Apple Watch.

After the Apple Watch launched in 2015, the company promoted a variety of features on it, including communications, entertainment, and health and fitness tracking. But then the missives started pouring in from users, describing how the device alerted them to potentially serious medical conditions and even saved lives. After this, Apple began shifting the emphasis of the watch more toward health features.

One former Apple employee reportedly described the emails as a "surprise," given that the Apple Watch wasn't developed to pick up heart-rate irregularities at the time. Another former employee said similar emails showed Apple that the device could have a more positive impact on health than anyone at the company had previously realized.

The report also goes on to note how the emails often help to maintain staff morale, especially for those employees who don't have an external-facing role and can't talk about the products they're working on. You can read the full full article here.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Will Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond. Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far. Apple...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive an All-New Perk

Thursday February 6, 2025 11:21 am PST by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost. iCloud+ is the official name for Apple's paid iCloud storage plans, which range from 50GB for $0.99 per month to 12TB for $59.99 per month in the United States. iCloud+ plans already come with multiple perks for free, such as Hide My Email and HomeKit Secure Video, and now there is another one...
iPhone SE 4 Single Camera Thumb

iPhone SE 4 Launching as Soon as Next Week

Thursday February 6, 2025 3:30 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone SE could debut as soon as next week with a launch to follow later in February, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE 4, and will instead unveil the device through a press release. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have an iPhone 14-style design, with Apple eliminating the thick bezels and Touch ID Home button of...
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks. iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
maxresdefault

An Apple TV Refresh is Coming in 2025 - Here's What You Should Know

Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:17 am PST by
Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Updated A-Series Chip The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for...
iCloud General Feature Redux

Apple Ordered by UK to Create Global iCloud Encryption Backdoor

Friday February 7, 2025 2:37 am PST by
The British government has secretly demanded that Apple give it blanket access to all encrypted user content uploaded to the cloud, reports The Washington Post. The undisclosed order is said to have been issued last month, and requires that Apple creates a back door that allows UK security officials unencumbered access to encrypted user data worldwide – an unprecedented demand not before...
Apple Leak Feature

Apple Leaker Issues Apology: 'Profound and Expensive Mistake'

Friday February 7, 2025 9:21 am PST by
Last year, we reported that Apple sued its former software engineer Andrew Aude for providing journalists with confidential information about the company's future plans, including details about the Journal app, Vision Pro headset, and more. As reported by 9to5Mac, the Superior Court of Santa Clara County on Thursday dismissed the lawsuit after Apple and Aude reached an agreement to resolve...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses to Expand to These 7 U.S. States

Wednesday February 5, 2025 6:27 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Below, we outline which U.S. states and territories offer the feature, and additional states that have committed to rolling it out in...

Top Rated Comments

jimothyGator Avatar
78 months ago
That’s not constructive criticism in which the article is indicating, it’s you just don’t agree with the price points, then simply don’t support Apple or find another product that meets your budget concerns. If you have Feedback that you can provide to make the product line a better experience for the user, that would be totally different than emailing Apple on your opinions on that matter, not the prices.
Every time there's an article like this, we get three types of comments:


* "Cue barrage" type comments—predictions that, gasp, there will be comments on an article. These comments are both more predictable and annoying than the "barrage" that follows. This type of comment is an attempt to preemptively dismiss any complaints that follow as illegitimate.
* Legitimate complaints about recent Apple products, their features, quality, gimmicks, and prices.
* Dismissal of those complaints. "If you don't like it, don't buy it!" As if Apple customers, or would-be customers, hadn't already thought about that, not to mention been told a hundred times.

Just like any company, Apple is not perfect, but dismissing any and all criticism of Apple lately implies that they are perfect. You can like Apple, and still want to buy their products, while complaining about them, wishing they had more of a focus on their customers, and wishing that their products were more reasonably priced. There is a spectrum of possibilities between "Buy whatever Apple offers and whatever price they offer it at" and "Buy nothing from Apple never again."

It's perfectly legitimate and reasonable to want Apple to do a better job, and to complain when they don't. What's unreasonable is to act as if complaining about, for instance, the markup on SSD and RAM upgrades is not legitimate.

Apple's direction lately—and they've almost made this explicit—has been, there's not much more room for additional marketshare, so let's get more money out of our existing customers by charging more for our products. That's a reasonable business approach, at least in the short term. If they're capable of pulling this off, why not?

But there's a few problems with this approach. One, it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy: If part of the reason for selling more more expensive iPhones, for instance, is because customers replace them less often, customers will replace them less often because they are more expensive. Also, high prices will discourage first time Apple customers, and send prior customers elsewhere. The long term effects could be detrimental to both Apple customers and shareholders.

You can't blame people for wishing Apple had better quality products at more reasonable prices, and especially not for longing for the days when Apple focused on "insanely great" products. That focus is what created a loyal fanbase for Apple, as well as enormous profits. Disappoint the customer base too much and too long, and the profits will disappoint, as well.

Giving feedback to Apple about prices is just as legitimate about giving feedback on the Apple Watch. Hopefully Apple will listen.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
78 months ago
Article quote:

But then the missives started pouring in from users, describing how the device alerted them to potentially serious medical conditions and even saved lives. After this, Apple began shifting the emphasis of the watch more toward health features.”

I think Apple themselves didn’t realize how the Apple Watch would initially impact lives, and once they realized that the future is more health oriented than it is just a ‘communication device’, it really opened the door for new possibilities like fall detection, EKG, and eventually/hopefully glucose monitoring.
[doublepost=1551098705][/doublepost]
Cool.

I guess he just ignored my emails that told him that iPhones, Macbooks, and the Homepod are way overpriced.
That’s not constructive criticism in which the article is indicating, it’s you just don’t agree with the price points, then simply don’t support Apple or find another product that meets your budget concerns. If you have Feedback that you can provide to make the product line a better experience for the user, that would be totally different than emailing Apple on your opinions on that matter, not the prices.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
levitynyc Avatar
78 months ago
Cool.

I guess he just ignored my emails that told him that iPhones, Macbooks, and the Homepod are way overpriced.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Radon87000 Avatar
78 months ago
So basically this anecdote confirms that Cook doesn't have the innovative product foresight that Jobs had.
Tim Cook isn’t even in the same league as Steve Jobs. One is an innovator. The other is a bean counter riding on his coat tails.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimothyGator Avatar
78 months ago
Yet, Steve Jobs was the guy behind the Moto ROKR failure and the G4 Cube flop, whereas Cook kickstarted the true wireless earbuds revolution and made the Apple Watch a behemoth.
Sure, by cherry picking examples, you can make Jobs seem like a flop. But he is also the one who oversaw the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, not to mention rescuing Apple from the brink. He didn't bat a thousand, but let's not pretend he struck out every time.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Radon87000 Avatar
78 months ago
I just want to confirm I am understanding you correctly...

Apple in this case listened to their customers and shifted the product towards what they wanted.

You are saying this is a bad thing, yes?
Steve Jobs-
Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)