Apple CEO Cook impressed by employees’ remote work, foresees permanent changes

Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an interview at The Atlantic Festival on Monday that he’s been impressed by some employees remote work and predicted that some new work habits will remain after the pandemic.

Apple Park
Apple Park’s gigantic solar roof in Cupertino, California

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

Cook said Apple created products including new Apple Watches and iPads that are launching on time this year, despite the need for most employees to work away from the office due to COVID-19. Cook said he doesn’t believe Apple will “return to the way we were because we’ve found that there are some things that actually work really well virtually.”

Cook said 10% to 15% of Apple employees have gone back to the office and he hopes the majority of staff can return to the company’s new campus in Silicon Valley sometime next year.

The CEO said he goes into the office at different points during the week and he noted that remote work is “not like being together physically.” Working in the office sparks creativity such as during impromptu meetings, he added.

MacDailyNews Take: Too bad Apple didn’t have a remote teleconferencing service ready to go long before COVID-19 hit the world. They’ve had the technological knowhow to do a “Good Zoom” for decades now, based on QuickTime, iMessage, and FaceTime, but alas. That’s a big time opportunity squandered, because Apple brass didn’t see the value of remote work until they were forced to open their eyes.

16 Comments

  1. And when Apple makes a tele conference program watch the crying about antitrust, Apple can’t make every program, but they do have to curate their app store to have the best, and right the app store needs to be pruned back.

      1. And you are already great at denying reality. Facts are facts. As somebody recently pointed out, it is what it is—including the fact that if the US had handled the virus as well as Germany we would have 150,000 fewer deaths. Ignoring reasonable public health protocols now, rather than being as cautious as Apple, could cause hundreds of thousands more unnecessary deaths.

        1. Well said, @TowerTone. TxUser is still pedaling for months the FALSE NARRATIVE of the present Number One election strategy of the Democrat Party Trump failed early on with C19 response and thousands died because of Trump. BALONEY!!!

          NO! Thousands died because of the VIRUS!!! President Trump closed the borders to China and what did Biden say at the time TxUser? What did Pelosi Say at the time regarding come to Chinatown TxUser? Too easy to expose Democrat HYPOCRISY and lately in this particular election cycle it is pissing me off big time and firing me up!

          The hypocrisy of the Democrat Party and their daily false narrative posting TOOLS or is it FOOLS, TxUser numero uno on MDN, is at an all time time high.

          TxUser lying fake conservative, Trump will win in a landslide and all the false information you post daily will amount to NOTHING!

          Sweet dreams buttercup. Mike Pence in 2024!…

    1. It’s a crying shame that Apple didn’t have you in a Senior VP role calling the shots I guess. Please tell me all knowing one what should Apple be working on as the ‘next big thing’?

  2. Too bad Apple didn’t have a remote teleconferencing service ready to go long before COVID-19 hit the world. They’ve had the technological knowhow to do a “Good Zoom” for decades now, based on QuickTime, iMessage, and FaceTime, but alas.

    I feel the same way towards the people who attend the vast multitudes of climate change discussions, meetings, and conferences held each year all over the world or travel via hundreds of private jets each year to Davos to take about how use low-life average planet killing humans need to lower our lifestyles to save the planet.

  3. True ‘dat.
    US lowlife climate change deniers don’t care a fig for the planet or the future prospects of their own offspring. So “My pain beats your gain!”
    Like ‘empathy’, you have to be a real human being to feel the pain.

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