Tim Cook: Apple is Best, Not First

Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed ongoing concerns about the firm being behind in AI in arguably the best possible way. He told The Wall Street Journal that Apple is “not first, but best.”

“We’re perfectly fine with not being first,” he told the publication. “As it turns out, it takes a while to get it really great. It takes a lot of iteration. It takes worrying about every detail. Sometimes, it takes a little longer to do that. We would rather come out with that kind of product and that kind of contribution to people versus running to get something out first. If we can do both, that’s fantastic. But if we can only do one, there’s no doubt around here. If you talk to 100 people, 100 of them would tell you: It’s about being the best.”

Cook describes Apple’s AI offering, Apple Intelligence, as “AI for the rest of us,” an updated take on an early Macintosh marketing campaign. He claims to rely on Apple Intelligence email summaries, describing this bland feature as “life changing” because it saves him so much time. And that Apple Intelligence, more broadly, will make the experience of using Apple’s products “profoundly different.” It’s an innovation on par with the iPod’s Click wheel and the iPhone’s multitouch display, he says, something that will “happen for all of us.”

He also dismisses complaints that Apple’s latest iPhones shipped ahead of the first release of Apple Intelligence. “In the longness of time, I don’t think it will be even a footnote,” he says.

Cook also addresses the Vision Pro in the interview, admitting that the $3500 headset lacks a killer app and is only for early adopters today. But he also compares it to earlier Apple products like iPod, iPhone, and AirPods that were dismissed by critics when they didn’t sell well at first.

“[Success] doesn’t occur overnight,” he claims. “None of these did.”