July 23, 2012: Looking for the perfect spokesman for its new virtual assistant Siri, Apple turns to Martin Scorsese, the legendary filmmaker behind some of Hollywood’s most violent gangster movies.
The new television commercial shows the director using Siri voice commands to juggle his busy schedule. One in a string of celebrity-studded Siri ads, it ranks 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, the Finnish company that 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 stood 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 capabilities and add to the devices’ wide appeal.
July 2, 2010: Apple opens up about “Antennagate,” addressing iPhone 4 reception problems for the first time publicly.
In a letter to customers, Apple admits to being “surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and … immediately began investigating them.” However, the company’s findings do little to dispel the growing Antennagate controversy.
July 1, 2012: Apple shuts down its MobileMe web service, pushing users to switch to iCloud.
Launched in 2008, MobileMe was a subscription-based suite of online services and software created by Apple. It included features like Find my iPhone, a MobileMe photo gallery, chat facilities, online calendar, storage and other cloud-based services. After letting it limp along for four years, Cupertino finally decided to pull the plug, giving MobileMe users until the end of July to remove their data from the service.
June 24, 2010: Apple’s fourth-generation smartphone, the iPhone 4, goes on sale.
While the device is perhaps most remembered for the infamous “Antennagate,” it is otherwise a pretty great handset. In its first weekend, it sells 1.7 million units. That’s a major triumph for Apple.
June 21, 2010: Apple releases iOS 4, which introduces a range of productivity features as well as the FaceTime videotelephony service.
iOS 4 represents a big step forward for Apple’s flourishing mobile devices. Due to the arrival of the first-gen iPad earlier in the year, iOS 4 also brings a transition from the mobile operating system’s original name, “iPhone OS.”
June 16, 2010: Apple reports a massive surge of interest in its upcoming iPhone 4, with 600,000 sales on the first day of preorders.
The company calls the number “far higher” than expected. At the time, it’s the largest number of iPhone preorders Apple has ever taken in a single day. AT&T suffers server problems thanks to the demand — with 10 times the usual traffic on its website. It’s proof positive that Apple is onto a winner!
June 15, 2011: Three people get sentenced to prison in China for leaking information about the iPad 2 prior to its release.
The Foxconn R&D employees receive sentences ranging from one year to 18 months. They also must pay fines between $4,500 and $23,000. If you ever wonder why more Apple products don’t leak prior to release, this might help explain why!
