In
interviews with the
Wall Street Journal and
ABC News' David Muir, Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated many of the sentiments expressed during the Tuesday press even that introduced the two new iPhone 6 models, the Apple Watch wearable and the Apple Pay mobile payments system. He also, however, had a few words in response to questions, ranging from his thoughts on Steve Jobs in the three years since his passing, and how the iPhone 6 will trigger "the mother of all upgrades."
Cook made clear to the WSJ that he expects Android users to
look at switching to the iPhone, noting that the latest models are "appreciably better in every single way" to flagship Android models such as the HTC One M8 and the Samsung Galaxy S5 -- a sentiment largely backed up
by reviews. When asked by Muir about the choosing of the Flint Center as the venue -- the same place co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs launched the original Mac in 1984, and several other products later on -- Cook said that "being here, I especially thought about [Jobs], and I think he would be incredibly proud" to see how the company is doing, and what it was introducing.
"I think about Steve a lot. I love Steve dearly. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him," Cook noted, saying that he thought that the company and culture of Apple "was one of his greatest gifts to mankind." While revealing that work on the Apple Watch in its present form started "after Steve passed away," Cook was sure that Jobs was "smiling right now" at the innovation and invention required to bring the product to fruition.
"His thinking and his taste and his incredible perfectionist kind of view, and his view that you should always innovate, all of those things are alive and well in the company. And I think they always will be. I think his DNA will always be the foundation of Apple," Cook told Muir. "You can see Steve written all over the products we did today."
In both interviews, Cook sought to reassure buyers that Apple had developed a secure yet simple payment system in Apple Pay: "Yes, there is going to be some economic benefit, but from a customer point of view, it takes something that's way too hard and insecure and makes it so easy and fast," he told the
Journal. Cook referred to the system as "classic Apple" in the way it went about taking existing pieces of technology and putting them together into a more thoughtful and better solution.
When Muir pointed out that some people had lost some faith in Apple due to the
recent attack on some celebrity iCloud accounts, Cook said that Apple Pay "is the most secure thing out there." He then reiterated that credit card information is never actually transmitted anywhere: instead, a Device Account Number, in conjunction with a dynamically-generated security transaction code is used by banks and merchants.
This is similar to the way the Touch ID system works when making a purchase from iTunes: Apple doesn't receive any fingerprint or identity data, only an "all clear" single from the Touch ID secure enclave once identify has been verified. Ironically, the system detailed by Apple in its patents is considerably more secure (at least on paper) than the prevalent magstripe or chip-and-PIN systems used worldwide for debit- and credit-card purchases. Muir asked Cook if he had "killed the credit card" with the announcement of Apple Pay. In a joking manner, Cook replied that Apple had "stuck a dagger in it."
Turning to the Apple Watch, Cook referred to it in the
Journal interview as a years-long process of "deep thinking" about every aspect of the device, relying heavily on Apple's famed approach of integrating engineering, software and services teams early in the process. Beyond just making a highly-functional wearable, designer Sir Jonathan Ive told Muir that the project was very concerned about making the device personally useful to a wide array of buyers.
"We've always tried to make products that people don't begrudgingly use, but that they want to use," Ive said. "I think that the bar for that is very high when it's something that you wear. And it's something that you're going to wear all day, every day." This led to such innovations as the inductive charging -- the first time Apple has ever employed the technology -- and the magnetic grip that binds the charger to the backside of the watch. The charger was intended, Ive said, to be able to be fixed onto the Apple Watch in the dark, "when you're only partially awake" and otherwise require as little effort to place it on the watch as possible.
Finally, in response to a question from Muir about Apple's "Made in America" initiative, Cook revealed that some components of both the iPhone 6 family and the Apple Watch were built in the US, at facilities covering 22 of the 50 states. The Apple Watch is expected to arrive on shelves early next year, regrettably missing the holiday season. Apple Pay will begin launching next month, rolling out to over 222,000 retail points across the US.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will launch pre-orders in select countries starting September 12, and will launch in a host of countries at retail beginning September 19, just two days after the debut of iOS 8. Apple's next hardware launch is likely to be refreshed iPads, of which no mention was made today. The next major software update following iOS 8 is OS X 10.10 Yosemite. The iPad and Yosemite may both wait until early October to appear, but no firm date has been confirmed.
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