# Apple The most valuable company in the world, maker of the iPhone, Mac, and a services/App Store ecosystem that gives it gatekeeping power over the software economy. Founded in 1976 by [[Steve Jobs]], Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple under CEO [[Tim Cook]] (2011–2026) became the template for how [[Big Tech]] navigates political power — accommodating whoever holds office while maintaining the fiction of corporate neutrality. ## The Cook accommodation model Cook perfected a strategy the vault tracks across Big Tech: maintain access to power regardless of which party holds it, make symbolic concessions on cultural issues (privacy marketing, environmental commitments, diversity programs), and defend the business model's structural advantages (App Store monopoly, walled-garden ecosystem) against regulatory challenge. Cook's public posture with the Trump administration — including a May 2026 trip to China alongside Trump — demonstrates the accommodation pattern: Apple will participate in whatever political theater is required to protect its China supply chain and its domestic regulatory position. Cook is stepping down as CEO on September 1, 2026, with COO John Ternus succeeding him. The transition comes as Apple faces DOJ antitrust litigation over App Store practices and a $38 billion antitrust fine in India. ## The China dependency Apple's deepest vulnerability is its dependence on Chinese manufacturing — a supply chain Cook deliberately deepened over his tenure. The company assembles the majority of its products in China through partners like Foxconn, creating what *American Affairs Journal* called "the impossible partnership": Apple's business model requires Chinese manufacturing capacity that US foreign policy is increasingly trying to restrict. The [[Chip Export Controls]] regime, tariff escalation, and broader [[Decoupling]] push all threaten Apple's cost structure, but the company has moved too slowly to diversify (India and Vietnam operations remain a fraction of Chinese capacity). This creates a political dynamic where Apple's corporate interests align with restraining US-China confrontation — making Cook a de facto lobby for engagement at a moment when the political consensus has shifted toward competition. Apple's China dependency is the single largest commercial interest pushing against the hawkish consensus the vault documents. ## KB relevance Apple appears across the vault in debates over [[Big Tech]] power (App Store gatekeeping, content-moderation decisions, encryption fights with law enforcement), China supply-chain dependency (the tension between national-security hawks and corporate interests), and the broader question of whether technology companies are political actors or neutral platforms. The company's cooperation with Chinese censorship requirements — removing VPN apps, news apps, and encrypted messaging tools from the Chinese App Store at Beijing's request — sits uncomfortably with its US marketing around privacy and user autonomy. ## See Also - [[Tim Cook]] — the outgoing CEO - [[Steve Jobs]] — the founder - [[Big Tech]] — the sector concept - [[Silicon Valley]] — the ecosystem - [[Chip Export Controls]] — the policy threatening its supply chain