Apple marked its 50th anniversary with a look back at its biggest milestones, and Tim Cook pointed clearly to one moment that still stands above the rest, saying the iPhone launch remains his favorite because it changed how people interact with technology in everyday life.
The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen met Cook at Apple Park, where they reviewed rare archival items, including early iPhone prototypes, the original iPod, and Apple’s first patent tied to the Apple II, while Cook admitted he saw several of these artifacts for the first time during the anniversary preparations.
Cook explained that Apple built the iPhone out of frustration with existing devices, which created a direct need for something better that people would actually enjoy using.
“We were using that generation’s smart phone, and it was such an awful experience. And I love the fact that all of a sudden you had this touch interface, and it worked like your mind worked.” — Tim Cook
That idea of technology that “worked like your mind worked” still defines Apple’s approach today, and Cook hinted that future products will follow the same pattern of combining hardware, software, and services in a meaningful way.
Cook also shared a long internal memo to the employees reflecting on Apple’s journey from a garage startup to 2.5 billion active devices worldwide, while reinforcing the belief that the future is something teams build together, not something they wait for, and closing with a simple line that captured his focus on what comes next: “here’s to the next fifty years.”
