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  "path": "/2026/04/23/tim-cook-apple-maps-launch-his-really-big-mistake/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-23T05:27:06.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.macrumors.com",
  "tags": [
    "Apple Maps",
    "Tim Cook",
    "Bloomberg",
    "recently announced",
    "invited back to Apple Park",
    "Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO",
    "MacRumors.com",
    "Discuss this article"
  ],
  "textContent": "Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has named the botched 2012 launch of Apple Maps as his \"first really big mistake\" in the role, according to a _Bloomberg_ report covering the town hall meeting that was held Tuesday with his recently announced successor, John Ternus.\n\n\nThe Maps app launched with mislabeled landmarks, faulty directions, and a user experience that fell well short of Google Maps at the time. \"The product wasn't ready, and we thought it was because we were testing more of local kind of stuff,\" Cook told staff.\n\nReflecting on the debacle, Cook said it was \"valuable,\" noting that he expressed regret to users at the time and suggested they use competing navigation apps instead.\n\nFrom the report:\n\n\n> \"We apologized for it, and we said, 'Go use these other apps. They're better than ours.' And that was some humble pie,\" Cook said. \"But it was the right thing for our users. And so it's an example of keeping the user at the center of the decisions that we made.\"\n>\n>  Cook added: \"Now we've got the best map app on the planet. We learned about persistence, and we did exactly the right thing having made the mistake.\"\n\nThe fallout led to the first major management shake-up of Cook's tenure, with software chief Scott Forstall – a close Steve Jobs collaborator – pushed out in the aftermath. (Fun fact: Forstall was recently invited back to Apple Park to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.)\n\nOn the bright side, Cook singled out the Apple Watch and its expanding health features as the work he's most proud of. He recalled receiving his first note from a user whose life had been saved by the device. \"It caused me to just stop in my steps,\" he said.\n\nCook conceded that his list of mistakes would be \"extraordinary in length\" (the never-released AirPower charging mat and Apple's abandoned car project would surely be high up there) but the CEO has successfully avoided the kind of product recalls and cancellations that have plagued other consumer device companies over the last 15 years.\n\nCook became CEO in August 2011 and hands over the reins to Ternus, currently chief of hardware engineering, on September 1, 2026.\n\nTags: Apple Maps, Tim Cook\n\n\nThis article, \"Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO\" first appeared on MacRumors.com\n\nDiscuss this article in our forums\n\n",
  "title": "Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO"
}