Apple named in TIME’s top 100 Most Influential Companies 2022

Apple has been named on TIME’s top 100 most influential companies list for 2022.

TIME says that its annual list “highlights businesses making an extraordinary impact around the world”, soliciting nominations across sectors including tech, entertainment, and more, from its global network of editors and correspondents as well as industry experts. Each company is evaluated on factors including relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition, and success, creating a list of companies it says are “helping chart an essential path forward.”

Despite the rather noble criteria for making the list, TIME’s reflection on Apple’s contribution is not all that glowing, and actually a bit sinister:

Apple and CEO Tim Cook last year took the momentous step of allowing users to block advertising companies from tracking their app use, a technique used for ad targeting. Apple marketed the change as a win for user privacy—and users appear to agree, with most opting out. Many antisurveillance activists welcomed the development, but others noted that it underlined Apple’s huge power. And in earnings calls after the changes, ad-dependent tech giants like Meta and Snap blamed Apple’s move for “headwinds” that resulted in tens of billions of dollars in losses.

TIME also noted Apple’s plans to let users self-repair their iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models, expected to debut very soon. Other companies that made the tech list include the aforementioned Meta, Microsoft, IBM, NVIDIA, Disney, Netflix, Alphabet, and Amazon.