September’s Apple Event, was yet another spectacular show. It reminded me somehow of the “Now you see me” movie. We were once again dazzled by the new products’ enhancements and improved specs. The real magic is how Tim Cook and his team continue to impress us still with less actual innovation and the lack of new, extraordinary products that promise to change the way we do things. Maybe because as spectators we want to “believe”…

Being in this industry, I understand that it is all about well-presented specs, fancy audiovisuals, and of course excellent marketing. For that, and for his managerial skills Tim Cook proved to be a worthy Jobs successor and for those doubting, numbers speak for themselves: Apple Inc., is now worth more than $2tn, and Tim Cook’s personal wealth exceeds $1.3bn. So despite Covid, trade war and the colossal rivals, the tech giant is still leading the world, with millions of consumers buying year after year the new, improved products no matter what. Definitely a huge success and no-one can take that away from Tim.

But, we -being Apple fans and loyal to the brand for decades- can’t help feeling a little disappointed… Apple was always about doing things differently, offering pure innovation and greatness and its been quite a while since we last saw something truly revolutionary.
This fall’s event could be a lot more than just another presentation of Apple’s new, facelifted product line. It was the 10th anniversary of Tim behind the wheel, (also cashing in the final part of his compensation package of 5m Apple shares worth of $750m) so we anticipated for “one last thing” to knock us off our feet…

Sadly, it never happened… I guess it requires something more than technocratic skills, hard work and good marketing. It requires vision, passion, inspiration and talent.

Let’s hope that Apple still has it, and is not resting on Jobs’s fading laurels…