Fifteen years after Steve Jobs’ death, Apple leaders and fans reflect on his legacy
Fifteen years ago, on Oct. 5, 2011, the world lost Steve Jobs at the age of 56. Today, the people who worked alongside the Apple co-founder and those who built careers using the tools he helped create are remembering his influence.
Among them are Apple executive chairman Tim Cook and the company’s new CEO, John Ternus, who succeeded Cook in September.
“There are people who leave a mark on the world, and then there are people who change it entirely,” Cook wrote on X. “Steve changed the world and so many lives in the process. He certainly changed my life forever. His spirit lives on in everything he created and everyone he inspired.”
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Cook has regularly posted remembrances of Jobs on the anniversary. This year, Ternus joined him for the first time as Apple’s CEO, reflecting on the attention to detail Jobs instilled in his colleagues.
“The way Steve taught us to care about every detail, every experience, every person, still guides our work today,” Ternus posted. “Forever grateful.”
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The tributes come shortly after Apple’s latest leadership transition. Ternus succeeded Cook as CEO on Sept. 1, with Cook becoming executive chairman after 15 years leading the company.
Others online shared their own reflections, looking beyond Apple’s best-known products to the careers and experiences Jobs helped shape.
Author Andrew Mayne wrote, “He was an incredibly forward thinker pushing ideas years before they became mainstream.” Filmmaker Crosby Tatum highlighted Apple’s creative software, including Final Cut Pro and Logic Studio, crediting Jobs with helping independent filmmakers and musicians. “Long live Steve Jobs,” he added. User Matt Bieber remembered heading to Apple for a week of meetings when news of Jobs’ death broke.
“I’ll never forget being on campus as flowers and notes appeared and the entire Valley mourned,” he wrote. “A surreal week, and one I still think about every October 5th.”
For those looking to revisit Jobs’ life and work, Apple’s “Remembering Steve” page collects messages from friends, colleagues, and customers. The company says more than a million people have shared their memories and condolences. The Steve Jobs Archive also preserves photographs, emails, speeches, and videos documenting his ideas that have shaped the world as we know it today.
