Up until today, Apple continued to sell a high-end Mac mini with a 3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel core i5 chip, 8GB RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and 512GB SSD. Pricing started from $1,099.
That base model has now made way for a Mac mini with a 10-Core Apple M2 Pro processor with a 16-Core GPU, 16GB of unified memory, and 512GB of storage. Pricing starts from $1,299.
The Mac Pro is now the only Intel-powered machine that Apple sells, as the company continues with its transition to Apple silicon.
Apple has also stopped listing Mac mini models equipped with its M1 processor, having now replaced its lineup with M2-powered machines.
The new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro are available for pre-order today and will begin shipping next Tuesday, January 24.
Apple today announced an updated Mac mini powered by the new M2 and the all-new M2 Pro chip, offering faster performance in the same design as the previous generation but starting at a lower price of $599.
Apple announced the M2 chip in June at WWDC, building on the performance of the M1 processor from November 2020. Apple today expanded the M2 lineup with the new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The updated Mac mini comes with M2 and M2 Pro chips, which according to Apple, offer significantly faster performance than the previous generation.
M2 Pro brings pro-level performance to Mac mini for the first time. Featuring up to a 12-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, along with up to a 19-core GPU, M2 Pro has 200GB/s of memory bandwidth — double the amount in M2 — and supports up to 32GB of memory. The next-generation Neural Engine is 40 percent faster than M1, speeding up ML tasks like video analysis and image processing. Designed to dramatically accelerate video playback and encoding while using very little power, M2 Pro offers a powerful media engine, which speeds through the most popular video codecs and can simultaneously play up to five streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, or up to 23 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps. The M2 Pro-powered model is up to 14x faster than the fastest Intel-based Mac mini.
The new Mac mini features the same design as before, with no changes despite rumors suggesting a complete redesign. For Mac mini models with M2 Pro, users have access to four Thunderbolt 4 ports compared to only two on models with M2. On both chip configurations, the Mac mini comes with an Ethernet port, HDMI port, two USB-A ports, and a headphone jack.
The new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro are available for pre-order today and will begin shipping next Tuesday, January 24.
Apple today announced the next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with faster 5nm-based M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, up to 96GB of RAM, an upgraded HDMI 2.1 port with support for an 8K external display, faster Wi-Fi 6E, and more.
The new M2 Pro chip features a 10-core or 12-core CPU and offers up to 20% faster performance than the M1 Pro chip, according to Apple. The chip also has a 16-core or 19-core GPU that delivers up to 30% faster graphics performance over the M1 Pro, while the 16-core Neural Engine is up to 40% faster compared to the previous generation.
The M2 Max chip has a 12-core CPU that is up to 20% faster than the M1 Max chip, and it has up to a 38-core GPU, according to Apple. With the M2 Max chip, the new MacBook Pro is now up to 6x faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro for some tasks.
Both new MacBook Pro models are now available with up to 96GB of unified memory when configured with the highest-end M2 Max chip. By comparison, the previous models were available with up to 64GB of memory with the M1 Max chip. Memory bandwidth is unchanged at up to 200GB/s for the M2 Pro chip and up to 400GB/s for the M2 Max chip.
The notebooks can be configured with up to 8TB of SSD storage, which is unchanged from the previous generation.
The new MacBook Pro models support Wi-Fi 6E, which allows for faster wireless connectivity and lower latency over the 6GHz band. The previous 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models were limited to Wi-Fi 6, which operates over the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
An upgraded HDMI 2.1 port on both new MacBook Pro models supports one external display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz, or 4K resolution at 240Hz.
Apple advertises the new 16-inch MacBook Pro as having up to 22 hours of battery life per charge, which it says is the longest battery life ever in a Mac. The new 14-inch model is advertised with up to 18 hours of battery life. This is one extra hour of battery life for each model compared to the previous generation, per Apple's tech specs.
The new MacBook Pro models have the same design as the previous generation, including a Liquid Retina XDR display with a notch, an all-black keyboard housing, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3 for charging, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and a six-speaker sound system.
Customers can order the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro via Apple's online store starting today, with availability beginning Tuesday, January 24. Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and at $2,499 for the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The M2 Pro chip is built using a second-generation five-nanometer process and offers 20 percent more transistors than the M1 Pro and double the amount in the M2 chip. Multithreaded CPU performance is up to 20 percent faster than that of the M1 Pro, and Apple says some apps like Photoshop and Xcode can run heavy workloads substantially faster. It also offers 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth and up to 32GB of memory like its predecessor.
The M2 Pro's GPU can be configured with up to 19 graphics cores – three more than in the M1 Pro – and it includes a larger L2 cache. As a result, graphics are up to 30 percent faster than with M1 Pro.
The M2 Max chip features the same 12-core CPU as the M2 Pro, but offers a more powerful GPU with up to 38 cores and a larger L2 cache. The chip offers graphics speeds up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Max. M2 Max also contains 10 billion more transistors than the M1 Max and can be configured with up to 96GB of unified memory. Apple says that the M2 Max is the world's most powerful and efficient chip for a pro laptop.
The chips are also more power efficient and enable better battery life on the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Both chips include Apple's next-generation 16-core Neural Engine, dedicated media engines, next-generation image signal processor for improved noise reduction and better camera quality, and next-generation Secure Enclave.
Apple's online business-to-business store has gone down as rumors swirl about a new product announcement from the company later today via press release. Apple's main consumer-facing online store remains functional as of writing.
Apple's exact announcement(s) if any remains to be seen, and topic might end up being something unrelated to new Macs.
In addition to M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, the new MacBook Pros are rumored to feature Wi-Fi 6E and faster RAM, but no other major changes are expected. Apple completely redesigned the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro in October 2021, and it's common for the same design to be used for multiple generations, so only a spec bump is expected.
We'll have full coverage of Apple's announcement(s) today if any, so keep checking back for the latest coverage throughout the day.
Google is working on its own location tracking tag to compete with Apple AirTags and Tile trackers, according to developer and leaker Kuba Wojciechowski (via The Verge).
The developer claims to have discovered references to the upcoming first-party tags in Google's Fast Pair method for quickly pairing nearby Bluetooth devices. The device is said to be codenamed "Grogu," after the baby Yoda character from "The Mandalorian" Star Wars series, and is being developed by the Google Nest team.
Wojciechowski believes the tracker could be released in multiple color options and include an onboard speaker to help users locate a missing device by sound, similar to Apple's AirTags.
Like AirTags and iPhone 11 and newer models, Google's Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones both support Ultra Wideband, and Wojciechowski claims the trackers could support the wireless protocol in addition to Bluetooth LE to provide users with precise directions to a lost tag. Google could announce the tracking tags alongside new Pixel phones at its I/O Developer Conference in May.
I have recently found references that show that Google's working on support for locator tags in Fast Pair - see the linked thread for more info. https://t.co/8tvlWaHQpv
Now it turns out Google's working on a first party tracker too!
— Kuba Wojciechowski⚡ (@Za_Raczke) January 16, 2023
Google's tags would likely offer much more functionality on Android than Apple's AirTags are capable of providing. AirTags require an Apple device to set up, and while Apple does have a "Tracker Detect" app in the Google Play Store that allows Android users to scan for AirTags and other Find My-enabled items that have been separated from their owner, the app was basically designed to alleviate fears that AirTags can be used maliciously to track the location of individuals.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max will be the sole Apple smartphone of 2023 to get a periscope camera lens and benefit from greatly enhanced optical zoom, with the hardware only set to become a feature of both Pro models next year, claims a new Korean report.
According to The Elec, Apple intends a "Folded Zoom" periscope telephoto lens to be an exclusive feature in the iPhone 15 Pro Max this year, corroborating a report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo has previously said the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be only model in the iPhone 15 series to get a periscope camera lens, a prediction that analyst Jeff Pu has also made. The Korean report claims Apple will then make the periscope lens system a feature of both iPhone 16 Pro models in 2024.
In a periscope system, light entering the telephoto lens is reflected by an angled mirror towards the camera's image sensor. The change in direction in which the light travels allows for a longer "folded" telephoto setup inside phones, enabling users to zoom in further without any blurriness.
According to The Elec, Apple is tapping new suppliers for the OIS actuators that will be used in the periscope lens destined for this year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple will rely on Korean companies LG Innotek and Jahwa Electronics to supply the actuators, replacing existing iPhone camera module actuator makers Japan Alps and Mitsumi.
Both LG Innotek and Jahwa have worked with Samsung to develop the ball-type actuators, which lend themselves better to folded zoom modules than the spring actuators Apple currently uses in its telephoto modules. Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra already features a 10x zoom periscope telephoto camera.
Apple's decision to make hardware features exclusive to this year's 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max model is likely to cause frustration among would-be upgraders who seek the best features in the smaller 6.1-inch Pro model. Apple has not differentiated camera features between its iPhone "Pro" models since the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Rumors have suggested that there will be increased differentiation between the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, in part because of stronger iPhone 14 Pro Max sales than expected. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said the iPhone 15 Pro Max could potentially be renamed the iPhone 15 Ultra, like the Apple Watch Ultra.
Additional details for the iPhone 15 are still rather scarce given its expected September release, but Apple is widely expected to shift to USB-C and expand the Dynamic Island to all of this year's iPhones.
Apple's next-generation HomePod will launch "fairly soon," according to well-connected Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.
Apple discontinued the original HomePod in March 2021, reportedly due to lackluster sales, but the high-quality smart speaker still has many fans, and there have been rumors about the return of a new full-size HomePod for some time.
Gurman has previously said he does not expect the new HomePod to be "revolutionary," but it will have a more competitive price, an updated touch control panel on the top, and the S8 chip from the latest Apple Watch models.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also said Apple has been working on an updated version of the HomePod that could come in the first quarter of 2023.
Ahead of the potential launch, we have recapped everything that we have heard so far about the next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips
A key new feature of the next MacBook Pro models is expected to be M2 Pro and M2 Max chips for faster performance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said those chips will offer only "marginal" performance improvements over the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in the current models, as leaked benchmarks suggested last year.
Wi-Fi 6E
Wireless frequency ranges mentioned in the Canadian regulatory filing indicate that the new MacBook Pro will support Wi-Fi 6E, which extends Wi-Fi to the 6GHz band for more bandwidth, faster speeds, and lower latency. The current 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro support standard Wi-Fi 6, which is limited to 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
Faster RAM
The new MacBook Pro models are rumored to be equipped with "very high-bandwidth, high-speed RAM," but details are unclear. On a purely speculative basis, it is possible that the new models could be equipped with Samsung's latest LPDDR5X RAM for up to 33% increased memory bandwidth with up to 20% less power consumption.
No Design Changes
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Gurman have both suggested that the new MacBook Pro models will have no external design changes and few other major features.
This aspect wouldn't be too surprising, as Apple fully redesigned the high-end MacBook Pros in October 2021 with more ports like HDMI and MagSafe, a notch at the top of the display, an all-black keyboard area, and more. MacBooks often go multiple generations between major hardware changes, so a spec bump in 2023 is a reasonable expectation.
Apple filed what appears to be an unreleased MacBook Pro with model identifier A2779 in a Canadian regulatory database on January 11, as spotted by Wade Penner on Twitter. We have independently confirmed that the listing exists, and it could indicate that a new version of the MacBook Pro is on the horizon.
For now, the filing remains visible on Canada's Radio Equipment List and can be searched for on this page by entering "579C-A2779" into the "Certification Number" field. The listing clearly refers to a laptop with "MacBook Pro" branding from Apple.
Earlier today, it was rumored that Apple has a product announcement planned for tomorrow, with a press release expected to be shared on the Apple Newsroom. The database listing and the announcement could relate to Apple's long-awaited 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips.
Based on wireless frequency ranges mentioned in the filing, it appears that the new MacBook Pro will support Wi-Fi 6E, which extends Wi-Fi to the 6GHz band for more bandwidth, faster speeds, and lower latency. The current 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro support standard Wi-Fi 6, which is limited to 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
New Apple MacBook Pro model A2779 seen in Industry Canada Radio Equipment List database. Approved on January 11, 2023. Likely the new M2 Max or M2 Pro. Device will support WiFi 6E / 6GHz band. pic.twitter.com/KmSo1aGp7G
— Wade Penner (@wadepenner) January 16, 2023
Beyond faster performance and Wi-Fi 6E, the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are expected to have few other changes compared to the existing models with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. Apple fully redesigned the high-end MacBook Pro in October 2021 with more ports, a notch, and more, and Macs often stick with the same design for multiple generations.
Apple will make its first product announcement of 2023 through a press release on its website tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17, according to Apple leaker Jon Prosser. MacRumors can corroborate an announcement is expected to take place this week.
The announcement could be one of several products expected in the near future, including updated MacBook Pros and Mac mini models.
The updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are expected to feature the same design as the models announced in October 2021, with only updated performance thanks to the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. An updated Mac mini is also expected to benefit from the performance of new M2 chips, but rumors suggest it will feature the same design as the current model.
MacRumors has also learned Apple will hold briefings later this week with members of the press and media on the new devices ahead of review embargoes for the new products lifting next week.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, Apple is paying tribute to the American civil rights movement leader with a full-page tribute on its website.
On the company's home page, a picture of King is shown alongside one of his quotes: "This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action."
"Today and every day, we honor his life and legacy of service," Apple notes. Apple also includes a link to Apple Books, where users can read King's book Stride Toward Freedom for free. Apple CEO Tim Cook also paid tribute to King on Twitter today.
Dr. King said, "We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the time and persistent work of dedicated individuals." Grateful to everyone carrying on the legacy of Dr. King and making a difference in their communities. pic.twitter.com/TKA0fniWVv
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 16, 2023
Four months after launch, iOS 16 users continue to report experiencing a plethora of bugs, ranging from slow keyboard pop-ups, random rebooting, UI glitches, camera freezes, and more.
Apple released iOS 16 in September and has since released multiple follow-up updates to address bugs and security patches. The most recent update for the operating system is iOS 16.2, released on December 13. iOS 16.2 brought a new Freeform app, new always-on display options for the iPhone 14 Pro, new lock screen widgets, 5G support for India, and more. Along with the latest features, the update also brought many bugs and system glitches, according to user reports.
Across Twitter, Reddit (1,2,3,4,5,6), the MacRumors forum (1,2,3,4), and Apple Support, users say they're experiencing an unusual amount of bugs and poor system performance following the most recent iOS 16 update. According to users, the issues are wide-ranging, including Spotlight search glitches, the keyboard not appearing in apps, excessive battery drain, the Camera app freezing, problems with Focus modes, Apple Music app bugs, HomeKit accessories not working, and CarPlay glitches.
My iPhone 14 pro max is far the buggiest iPhone I’ve used in a LONG time.
-Camera freezes -Keyboard haptic/sounds randomly change - keyboard is slow when on WhatsApp calls - battery getting worse
Is it just me?? (iOS 16.2)
— The Tech Chap (@TheTechChap) January 14, 2023
More and more people keep telling me all the issues with iOS 16.2. Hope we get a major bug fix soon. Hearing this more each day.
— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) January 13, 2023
Are you noticing a lot more app crashes on iOS 16.2?
— Rjey (@RjeyTech) January 13, 2023
Nuevo bug en iOS 16.2. He tenido que forzar un reinicio porque los widgets de la pantalla de bloqueo no iban. Urge una actualización.
— Fran Besora (@ifrnb) January 14, 2023
On Reddit, users report that apps can freeze after they're opened or crash entirely while in use. "This started happening after updating to iOS 16.2, where I'll be using an app (happening on any app), and the application freezes for a couple of seconds," one user said. "Yeah it's been awful! I even decided this year was the year to upgrade my phone to 14 Pro and it's been so bad," said another user.
Users also report ongoing issues with the Home app following the iOS 16.2 update. One new feature of the update was an overhaul of the architecture of the Home app. Apple announced the new architecture in June, promising faster, more reliable HomeKit performance. Following the release of the new app, however, users reported issues with accessories not working, forcing Apple to withdraw the update.
User reports suggest issues are not limited to any specific iPhone model, given iOS 16 is supported by the iPhone 8 and later models. Even with the latest high-end iPhones, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, users are experiencing issues, including a long-standing problem with the device lagging when a user closes out of an app.
iOS 16.2 was released last month after testing with developers and public testers since October. Through the beta testing period in October, November, and December, Apple released five updates, addressing bugs and issues reported by testers.
Given the nature of bugs experienced by some users on iOS 16.2, Apple could release iOS 16.2.1 before releasing iOS 16.3 several weeks later. Apple is currently testing iOS 16.3 with developers and public beta members with just a few new features.
Apple is preparing a bid for the rights to stream the English Premier League in the United Kingdom, reports The Daily Mail.
Without citing its sources, the British tabloid claims that the tech giant is keen to increase its sports coverage by building on the decade-long contract it recently secured to exclusively stream Major League Soccer on Apple TV+ beginning next month.
If the report is accurate, Apple would become the fourth major player in contention to purchase domestic broadcasting rights for top-flight soccer (or football, as it's more commonly called in the UK).
That would likely see a marked increase in the current £5.1 billion ($6.23 billion) valuation for domestic EPL rights, which operates on a three-year renewal cycle. Tender rights are to be renewed later this year, with existing rights for the current three-year period set to expire in 2025.
Recent years have seen bidding wars play out between Sky Sports, BT Sport, and Amazon Prime Video, with Sky Sports often being the dominant player. However, packaging terms ensure that no one broadcaster gains rights to all English Premier League matches, therefore any Apple deal for EPL broadcasting rights would necessarily fall short of the exclusivity deal the company successfully negotiated with MLS.
In related news, Apple TV+ on Sunday premiered "Super League: The War for Football," a docuseries charting the ill-fated proposal for a breakaway European league pitting the sport's elite clubs against each other.
Apple is likely planning to bring custom microLED displays to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac after the technology debuts in a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra currently scheduled to launch by the end of 2024, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple has spent about six years developing microLED technology for what will become the first display custom-designed by the company itself, mirroring its work on Apple silicon. Earlier this week, Gurman said that Apple is planning to introduce the display technology with a new Apple Watch Ultra in 2024.
Apple reportedly kicked off its microLED project, codenamed T159, around 2017. The display is intended to offer improved brightness, color reproduction, and viewing angles, making images look more like they are "painted" atop the display glass, and replace parts currently supplied by companies like Samsung and LG.
After debuting in 2024's Apple Watch Ultra, Gurman expects Apple's custom microLED displays to expand to the iPhone, potentially followed by the iPad and the Mac at an even later date. He believes Apple's long-term plan is to bring microLED displays to all of its key products, but it could be a decade before it emerges in the Mac owing to the complexity of the technology at this early stage. For comparison, Gurman noted that the iPhone will have had OLED displays for over six years by the time they are expected to come to the iPad.
Today marks the 15th anniversary of Steve Jobs pulling the MacBook Air out of a manila envelope at the 2008 Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Apple advertised the MacBook Air as being "the world's thinnest notebook" at the time.
"We've built the world's thinnest notebook—without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display," said Jobs, in a January 2008 press release announcing the MacBook Air. "When you first see MacBook Air, it's hard to believe it's a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is."
The original 13-inch MacBook Air featured a flip-down tray on the right side of the machine that provided access to a single USB port, a headphone jack, and a Micro-DVI port for connecting an external display. It was Apple's first notebook with a multi-touch trackpad, no CD/DVD drive, and an SSD upgrade option. Pricing started at $1,799 in the U.S. with a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive.
Apple released a completely redesigned MacBook Air with the M2 chip last July and continues to sell an older version with the M1 chip. Given the power efficiency of Apple silicon chips, the MacBook Air is no longer equipped with a fan. While the original MacBook Air measured 0.16-inches at its thinnest point and 0.76-inches at its thickest, the latest MacBook Air has a flatter design with a uniform thickness of 0.44 inches.
Emergency dispatch centers continue to complain about Apple's new Crash Detection feature triggering an influx of false 911 calls from skiers and snowboarders.
A report today from the New York Post notes that New York's Greene County and Pennsylvania's Carbon County have experienced a burdensome increase in false 911 calls from local ski resorts due to Crash Detection. The feature allows the latest iPhone and Apple Watch models to detect a severe car crash and automatically call emergency services if the user is unresponsive, but it is also activating when some skiers and snowboarders take a tumble.
Given that emergency dispatchers respond to all calls out of an abundance of caution, the influx in false alarms has put a strain on some call centers and could divert personnel and resources away from real emergencies. There have been several reports about the issue in other popular ski resort areas like Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, and British Columbia, Canada since Apple introduced the feature last year.
In response to the report, an Apple spokesperson told the Post that the company was collecting feedback from emergency call centers that have experienced an increase in automated 911 calls due to the feature, but declined to comment further.
Crash Detection is enabled by default on all iPhone 14 models and the latest Apple Watch models, including the Series 8, Ultra, and second-generation SE. When a crash is detected, the iPhone or Apple Watch displays an alert, which users have 10 seconds to act on. If the user is unresponsive, the device begins another 10-second countdown while sounding an alarm and vibrating/tapping, and then calls emergency services. Due to loud surroundings and thick outerwear, however, some users may be unaware that the feature was triggered.
Apple says the feature relies on sensors like the accelerometer and gyroscope in the iPhone and Apple Watch, along with "advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data" for increased accuracy. As with rollercoasters, the iPhone and Apple Watch may be mistaking the abrupt movement of skiing and snowboarding as a car crash in some situations.
Apple released iOS 16.1.2 in late November with unspecified Crash Detection optimizations for iPhone 14 models, followed by watchOS 9.2 in mid-December with Apple Watch optimizations. It's unclear if these optimizations have led to a reduction in false 911 calls from skiers and snowboarders; in any case, it will likely take some time before all users update their iPhone or Apple Watch to the latest software versions.
These days Apple is associated with the iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook – game-changing products so wildly successful that they have changed the way we live. But even the most valuable company in the world has had its fair share of marketing missteps and hardware blunders.
Apple wasn't always as profitable as it is today, and the failure of some of its earlier products would have doomed most other tech companies to the annals of history. Here we take a look back at some of Apple's most infamous hardware flops. See if you agree, and let us know in the comments of any other questionable Apple devices that you think deserve to be named and shamed.
Apple III
The Apple III was the result of a project initiated in 1978 after Apple became concerned that the popularity of its Apple II, launched in 1977, would eventually wane. Originally built with hobbyists in mind, the Apple II was surprisingly popular with small businesses, but Apple was aware that IBM was working on a personal computer specifically aimed at business users, which only made Apple more eager to consolidate its hold on the market. The Apple III therefore had to be the complete system – all things to all users – and a cost-effective addition to any office or home.
A committee of engineers was assigned to the Apple III project, making it the first Apple computer not designed by Steve Wozniak. As it turned out, everyone had their own ideas about what features the Apple III should have, and all of them were included. The project was supposed to be finished in 10 months, but ended up taking two years as a result.
In November 1980 the Apple III finally launched, starting at an eye-watering $3,495, and offering twice the performance as the Apple II and twice as much memory (128KB of RAM). It was the first Apple computer to have a built-in floppy drive, and ran a new operating system called Apple SOS, featuring an advanced memory management system and a hierarchical file system.
An ad for access to health information via the Apple III
Unfortunately, none of these innovations could save the Apple III from its flawed chassis design, and Apple was forced to recall the first 14,000 machines produced due to serious overheating issues, caused in part by Steve Jobs' insistence on not including a fan in the case. The problem was so bad that thermal expansion would often cause the chips to pop out of place. Apple even told customers to lift their machine several inches above their desks and then drop it to reseat them. A revised model under the name Apple III Plus was eventually released in 1983 that addressed the widespread failures, but the damage to the computer's reputation had already been done.
The Apple III was discontinued in April 1984, while its successor was dropped from Apple's product line in September 1985. The company sold an estimated 65,000–75,000 Apple III computers, with the Apple III Plus taking the total up to around 120,000. Jobs later said that the company lost "infinite, incalculable amounts" of money on the Apple III, and its poor reception caused thousands of US businesses to buy IBM PCs instead.
Apple Lisa
Released in 1983, Lisa officially stood for "Local Integrated Software Architecture," but was actually a backronym invented later to fit the name of Steve Jobs' daughter, Lisa. Apple positioned it as a business computer and an alternative to the Apple II. While previous computers relied on text-based interfaces and keyboard input, Lisa was the first personal computer to feature a graphical UI and mouse, interface innovations both first seen in action by Jobs during a visit to Xerox Parc's research lab in Silicon Valley.
Despite this, starting at just shy of ten grand (around $29,905 by today's standards), the Lisa was prohibitively expensive for all but the wealthiest of households, and the computer was a flop. By 1986, Apple had only managed to sell around 100,000 units, and the entire Lisa platform was discontinued. Apple was even forced to dispose of some 2,700 Lisas in a landfill in Utah. Fewer than 100 Lisa computers are believed to exist today.
Apple Lisa commercial starring Kevin Costner
Looking back, Jobs felt that Apple had lost its way. "First of all, it was too expensive — about ten grand," he said in an interview with Playboy in 1985. "We had gotten Fortune 500-itis, trying to sell to those huge corporations, when our roots were selling to people." Jobs actually got kicked off the Lisa project in September 1980 because of his volatile temperament, but as fate would have it, he subsequently joined the team that ended up developing the first Macintosh.
Apple Newton
In May 1992, Apple CEO John Sculley unveiled the Newton MessagePad to a rapt CES audience. He called the sleek black handheld gadget, which was about the size of a VHS cassette, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The Newton PDA, he said, was a completely new category of device. It came with a stylus and could be used to take notes, store contacts, and manage calendars – standard functions of any modern-day smartphone, but revolutionary in 1993. Users could take it out, send a fax, and return it to their pocket, without ever going near a desktop computer.
The truly killer feature, however, was its handwriting recognition. Or at least, that was Apple's original plan. What the audience didn't know was that it barely worked. Apple shipped the first Newton MessagePad 14 months later for $900, but by that time other companies had already rushed rival PDAs to market, and the Newton still had big problems translating handwritten notes into text. After the negative reviews, it was widely derided in the media – the comic strip Doonesbury dedicated a whole week to lampooning its handwriting recognition issues, and the device even became the butt of a joke in The Simpsons.
Doonesbury comic strip lampooning the Newton (Image credit: Universal Press Syndicate)
Apple battled to make successive versions of the Newton a success, and with the release of Newton OS 2.0 in March 1996 the handwriting recognition had been substantially improved. But it was too little, too late. The brand just couldn't shake its abysmal debut performance. Worse, Steve Jobs hated it, for two reasons: It came with a stylus ("God gave us ten styluses," Jobs would say, "Let's not invent another.") and it had been Sculley's pet project. Upon his return to Apple in 1997, Jobs pushed for the product line be killed off. It was discontinued a year later.
"Lisa On Ice": Episode of The Simpsons making fun of Apple's Newton
Newton went through eight versions of the hardware, with Apple spending $100 million on its development. Only an estimated 200,000 were ever sold. But it wasn't all a waste. The same thinking behind the PDA would eventually bring us the iPhone.
Macintosh TV
In an age where watching streaming video on your phone or PC doesn't even raise an eyebrow, Apple's original computer-television hybrid now seems like a solution in search of a problem. But when it launched in 1993, the idea of watching TV on your Mac was completely ahead of its time.
The black chassis of the Macintosh TV was essentially an LC 520 fused with a 14-inch Sony Trinitron CRT. It came with a CD-ROM drive and remote control, while a built-in tuner card with connecting coax cable allowed broadcasts to be displayed in 16-bit color. Unfortunately, users had to choose to either watch TV or use their Mac. It couldn't display TV in a window (Picture in Picture hadn't been invented yet) and it was impossible to capture video, although users could save still frames of broadcasts as PICT files.
On the face of it, the Macintosh TV offered faster performance than the standalone LC 520, thanks to a 32MHz Motorola 68030 processor. In reality though it was bottlenecked by a 16MHz bus. Also, the 5MB of RAM was only upgradeable to 8MB, whereas the LC 520 could max out at 36MB. Costing $2,099 at launch, Apple's TV-Mac mashup was not cheap, and it failed to catch on. It was discontinued in 1995, two years after its release, by which time Apple had shipped just 10,000 units.
Pippin
Launched in 1996 with the help of Japanese game company Bandai, the Pippin was Apple's infamous stab at a CD-ROM based game console, but it was badly marketed, poorly supported, and vastly overpriced. The Pippin arrived at the height of the console wars, a time when home computers had yet to become commonplace. Apple's ill-fated plan was to shift the market dynamic with a hybrid computing/gaming device.
On the face of it, the Pippin was just that, boasting some unique features that all other console rivals lacked. Based on Macintosh architecture from the early-to-mid '90s, the Pippin ran a simplified version of Mac OS 7, making it faster than other consoles. It was also equipped with a veritable selection of ports, supporting not only modem and printer connections, but also offering users the ability to connect external peripherals like keyboards and mice.
Unfortunately, Apple's intention to give Pippin users a computer-like experience in a console form factor was partly the reason for its downfall. Costing $650, the Pippin was around $400 more expensive than leading rivals such as the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. And despite Pippin's fast performance, competing consoles had the edge in terms of software, with many sporting extensive games catalogs, whereas only 25 titles were released for Pippin owing to poor third-party developer support on the part of Bandai, a relatively unknown name among the gaming community.
Apple didn't plan to release Pippin on its own, intending to make the platform an open standard by licensing the technology to third parties, similar to its licensed Mac clone program in the late '90s. However, when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he canned the company's clone efforts and subsequently shut down Pippin development, leading Bandai to halt the production of all models of Pippin by mid-1997. Apple had hoped to ship half a million consoles a year, but only sold a total of around 42,000 in the device's short lifespan.
20th Anniversary Macintosh
Released in March 1997 to mark Apple's 20th year in business rather than the anniversary of the Mac, the "20th Anniversary Macintosh," or TAM as it became known, might look odd by today's standards, but it was a unique machine in its own right.
Its strikingly thin and upright "all-in-one" design housed several novel features, including a built-in 12.1-inch LCD flat-screen display, vertically mounted CD-ROM and floppy drives, and an integrated TV/FM tuner. The TAM ran a modified version of Mac OS 7.6.1 to control these features, while a 250MHz PowerPC 603e CPU and 64MB of RAM ensured performance was nothing to sniff at. It even had a custom Bose sound system with two accompanying speakers and a subwoofer built into the external power supply.
TV commercial for 20th Anniversary Macintosh
Delivered to customers via a direct-to-door service undertaken by tuxedoed concierges, the TAM was marketed as an executive machine, but at $7,500, the executive pricing proved too much of a turn-off, and sales were poor. In the final weeks of its availability, Apple slashed the price of the TAM to $2,000, but this only served to anger people who had paid full price, and Apple was forced to reimburse early adopters with a new PowerBook.
Only 12,000 TAMs were made, many of which were never sold. The system lasted barely 12 months in Apple's product lineup and was discontinued a year later in March 1998, shortly before the launch of the iMac G3, which offered similar specs but a larger screen, and all for just $1,299.
Power Mac G4 Cube
Unveiled on July 19, 2000, the Power Mac G4 Cube was an engineering marvel and a statement piece of Apple industrial design. At less than one fourth the size of most PCs available at the time, the fanless machine represented an entirely new class of computer, featuring a powerful G4 PowerPC processor, discrete Nvidia video card, AirPort card for Wi-Fi, and a DVD burner, all packed neatly into an elegant eight-inch cube suspended inside a transparent molded acrylic case. Steve Jobs called it "simply the coolest computer ever," and going on first impressions, it was hard to disagree.
But the Cube was doomed almost from the start. Upgradability was limited – a handle in the bottom of the Cube allowed users to pull the innards out of the case, providing access to three RAM slots and space to insert an AirPort card, but there were no PCI slots and the proprietary video card was shrunken down to fit into the tightly enclosed space. It was also too expensive, even by Apple's standards. The lowest-priced model cost $1,799, which was $200 more than the far more upgradeable Power Mac G4.
Apple promotional video for Power Mac G4 Cube
Apple sold fewer than 150,000 units in 349 days, and on July 3, 2001, Apple announced it was suspending production of the Cube indefinitely. "Cube owners love their Cubes," said Phil Schiller, Apple's then vice president of product marketing. "But most customers decided to buy our powerful Power Mac G4 minitowers instead." Apple CEO Tim Cook would later describe the G4 Cube as "a spectacular failure."
