Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO

Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has named the botched 2012 motorboat of Apple Maps arsenic his "first truly large mistake" successful the role, according to a Bloomberg study covering the municipality hallway gathering that was held Tuesday with his recently announced successor, John Ternus.


The Maps app launched with mislabeled landmarks, faulty directions, and a idiosyncratic acquisition that fell good abbreviated of Google Maps astatine the time. "The merchandise wasn't ready, and we thought it was due to the fact that we were investigating much of section benignant of stuff," Cook told staff.

Reflecting connected the debacle, Cook said it was "valuable," noting that helium expressed regret to users astatine the clip and suggested they usage competing navigation apps instead.

From the report:
"We apologized for it, and we said, 'Go usage these different apps. They're amended than ours.' And that was immoderate humble pie," Cook said. "But it was the close happening for our users. And truthful it's an illustration of keeping the idiosyncratic astatine the halfway of the decisions that we made."

Cook added: "Now we've got the champion representation app connected the planet. We learned astir persistence, and we did precisely the close happening having made the mistake."The fallout led to the archetypal large absorption shake-up of Cook's tenure, with bundle main Scott Forstall – a adjacent Steve Jobs collaborator – pushed retired successful the aftermath. (Fun fact: Forstall was precocious invited backmost to Apple Park to observe the company's 50th anniversary.)

On the agleam side, Cook singled retired the Apple Watch and its expanding wellness features arsenic the enactment he's astir arrogant of. He recalled receiving his archetypal enactment from a idiosyncratic whose beingness had been saved by the device. "It caused maine to conscionable halt successful my steps," helium said.

Cook conceded that his database of mistakes would beryllium "extraordinary successful length" (the never-released AirPower charging mat and Apple's abandoned car task would surely beryllium precocious up there) but the CEO has successfully avoided the benignant of merchandise recalls and cancellations that person plagued different user instrumentality companies implicit the past 15 years.

Cook became CEO successful August 2011 and hands implicit the reins to Ternus, presently main of hardware engineering, connected September 1, 2026.
This article, "Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' arsenic CEO" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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