🔗 Click the link and use code UNHERD to save 15% on your first order of Evening Being: https://ver.so/products/evening-being’ 📰 Subscribe to UnHerd today at: https://bit.ly/3Qdkd5y UnHerd's Freddie Sayers meets Patrick McGee. Watch it on the UnHerd website: https://unherd.com/watch-listen/tim-cook-villain-or-fool/ Listen to the podcast: https://plnk.to/unherd?to=page UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers speaks with journalist and author of new book Apple in China, Patrick McGee – who was the Financial Times’s principal Apple reporter from 2019 to 2023 – about the man at the centre of Apple’s China story: CEO Tim Cook. On August 1st, Cook quietly became Apple’s longest-serving leader, overtaking Steve Jobs — a milestone that came days before a high-profile White House appearance in which he warmly praised Donald Trump. The move was widely seen as a calculated bid to secure political goodwill as US–China tensions threaten Apple’s business. Before becoming CEO, Cook built Apple’s vast Chinese supply chain — training millions of workers and investing billions in infrastructure — giving the company unmatched manufacturing power but also a deep reliance on China’s authoritarian system. Now, McGee says, he is scrambling to shift production elsewhere while navigating Washington politics. His book, Apple in China, charts how Cook’s choices drove Apple’s rise — and its vulnerabilities — as speculation grows over his future and who might replace him. Follow UnHerd on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/unherd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unherd/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unherd/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unherdtv // TIMECODES // 00:00 - 03:12 - Introduction 03:12 - 12:03 - Apple through the Tim Cook era 12:03 - 21:39 - How Tim Cook’s Apple changed China 21:39 - 27:42 - How China outplayed Apple 27:42 - 40:13 - What is the future of Apple? 40:13 - 42:32 - Tim Cook’s legacy: Winner or Fool? 42:32 - 43:09 - Closing thoughts #UnHerd #TimCook #Apple