Tim Cook Assures Employees Apple is Staying Focused on What It Does Best

Apple CEO Tim Cook today addressed Apple employees at a virtual company-wide meeting held to address questions about work-from-home arrangements and when people can expect to return to their jobs in retail stores and corporate offices.

timcooktulane
Bloomberg shared details on the meeting, with ‌Tim Cook‌ calling the current health crisis an "uncertain and stressful moment" that Apple will recover from. Apple, said Cook, began the year with a strong balance sheet and will continue investing "in a really significant way" in research and development and future products.

If we stay focused on doing what we do best, if we keep investing, if we manage the business wisely and make decisions collaboratively, if we take care of our teams, if our teams take care of their work, I don't see any reason to be anything but optimistic.

Cook was asked about job cuts, but said that Apple is in a strong financial position and has been paying retail employees unable to work. Cook said that his focus is on running Apple for the long-term rather than the short-term. Cook cited the launch of the MacBook Air, iPad Pro, and iPhone SE as evidence that Apple's product launches are not being disrupted.

There's no word yet on when Apple employees will be able to return to their workplaces, but he said that Apple will likely implement measures like temperature checks and social distancing when employees do go back to work.

Apple's retail staff has started online training and virtual meetings have ramped up ahead of store re-openings, with Apple planning to re-open its first store in South Korea this weekend. U.S. stores are not likely to reopen until May, and even then, will open on a staggered basis with Apple taking into account local conditions and guidelines.

According to Cook, Apple has now sourced and donated more than 30 million N95 masks to healthcare workers around the world and has shipped more than two million of the face shields that it has been working on.

Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams also spoke, and he said that the health crisis has made Apple's work on health products more important, including the Apple Watch. Apple's development work in health isn't "limited to the wrist," but more governments are now working with Apple to bring the ECG feature to additional countries.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
68 months ago

Cook cited the launch of the MacBook Air, iPad Pro, and iPhone SE as evidence that Apple's product launches are not being disrupted.
Yeah, everything is A-OK. Nothing could possibly go w—



Attachment Image
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mtneer Avatar
68 months ago

Cook was asked about job cuts, but said that Apple is in a strong financial position and has been paying retail employees unable to work.
There are many times I've been critical of Tim or his decisions, but this is laudable. Credit due to doing the right thing.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joniz Avatar
68 months ago
Tim Cook Assures Employees Apple is Staying Focused on What It Does Best
Well, looking at the state of their software lately, I’m going to assume it’s not that.

Must be making money.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
68 months ago
Sure Tim, while at it, please polish macOS before putting out any other toys, thanks.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedGala Avatar
68 months ago
Tim gets a lot of flak but he's a good one imo
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
68 months ago
I do love his belief in the company and optimism about the company's future, but, it still feels empty. Its like, his confidence comes from the company's balance sheet. Rehashing the same products over and over again, to sell them as something new to customers (iPad Pro with A12Z - just one more graphics core, iPhone SE, MacBook Air with a better keyboard ). That doesn't feel like ground breaking to me. The product categories are also messy. Too many iPads to choose from, iPhone is all over the place, you are paying for features, which frankly should not be premium. But, what I ultimately feel is, this virus is going to change our buying habits when it comes to buying new technology.

Apple products are in part status symbols; they turn heads, draw interest, conversation starters. But, I'm afraid, if we continue into this crisis, there is little need for any of us to really be upgrading. I know, my upgrade plans have pretty much been pushed out to 2023 or whenever Apple stops providing OS updates for the devices I already own.


Yeah, everything is A-OK. Nothing could possibly go w—


Seriously, I died!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)