August 20, 2012: Apple passes a financial milestone as it becomes the most valuable publicly traded stock ever.
The company it bests to attain this record? Long-time rival Microsoft, which peaked on December 30, 1999. Apple’s surge to the top spot serves as a reminder of just how radically the fortunes of both companies changed over the years.
August 18, 2014: A Christmas-themed iPhone ad lands Apple an Emmy for “Most Outstanding Commercial of the Year.”
The prize-winning spot is Apple’s “Misunderstood” iPhone 5s ad. It depicts a silent teenager who won’t spend time with his family at Christmas because he’s too busy with his iPhone. At the end of the ad, he reveals that he’s not actually being a misanthrope. He used his iPhone and iMovie to shoot and edit a heartwarming family montage!
August 17, 2012: Steve Jobs’ stolen iPad winds up in the hands of a clown called Kenny, who performs kids shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.
It’s a bizarre story all around, which fortunately winds up with the iPad being returned.
August 9, 2011: Apple overtakes oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable company.
It’s an astonishing turnaround for Cupertino: Just 15 years earlier, it looked like it was just about “game over” for Apple.
July 31, 2012: The Daily, the world’s first iPad-only newspaper, lays off almost a third of its staff, signaling the demise of a bold publishing experiment.
The deep cuts — The Daily fired 50 of its 170 employees — affect mainly sports and editorial page staffers, although some production and design employees get the ax, too. The ominous move comes as News Corp places the iPad app “on watch” due to disappointing readership numbers.
July 28, 2012: Apple buys biometrics company AuthenTec, acquiring the technology that will power future authentication and secure payments initiatives.
With a price tag of $356 million, the deal gives Apple the right to use AuthenTec hardware, software and patents. In the short term, Apple engineers start working to build Touch ID sensors into the iPhone 5s. Longer-term, AuthenTec’s mobile wallet tech paves the way for Apple Pay.
July 23, 2012: Looking for the perfect spokesman for its new Siri virtual assistant, Apple turns to the filmmaker behind some of Hollywood’s most violent gangster movies.
That’s what happens when a new television ad debuts showing legendary film director Martin Scorsese using Siri. The latest of Apple’s celebrity-studded Siri ads, this turns out to be among the best.
July 21, 2011: Apple officially passes Nokia to become the world’s top smartphone vendor.
It’s a major milestone for Apple, which launched the iPhone just four years earlier. For Nokia, which dominated the cellphone market during the 1990s and early 2000s, it marks the end of an era.
July 16, 2014: Apple agrees to pay $450 million to resolve the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against the company over e-book pricing in the iBooks Store.
Cupertino was accused of conspiring with five major book publishers to fix e-book prices. The five publishers all settled their claims outside of court, leaving only Apple to go to trial.
July 7, 2011: Three years after its launch, the App Store passes 15 billion downloads.
This represents a major milestone for Apple. The App Store offers more than 425,00 apps, which give the iPhone and iPad incredible new powers and add to the devices’ wide appeal.
