Two of Apple’s biggest bets for the future are Apple Intelligence and the Vision Pro. The former hasn’t launched yet, and the latter has received a mixed reception. But in a recent WSJ interview, CEO Tim Cook shared some surprising definitions for how he’s viewing ‘success’ for the two products.
Vision Pro is ‘arguably a success today’
In discussing the Vision Pro, Cook called it ‘arguably a success today’—but not by any measure you might expect.
Cook didn’t claim that the device’s sales were great. He instead adeptly dodged the question by saying, “I’d always like to sell more of everything, because ultimately, we want our products to be in as many people’s hands as possible. And so obviously I’d like to sell more.”
He also didn’t talk up customer satisfaction, something he’s very much been known to do.
Instead, Cook acknowledged that Vision Pro will keep on getting better, but defined its success in this way:
“Over time, everything gets better, and it too will have its course of getting better and better,” Cook says. “I think it’s just arguably a success today from an ecosystem-being-built-out point of view.”
This is a curious quote by Cook, because it very much kicks the can of the Vision Pro’s success down the road.
Rather than being judged by a normal product’s standards, the Vision Pro is a ‘success’ because it’s building out an ecosystem. Taking Apple and its users into a spatial computing future that will some day be a big thing.
Apple Intelligence is ‘best for the customer’
When it comes to Apple Intelligence, Cook similarly spoke of success in a unique way.
Elsewhere in the piece, Cook is said to have repeated the phrase, “Not first, but best” often to his interviewer. However, when getting specific about Apple Intelligence, even Cook’s use of ‘best’ is not quite what you’d expect.
“We weren’t the first to do intelligence,” he says. “But we’ve done it in a way that we think is the best for the customer.”
Did you notice the qualifier?
Cook acknowledges that Apple isn’t first to AI. But despite the ‘Not first, but best’ mantra, he also isn’t claiming that Apple Intelligence is going to be ‘best’—at least not yet.
Instead, Apple’s focus is on providing AI that’s ‘best for the customer.’ Which is very evident in Apple Intelligence’s motto: ‘AI for the rest of us.’
To Cook, Apple Intelligence’s success—for now—is less about technically being the best, and more about creating the best product to enrich users’ lives.
Top comment by Jarrod
While I do think that a decent amount of this is marketing spin, I actually found it reassuring in a way. I really like the idea of vision pro, and I hope they don't kill it because it is off to a slow start. Something like this will take years to be in a place where it makes sense for most consumers (including me), so I want them to take the long view and keep slowly chipping away at it. Maybe I'll get a used version of the cheaper headset if they don't make it too much worse than the current version.
Which is very much in line with Apple’s ethos. The company has historically been less concerned with making abstract new tech, and more focused on creating specific products that meet specific needs.
Wrap-up: Redefining success
Maybe you can attribute Cook’s quotes to simply being positive spin. A way for him to claim Apple is winning with its newest offerings.
But it could also, perhaps, be the way the company truly views the Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence. Both are investments in the future whose true ‘success,’ in the traditional meaning of the word, won’t arrive until later.
What do you make of Cook’s definitions of success? Let us know in the comments.
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