Apple Bye 🍏👋

👀 TLDR

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover the report that Tim Cook may step down as Apple CEO early next year. He made Apple into a profit-machine, but will he leave a legacy of true innovation? We discuss Cook and his potential successors in our main take below. We also have news on yet another widespread internet outage caused by Cloudflare, Sundar Pichai spooking the markets about AI, new rules over ticket reselling in the UK, AI solving the em dash problem, and plenty more!

🎬 Our Top Take

📱📵 Apple – Reports Say Tim Cook Could Step Down in Early 2026

In many ways, Tim Cook’s 14-year tenure at Apple is characterized by success. Apple became the world’s most valuable company under his watch; Steve Jobs passed on a $360-billion company, and Cook transformed it into a $4-trillion one. He presided over innovations like Siri, Apple Watch, AirPods, Face-ID, and, um, Vision Pro; He mastered the art of the global supply chain, and he turned Apple Services into a profit machine that’s the envy of the tech world. Yet, with reports saying that Cook will soon pass the baton to someone else, perhaps as soon as January, many believe it’s the right move. Apple may continue to please investors, but there is a sense that it’s crying out for an innovator, someone who can potentially harness AI and infuse it into the company’s future. The list of potential successors is said to be jockeying for position now, with John Ternus, current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, the current favorite. They won’t get a once-in-a-generation visionary like Steve Jobs – but the hope is that the next CEO can address Cook’s mistakes – lack of an AI roadmap, overdependence on the iPhone, and the misadventure with Vision Pro, among them. Interestingly, Apple is reportedly going to shake up other departments, with other big names leaving. The company could look markedly different when we go into WWDC 2026 next year. #AppleCore Read more here.

📲 App of the Week: Moara.io

Plenty of AI research products have cropped up in recent years, with most focusing on a question-and-answer-style user experience. moara.io – standing for “mother of all research assistants” – is a specialist in nailing the workflows associated with literature reviews. In the simplest terms, it helps research teams – students, faculty, R&D professionals – analyze large literature reviews at “lightning speed.” The workflow pulls papers in from places like Google Scholar and Zotero, keeps everything organized in one workspace, and helps users quickly spot the key methods and findings. It’s already being used in universities and labs worldwide. Check out the launch here and try it out for yourself here.

🧐 Stat of the Week: 72.6%

📈 📉 Landline Phones – Is An Unlikely Comeback on the Cards?

We have seen with the resurgence of vinyl records that writing off seemingly obsolete tech can be foolhardy. But the humble landline telephone, surely there’s no way back? Yet, an unlikely fan group of the landline has arrived – Gen-Z. The movement comes as more and more young people claim the impact of “brain-rot” through constant use of phones, screens, and AI. And landline devices, which can be paired with your smartphone, are seeing relatively significant sales increases. It might be just an Instagram fad – 72.6% of Americans do not live in homes with landlines, and we can’t see that number changing dramatically – but the underlying reasons of combating constant screentime feel pretty compelling. #Comeback Read more here. 

🗞️ Other Stories

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

If you know anything about us, you know that every four years, we get a little, eh, distracted. The World Cup rolls round, and our own international team goes soccer crazy. One of my happiest 3Advance memories is heading to the German Bierhaus in 2014 with Darren 🇮🇪, and our earliest employees Mark 🇺🇸 and Jorge 🇵🇪 to watch the USMNT play in the Brazil World Cup. Fast forward twelve years, and this Summer the World Cup comes to the US (and Mexico and Canada). Last weekend, a remarkable turn of events meant that the Republic of Ireland might actually make the tournament after all. Family aside, if you know Darren and I, you’ll know our passion for tech is eclipsed by just one other thing - football (not 🇺🇸 eggball). So when Troy Parrot scored the injury time winner against Hungary in Budapest, we went absolutely wild. This means that in March there’ll be two play-off games to decide if the Irish team make it to WC’26. We were already planning a busy (Irish) Summer for Shift, and now we’re hoping for moments like this. We’ll be ready! 🇮🇪 #COYBIG - Paul.

PS Enjoy the moment yourself, starting at 07:07.

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