Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) delivered one of the most remarkable runs in corporate history under Tim Cook, with annual revenue growing from $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to $416 billion in fiscal 2025.

iPhone sales alone tell a striking story, climbing from roughly $47 billion when Cook took the helm to nearly $210 billion by the end of fiscal 2025.

Cook’s tenure lasted 15 years, and across that period he transformed Apple from a large technology company into one of the most valuable businesses ever assembled.

Beyond hardware, Cook built out Apple’s services division into a high-margin powerhouse, generating $30.74 billion in revenue during the fiscal third quarter of 2026, which ended June 27.

That services segment now carries a gross margin exceeding 75%, making it one of the most profitable recurring revenue streams in the entire technology industry.

Cook also deployed Apple’s enormous cash flows into aggressive share repurchase programs, consistently lifting earnings per share and delivering meaningful returns to long-term shareholders.

John Ternus, who became CEO on September 1, inherits a fundamentally different company than the one Cook was handed in 2011.

Apple now counts more than 2.5 billion active devices worldwide, providing Ternus with an extraordinary installed base from which to launch new products and expand existing services.

However, growing a business that already generates more than $400 billion in annual revenue presents challenges that simply did not exist when Cook began his tenure.

Investors should not assume another fourfold revenue increase is forthcoming simply because Cook accomplished it, as Apple’s sheer scale makes that kind of expansion a far more difficult proposition.

For Ternus, the central opportunity may be less about replicating Cook’s revenue growth and more about deepening the value Apple extracts from its already massive global customer base.

Giving shareholders a compelling reason to remain invested through that next chapter will likely define how history judges the incoming chief executive’s early years in the role.