Tim Cook Is Making a ‘Big Announcement’ Tomorrow on CBS This Morning

Today CBS This Morning shared a short clip of an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook that will be airing tomorrow morning in which it also dropped the news that Apple is poised to make a “big announcement” tomorrow.

Before you get too excited, however, it’s important to note that CBS This Morning host, Gayle King, stated that the announcement concerns a “major new initiative,” and not a new Apple product.

This isn’t entirely surprising, since even though Apple has quite a few irons in the fire right now — AirTags, a new mini-LED iPad Pro, new AirPods, and more — most of this isn’t expected to arrive until March at the very earliest.

Further, it would be quite unusual for Apple to announce an actual product via a venue such as CBS This Morning; Apple typically either holds its own press events for major new releases or simply slips them out more quietly via press releases.

In the short preview clip, Cook and host Gayle King discuss the events that occurred at the U.S. Capitol last week, with the Apple CEO stressing the importance that people be held accountable for their actions and what resulted from them.

Notably, however, King emphasized that the interview was not originally intended to discuss last week’s events — it was actually scheduled long before that, specifically because Apple had a big announcement that it wanted to share, and it wanted to do so specifically on CBS This Morning.

In the process, Cook agreed to answer other questions, which is the context in which he remarked on what happened at the U.S. Capitol, and after emphasizing that “it’s key that people be held accountable for it,” King asked him pointedly about whether that also includes President Donald Trump, to which Cook simply responded that nobody should be above the law.

I think no one is above the law. That’s the great thing about our country, we’re a rule of law country. I think everyone who had a part in it needs to be held accountable […] I don’t think we should let it go. I think holding people accountable is important.

Tim Cook

However, that wasn’t the purpose of the interview, which was originally arranged specifically to focus on whatever it is that Apple is planning to announce.

It is not a new product, we should say, it’s not a new product. It’s something I think bigger and better than that.

Gayle King, CBS This Morning

Interestingly, the interview itself was held with the CBS team setting up at the local Apple Store, rather than within their studio, while Cook remained at Apple Park in Cupertino.

There’s no further information on what Apple’s announcement will be — other than “not a product” — however, King suggests it’s something “bigger and better” and will be “very exciting.”

Although a few possibilities come to mind, it’s hard to imagine anything that could fit into that description. For example, Apple is clearly ramping up to roll out its new App Tracking Transparency feature very soon, after it delayed the planned September rollout to give developers more time to prepare.

There’s been a recent resurgence in privacy-focused Apple ads that often come back around each year during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), when the company has also previously chosen to make announcements concerning its privacy policies.

It’s hard to see this as an announcement that would be worthy of Cook appearing on a national morning program, but considering Facebook’s recent attempts to paint Apple as the bad guy, it may very well be an attempt to clear the air and set the record straight.