Asked about the opportunities presented by the metaverse and what role Apple could play, Cook gave a glimpse of the tech giant's plans in the space.

"Well, that's a big question. But we're a company in the business of innovation, so we're always exploring new and emerging technologies. And I — you've spoken at length about how this area is very interesting to us," he said.

"Right now, we have over 14,000 ARKit apps in the App Store, which provide incredible AR experiences for millions of people today."

"We see a lot of potential in this space, and are investing accordingly."

AR, or augmented reality, technology is one way that people can get immersed in the virtual worlds that make up the metaverse — AR headsets in particular. ARKit is Apple's development platform for AR apps.