an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Granted, 19th century proverb writers were talking about fruit, but Tim Cook helped give new meaning to the saying with the release of the first Apple Watch. In fact, I’d argue that when he hands over the reins to John Ternes in September, it won’t be iPhones, Macs, AirPods, or the Vision Pro that define Cook’s legacy. It would follow that the Apple Watch would set the direction for modern health technology.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Cook himself told in 2019 crazy money Host Jim Cramer, “…if you zoom into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?’, it will be about health.”
The Apple Watch was the first new Apple product in the post-Steve Jobs era and the first to be developed without his input – although Cook was adamant that his predecessor’s influence could be seen and felt within the device. As a result, it served as a barometer for Cook’s leadership and whether Apple could continue to innovate without Jobs’ singular vision.
It was a bad start. Apple’s initial bet on the Watch as a high-end fashion piece did not last. But looking back, the gadget has defined the modern wearable industry. FDA-approved digital health screening features weren’t a thing before the Series 4. Now, wearable devices across the industry can detect atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea. They can call emergency services if you get into a car accident or have a serious fall. Every year, before announcing a new Watch, Apple features a clip of “Dear Tim” characters where users explain how the gadget saved their life. (This is the moment Cook also invoked in his letter to Apple fans yesterday.) We wrote The Verge Regarding how these advertisements may seem like subtle fear mongering, but it is an undeniable fact that in real life there are people who live their lives because of the device.
Cook was one of the first tech CEOs to tout wearables as the democratization of healthcare and science. The inaugural Apple Heart Study and the launch of the Apple Research app have opened many doors for clinical researchers. For example, the Apple Heart Study had 400,000 participants, an unprecedented number in 2017. Just a few years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers used a series of wearable devices to study whether the devices could detect early signs of infectious diseases. One study found that the Apple Watch can actually detect COVID-19 up to a week in advance. But the research example was not limited to Apple devices. Major sports organizations stopped using Ora Ring as part of their COVID-19 reintegration plans once vaccines became more widely available. Since then, Oura has also launched a feature called Symptom Radar to detect early health changes.
We have seen this idea adopted by politicians as well. Current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also been a vocal proponent of “taking control of your health” with wearable technology. RFK Jr. has even said that he believes wearable technology is a pillar of the Make America Healthy Again movement. Regardless of how you view MAHA or RFK Jr.’s health beliefs, none of this would have been possible without the blueprint Apple laid out with the Apple Watch.
It might be tempting to downplay Cook’s role in Apple’s pivot to health. After all, Jony Ive is often credited with dreaming up the Apple Watch and its iconic design. Steve Jobs’ health-related experiences while battling pancreatic cancer have also been cited as the “true” reason behind the creation of the Apple Watch. But I would argue that you can’t completely separate a guy named Tim Cook from Apple’s approach to health tech.
For one, I should point out slateAn investigation is underway into whether Tim Cook was secretly defrauded. (Spoiler: Yes, he is.) Several profiles have also pointed to Cook’s strict daily routine, which starts at 4 a.m. and includes a roughly hour-long workout in Apple’s corporate gym. in a podcast with Outside In the magazine, Cook described himself as an outdoorsman and said exercise was the key to a good quality of life. To Luck, Cook calls himself a “fitness maniac”. Cook has previously said that using the Apple Watch helped him lose 30 pounds and improve his exercise routine. You can see aspects of it in Apple’s Fitness Plus service, breathing reminders, and hiking navigation features on the Apple Watch Ultra.
It’s a little hard to say what Cook’s successor, John Ternes, will think about his health once he takes over in September. As a product person, Turnus was behind the Apple Watch Ultra 3’s 3D-printed titanium and improved repairability. (He Was A collegiate swimming champion, so perhaps we’ll see expanded features in that area too.) Apple reportedly still hasn’t given up on non-invasive glucose monitoring. And in a recent interview, Apple told me it plans to expand the health features to other devices — something it’s already done with the AirPods Pro, which offer both heart rate monitoring and hearing tests. The company is also in the midst of an open-ended, five-year clinical research study to help develop future healthcare facilities.
Cook has established a strong foundation and leadership, but there are differences Is Closing. Ora and Whoop, in particular, are leading the way in setting new wearable health tech trends. But, 30 years from now, when we’re all wearing glucose monitors and possibly getting disease alerts from our earbuds, we’ll be able to point to Cook’s tenure and say this was when it all started.
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