2. Tim Cook Doesn't Make Employees' Lives Miserable

Not necessarily for every single one of Apple's 60,000 employees, but there are indications that employees are happier under Cook than they were under Jobs. As Fortune's Adam Lashinsky wrote of an annual retreat for Apple’s top executives in April, “the spirit of the meeting was upbeat and even fun - a stark contrast to the grim and fearful tone Jobs engendered at the meetings.” Even there are mentions in Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs about him scolding his workers for their incompetence. Cook, in contrast, seems like a leveler head.

1. Tim Cook Goes to China

The poor working condition in China was much talked about. This year Cook actually took a step and visited one of the manufacturing sites in China, which Steve Jobs never did. Cook also asked the D.C.-based Fair Labor Association to independently audit Foxconn's and other's component manufacturing facilities. Investigators found that laborers often worked more than 60 hours per week in March. Since then, Apple reportedly sketched out a timeline for having workers work sane schedules.

Let us now look at the challenges that Cook faced in this 1 year: