June 26, 2008: A year after the first iPhone was released, Apple sends an email to developers calling for smartphone software to be distributed in the forthcoming App Store.

Coders around the world greet the news with excitement. They hurry to submit their iPhone apps and get in on the looming App Store gold rush. Many rake in small fortunes when the App Store goes live less than a month later.

April 23, 2009: Less than a year after opening its virtual doors, the App Store reaches 1 billion downloads.

Peer-to-peer file sharing app Bump becomes the 1 billionth app to be downloaded. As a result of his purchase, 13-year-old Connor Mulcahey of Weston, Connecticut, wins a “1 Billion App Countdown” promotion.

He takes home an assortment of Apple products valued at more than $13,000, including a $10,000 iTunes gift card, a 32GB iPod touch, an Apple Time Capsule wireless router and a 17-inch MacBook Pro.

April 5, 2006: Apple introduces the public beta of Boot Camp, software that allows users with an Intel-based Mac to run Windows XP on their machines.

Boot Camp will officially arrive in Mac OS X Leopard, which debuts at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference a few months later.

March 6, 2008: Apple releases the iPhone software development kit, finally allowing coders to start creating native mobile apps for the new smartphone. The iPhone SDK gives developers the tools they need to unlock the new smartphone’s potential.

When the App Store eventually opens a few months later, a new industry springs up overnight. Third-party devs rush to take advantage of Apple’s lucrative app distribution network.

Matt Fischer, the vice president in charge of the App Store since 2010, will leave Apple in October of this year. His departure will follow a major reorganization that splits the App Store team in two as Apple seeks to avoid further regulatory scrutiny.

One part of the team will oversee Apple’s App Store, while the other will manage third-party app marketplaces.

A new Apple history podcast from two Cult of Mac contributors launched this month. In each episode of Apple Core, hosts Graham Bower and Charlie Sorrel explore the history of a different Apple product, focusing on what we can learn from Apple’s past, and what this tells us about the company’s future plans.

Some upcoming guests will be familiar to Cult of Mac readers, including Leander Kahney and CultCast host Griffin Jones.

Apple’s App Store named its apps and games of the year for different devices/services plus other App Store Award finalists Tuesday. All told, it recognized 37 apps and games whose developers “are delivering exceptional experiences and making a profound cultural impact.”

And in a matter of weeks, we’ll find out who the winners are, the company said.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max utilizes Apple’s most impressive photographic tech yet, but it’s not the first smartphone with a 5x telephoto camera. In the Android world, you will find several phones with 5x to 10x optical zoom.

Only Samsung’s and Google’s devices deliver image quality capable of competing with Apple’s best. Only Google’s Pixel lineup directly competes with the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x optical shooter. (Samsung is ahead of the competition with its 10x periscope lens.)

So which 5x zoom is the best? See our side-by-side comparison shots to see how the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x tetraprism zoom stacks up against the Google Pixel 8 Pro.

No, Apple didn’t change the Lightning connector on the iPhone 15 to make more money selling you new cables and dongles. It’s a common conspiracy theory that Apple switches the connector all the time for lining their pockets, but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

First of all, Apple changes the connector very rarely; this is only the second occurrence in 16 years. Secondly, Apple is actually giving up money to make the switch happen. Not that there’s much money to be made selling Lightning cables, anyway. And all that aside, it’s out of Apple’s hands — USB-C is European Union law.

Designer Basic Apple Guy has appeared on Cult of Mac a lot lately, but with new wallpaper coming out that makes it looks like Apple CEO Tim Cook and other execs are in a new version of classic game Grand Theft Auto, how can we slam on the brakes now?

Released Friday, “Grand Theft Auto Cupertino” wallpapers are available for free download!