Episode 10 – Apple’s New Boss Has a Hardware Problem

Summer hiatus is over, and there’s been a changing of the guard in Cupertino. John Ternus — only the third CEO at Apple since 1997 — takes the throne. Who is Apple’s former star engineer, and what does his ascension mean for one of the most valuable companies on the planet?

Plus: Hobby Lobby finally takes Apple Pay. Yes, that Hobby Lobby. The slow drip of NFC adoption continues, and Walmart already folded a few weeks ago.

Then: Macworld says your wallet can sit out next week’s Apple event. We walk through what’s rumored, what you’ll actually need, and whether it’s finally safe to skip a year.

And: The Hang Jury puts Tim Cook’s legacy on trial. Fifteen years. $4 trillion. One very mediocre Siri. Was it a win — or a stumble? You be the judge.

This is The Tech Hangout. Let’s get into it.

🕐 Timestamps

0:00 — Cold Open

0:37 — Intro & Panel

3:06 — The Feed: Hobby Lobby & Walmart Take Apple Pay

12:57 — The Feed: Should You Skip Next Week’s Apple Event?

22:56 — The Feed: John Ternus Is Your New CEO

33:49 — Hang Jury: Tim Cook’s Legacy

52:59 — The Drop

1:04:26 — Outro & Show Info

🗂 The Feed

🛒 Chuck: Hobby Lobby & Walmart Take Apple Pay — yes, that Hobby Lobby, and yes, that Walmart. Apple’s stick-to-itiveness on NFC finally pays off, and the privacy story nobody’s covering.

🔌 Marty: Your Wallet Can Sit Out Next Week’s Apple Event — Macworld’s opinion piece on whether the rumored hardware is worth the upgrade cash.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3225983/this-is-your-cue-to-skip-that-iphone-or-apple-watch-upgrade-this-month.html

👀 Ben: John Ternus’s First Memo to Staff — Mashable

https://mashable.com/tech/apple-ceo-john-ternus-first-memo-to-staff

👀 Ben: Three Narratives from the John Ternus Executive Profile — The Enthusiast

https://www.theenthusiast.net/three-narratives-from-the-john-ternus-executive-profile

⚖️ Hang Jury: Tim Cook’s Legacy — Win or Stumble?

Tim Cook hung up his CEO hat at the end of September. Fifteen years. $4 trillion in market cap. Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, AirPods, Apple Pay, Apple Card, Apple TV+ — the whole second Apple. He took a company known for one personality and turned it into a thousand-person keynote stage. He held the line with China and the current administration when plenty of people wanted him to fold.

But he also caught heat for being behind on AI, behind on foldables, behind on whatever the next platform is supposed to be. And Siri is still… Siri.

So here’s the Hang Jury question: fifteen years in, $4 trillion out, one mediocre Siri later — what do you see as Tim Cook’s legacy? Was he the steady hand Apple needed after Steve — or the CEO who kept the lights on while the next revolution happened somewhere else?

Sources:

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4162169/tim-cooks-legacy-a-successful-ceo-who-stumbled-over-ai.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/ceo-tim-cook-touts-apples-push-for-american-manufacturing-discusses-his-legacy

https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/245271