Tim Cook Would Have Preferred to Announce the New iMac in January - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Tim Cook Would Have Preferred to Announce the New iMac in January

During the Q&A portion of today's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the number of product releases in the fall of 2012 and whether he wished Apple had done things differently.

His answer was somewhat revealing, as Apple is usually hesitant to disclose internal discussions and deliberations, but Cook said that looking back, he would have delayed the release of the new iMac until 2013 to avoid some of the delays that many customers experienced after ordering a new Mac.

newimac.jpg

I don't spend a lot of time looking back except to learn from it. If we could run it over, I'd announce the iMac after the turn of the year. We felt customers had to wait too long for that specific product.

Apple's new iMacs, first announced in October, experienced significant delays in shipping, presumably due to the thinness of the machine. The displays required a new manufacturing process along with advanced welding techniques, causing some customers to wait for weeks before receiving their orders.

During Apple's Q1 earnings call, Tim Cook admitted that the iMac was constrained for the entire quarter, resulting in a "significant shortage".

The above quote is from a rough transcript of the earnings call

Popular Stories

tim cook john ternus apple ceo

Tim Cook and John Ternus Attend Sun Valley Conference Together

Wednesday July 8, 2026 6:07 am PDT by
Apple CEO Tim Cook and incoming CEO John Ternus are attending this year's Sun Valley Conference, according to Forbes. Allen & Co., the boutique investment firm behind the event, uses the conference as an annual excuse to put media, tech, and finance leaders in the same rooms for a week of closed-door talks at the Sun Valley Lodge. This year's event began on July 7 and is expected to run...
Stocks App Icon and Apple Logo Feature

You Can Listen to Tim Cook's Final Earnings Call as Apple CEO Today

Thursday July 30, 2026 6:45 am PDT by
Tim Cook will participate in his final Apple earnings call as the company's CEO today. The call begins at 2 p.m. Pacific Time / 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh will discuss Apple's earnings results for the second quarter of the 2026 calendar year on the live-streamed conference call. While the call is primarily intended for Apple shareholders and Wall Street analysts, anyone...
tim cook macbook pro

Tim Cook Thanks Shareholders on His Final Apple Earnings Call

Thursday July 30, 2026 3:26 pm PDT by
Apple CEO Tim Cook today confirmed that today's call was his last as CEO, with John Ternus set to become Apple's new CEO on September 1. Cook will transition to a new role as executive chairman when Ternus becomes CEO. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of you, from our shareholders, particularly our long-term shareholders who have put their trust in us for so many years, ...

Top Rated Comments

173 months ago
So Mac Pro users haven't waited long enough?
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eric/ Avatar
173 months ago
I'm surprised he didn't mention Maps.

How long ago was Maps released? Why are people still complaining about Maps? It's not even a big deal. Don't like it, download one of the other billion map applications.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
173 months ago
It would have been interesting if they went along with that plan... although delaying them until 2013 would have put nearly a two-year gap between releases...

Not that the 2011 iMac is anything to sneeze at! My 27" baby is still running very strong since I got it almost two years ago! :)

My 2009 is still running perfectly as well.

----------

Wow, so he would've delayed a product that was perfectly fine and ready to go? Somebody please get rid of this guy for good.

But it wasn't. Supplies were significantly constrained. But let's just keep attacking anybody that isn't Jobs :rolleyes:
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pirg Avatar
173 months ago
One thing is for certain. If Tim cook is ever ousted, apple has their pick of capable future ceos right here on macrumors. Amazing how so many capable people have found themselves here, huh?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
173 months ago
By the way, I've had a few conversations with the techies who will have to repair the new iMacs when, for example, a hard drive goes south.

I completely agree with you, Apple seems to be getting rather OCD about shaving off another 0.Xmm just for the sake of it, which is completely unnecessary on a desktop. When was the last time you heard anyone say "I wish my iMac was thinner"...?

It's pretty ridiculous too that they have to use an expensive and slower mobile CPU and GPU just so they can save a few millimetres... I'm pretty sure they wouldn't loose any sales by having perhaps an internal PCI slot with the GPU in, which would have fitted in the older aluminium design no problem. How about user-upgradable RAM too? What happened to that?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdlink Avatar
173 months ago
Wow, so he would've delayed a product that was perfectly fine and ready to go? Somebody please get rid of this guy for good.

Definition of a product that's ready to go: I click order, and they assemble it and ship it to me in a reasonable amount of time (under three months). It was not "ready to go."

There's more to releasing a product that you want to sell than designing it. You need to be able to supply it to the customers who buy it.

It was a mistake to announce it before it was ready to ship in any quantity. Glad he owned up to it.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors