August 15, 1998: The iMac G3 — Apple’s brightly colored, translucent Macintosh relaunch — goes on sale to a rabid audience.
Steve Jobs’ first major new product since returning to Apple, the internet-ready iMac cements his legacy as a forward-thinking tech visionary. It also introduces the world to the design talents of Jony Ive — and pretty much saves Apple in the process.
Just another day at the office, eh?
August 7, 2006: Apple unleashes the Mac Pro, a high-end desktop computer that complete’s the company’s transition to Intel processors.
Built for computation-heavy tasks like 3D rendering and professional audio and video editing, the quad-core, 64-bit Mac Pro serves as a replacement for the Power Mac G5 (from which it borrows its aluminum “cheese grater” design).
July 19, 2004: The fourth-generation iPod brings neat innovations to the popular audio device, including the Click Wheel interface recently introduced on the iPod mini.
“The best digital music player just got better,” says Steve Jobs on the day the product launches. And yet some people feel disappointed.
June 29, 2007: The first iPhone goes on sale, giving excited Apple fans lined up outside stores their first chance at owning the game-changing smartphone.
The queues that greet the iPhone launch around the world prove that Cupertino is onto a good thing with the smartphone, first shown off by Steve Jobs earlier that year.
April 24, 2015: It’s time for the official release of the Apple Watch, the wearable device Tim Cook describes as the “next chapter in Apple history.”
Fans, having endured a seven-month wait since the device’s unveiling at a keynote the previous September, can finally strap an Apple Watch onto their wrists. Behind the scenes, however, the Apple Watch launch is a moment long in the making.
April 17, 1977: The Apple II debuts at the West Coast Computer Faire, positioning Apple at the forefront of the looming personal computer revolution.
The company’s first mass-market computer, the Apple II boasts an attractively machined case designed by Jerry Manock (who will later design the first Macintosh). It also packs a keyboard, BASIC compatibility and, most importantly, color graphics.
Fueled by some marketing savvy from Steve Jobs, the Apple II launch makes quite a splash at the San Francisco Bay Area’s first personal computer convention.
March 31, 2010: The world gets its first sense of how the iPad measures up, as the first reviews hit the internet.
The consensus? That there’s no Flash, no USB, no multitasking — but that it’s a whole new computing experience all the same. As USA Today writes, “The first iPad is a winner.”
Apple pulls back the curtain on its wily master plan, giving us our first glimpse at a squeaky-clean new TV service, an ambitious subscription videogame service, a slightly familiar-sounding magazine and news service and more. (Spoiler alert: The Apple credit card steals the show.)
And then, after all that, Cupertino unceremoniously pulls the plug on its AirPower wireless charging mat.
Get our take on Apple’s new services, plus new how-tos and reviews, in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS. Download the free app now, or get the links below to read the week’s best stories in your browser.
March 26, 2010: Apple ends a trademark dispute with Japanese multinational Fujitsu over the name “iPad” in the United States.
It comes two months after Steve Jobs first showed off the iPad, and around a week before the tablet will land in stores. As it happens, it’s not the first time Apple battled over the name for one of its new products.
Later today, Apple will pull back the curtain on its upcoming news and video subscription services. Cult of Mac will, as ever, be live-blogging the action, but you can also watch the media event live, and presumably enjoy a roster of TV type people pitching their shows through their permanent hangovers.
Whether you’re watching on your Mac, your iPhone, your iPad or your Apple TV, we’ll show you how to tune in.
You can even show up at an Apple Store and watch it on the big screen!
