Three weeks before stepping down as Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook opened the company’s new Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston and sat down with CBS News to discuss what he wants his 15-year tenure to be remembered for. His answer had nothing to do with the iPhone.
“In my view, your legacy is described by others, not yourself,” Cook told CBS News. “And so, I hope that people will say that I was a good and decent man. And if they say that I will feel like I have achieved something.” The interview was conducted alongside the Houston facility opening, which Cook framed as a defining statement about where Apple is headed under his stewardship.
The Advanced Manufacturing Center is a 20,000-square-foot facility within the same Houston complex where Apple already produces AI servers for its products. In less than nine months, Apple invested hundreds of millions of dollars to stand up the factory, begin production, and ship its first advanced AI servers off the line. Mac mini production is also expected to begin at the site later this year.
The center is not purely a production facility. It includes free training and educational sessions for small and medium businesses, with interactive labs, tools, equipment, and a holographic lab table. Cook described Apple as “deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing” and said the company is “moving at an incredible pace because we want to build more than great products: we want to build the future of American manufacturing.”
The Houston opening sits inside a much larger pledge. Apple has announced plans to spend and invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. Over the next four years, covering initiatives in artificial intelligence, silicon engineering, and workforce development. As part of that commitment, Apple is doubling its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $5 billion to $10 billion.
The manufacturing push extends well beyond Texas. In March 2026, Apple added Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK, and Qnity Electronics to its American Manufacturing Program, sourcing essential components domestically for Apple products sold globally. Corning’s facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky is now entirely dedicated to cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch, and by the end of 2026, every new iPhone and Apple Watch is expected to ship with cover glass made in Kentucky.
Cook’s Numbers After 15 Years
Cook took over as CEO on August 24, 2011, when Steve Jobs stepped back as his health declined, with Jobs having handpicked him as his successor. The numbers from his tenure are hard to argue with: Apple’s net income has grown from roughly $26 billion to well over $110 billion, long-term shareholders have seen total stock returns of approximately 20x, and the Services division, which barely existed as a distinct business when Cook took over, now generates more than $100 billion in annual revenue.
John Ternus takes over on September 1, inheriting a company with a $4 trillion valuation, deep manufacturing commitments tied to the current political environment, and a supply chain still heavily anchored in China despite the domestic push. Cook moves to executive chairman, so he will not be entirely absent from the picture.
