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.”
March 29, 2012: Apple settles its “Antennagate” controversy by giving affected iPhone 4 owners the chance to claim a whopping $15 payout.
The settlement covers customers who experienced problems with the phone dropping calls due to its cutting-edge design, but were not able to return their handsets (or didn’t want a free bumper from Apple to mitigate against the problem).
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.
March 16, 2012: Apple introduces the third-generation iPad, its first tablet to come with a Retina display. Marketed as simply “The new iPad,” it’s widely known as the “iPad 3.”
Boasting that beautiful screen and Apple’s then-swanky A5X chip with a quad-core graphics processor, the third-gen iPad quickly becomes a big success. Disappointingly for customers, it will only hang around until October 2012. That’s the shortest lifespan of any iOS product in history, at just seven months.
March 12, 2010: Apple passes Walmart and investment firm Berkshire Hathaway in value to take third place in market capitalization among publicly listed U.S. companies.
Apple’s valuation roars past $200 billion as a result of intense excitement over the first-generation iPad. Things look good for the company as it guns for powerhouses ExxonMobil and Microsoft.
March 5, 2012: Apple reaches a staggering milestone, with 25 billion apps downloaded from the iOS App Store.
The company celebrates the occasion with a giveaway titled the “25 Billion App Countdown.” The lucky 25 billionth app downloader wins an iTunes gift card worth $10,000.
March 4, 2014: Peter Oppenheimer, the Apple chief financial officer who presided over a decade of skyrocketing growth, steps down from the company.
After becoming Apple CFO in 2004, Oppenheimer saw the company’s valuation soar from $8.8 billion to $471 billion. Luca Maestri, current Apple senior vice president and chief financial officer, replaced Oppenheimer in this crucial position.
February 23, 2010: The iTunes Store officially passes the 10 billion music downloads mark, reaching a major milestone. The 10 billionth purchase? “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash.
The buyer of the song in question is Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. As part of a “Countdown to 10 Billion Songs” promotion by Apple, Sulcer wins a massive $10,000 iTunes Store gift card — and receives a personal phone call from Steve Jobs for good measure!
February 12, 2012: Months after his untimely death, Steve Jobs is honored with a Special Merit Grammy Award in recognition of his contributions to the field of music with the iPod and iTunes Music Store.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, collects the Grammy on behalf of Jobs’ family and “everyone at Apple.”
February 11, 2010: With iPad excitement reaching a fever pitch, Steve Jobs’ old frenemy Bill Gates wades in with his own opinion of Apple’s tablet.
His view? It’s kinda meh.
“There’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it,'” he tells one interviewer.
