Tim Cook wishes Happy Diwali with user-shot iPhone 17 Pro Max photo

'Wishing a joyful and healthy Diwali to all celebrating around the world!' Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote on X.

Apple CEO Tim Cook marked Diwali by posting a festive greeting alongside a user-shot photograph taken on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The message conveyed wishes for a joyful and healthy Diwali to people celebrating around the world, consistent with Cook’s tradition of sharing festival greetings paired with community-sourced images captured on iPhones.

The accompanying photograph, credited to Apeksha Maker, shows a woman in traditional attire lighting diyas placed on the floor among marigold flowers and decorative vessels. The frame is lit entirely by the flame of the lamps, with no visible ambient or artificial light sources. The reflection of the diyas in the metal plates and glass holders distributes the warm tone evenly across the scene.

Wishing a joyful and healthy Diwali to all celebrating around the world! Thanks to Apeksha Maker for sharing this stunning photo taken on iPhone 17 Pro Max. pic.twitter.com/s4BarZip3m

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— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 20, 2025

Such posts typically serve a dual purpose — a cultural acknowledgment and an example of what Apple positions as real-world imaging performance of its flagship iPhones. In this case, the iPhone 17 Pro Max retains colour accuracy in low light and controls exposure around the flames, where phone cameras usually lose detail. The retained texture in the fabric, flowers and unlit areas shows the device’s low-light handling without external support.

Apple has used similar festival-timed posts during Holi, Eid, Chinese New Year and Christmas in previous years, amplifying photographs taken by users rather than promotional studio work. The Diwali post continues that pattern, blending a public holiday greeting with an example of smartphone-shot cultural documentation.

Cook’s Diwali message and the shared image underline how personal festival rituals — such as lighting diyas before evening prayers — are now regularly recorded and circulated worldwide through phone photography, allowing a global audience to observe the festival through lived-in domestic visuals rather than staged commercial images.