December 3, 2012: News Corp pulls the plug on The Daily, the world’s first iPad-only newspaper, less than two years after launching the publication.
While the writing has been on the wall for some time, the closure is a blow for those who view the iPad as the savior of the traditional publishing industry.
November 27, 2012: Apple fires the manager responsible for the disastrous Apple Maps app in iOS 6 after the glitchy software delivers embarrassingly bad data to users around the world.
Richard Williamson, who oversaw Apple’s mapping team, gets the ax from Eddy Cue, who takes over the team.
November 23, 2010: An early Apple-1 computer, complete with its original packaging and a letter signed by Steve Jobs, sells for $210,000.
At the time, it ranks as the most expensive personal computer ever sold at auction. However, it’s a rare find. The working Apple-1 is thought to be one of only around 50 thought to still exist.
November 19, 2013: Apple gets final approval from the Cupertino City Council to proceed with building a massive second campus to house its growing army of workers in California.
Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney’s simple message regarding Apple Campus 2? “Go for it.”
However, the massive structure — with an innovative circular design that will earn it the nickname “the spaceship” — remains years away from opening, despite Apple’s ambitious schedule.
November 13, 2013: Apple and Samsung head back to court to determine how much the Korean company must pay for copying the iPhone.
Cupertino asks Samsung for $379 million in damages for ripping off key iPhone technical and design features. Apple arrives at that number based on lost profits, royalty rates and the $3.5 billion worth of copyright-infringing devices Samsung sold during the period in question.
November 11, 2015: Apple’s first iPad Pro goes on sale after months of speculation about the giant-size tablet. With its much larger screen, professional-oriented targeting and dreaded (optional) stylus, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro represents Apple CEO Tim Cook’s cleanest break yet from Steve Jobs’ vision for iOS devices.
And it turned out all the better for it!
November 3, 2010: Apple prepares to launch the Mac App Store, publicly accepting app submissions from registered developers — and kicking off a gold rush among coders.
After witnessing the enormous sums of money raked in by early entrants in the iOS App Store, developers flood Apple with new Mac apps.
November 2, 2012: The first-generation iPad mini goes on sale, shrinking both the size and the price tag of Apple’s groundbreaking tablet computer.
With a reduced screen size of 7.9 inches – instead of the then-standard 9.7 inches – the iPad mini is the fifth iPad to be released by Apple. Critics hail Apple’s most affordable iPad ever, although some people complain about its lack of a Retina display.
October 29, 2012: Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS software, is ousted from the company after the disastrous Apple Maps launch.
Apple divvies up the roles previously handled by Forstall, who once seemed on a path to the top, among other high-level execs. Jony Ive assumes leadership of the Human Interface team. Craig Federighi becomes head of iOS software. Eddy Cue takes control of Maps and Siri. And Bob Mansfield “unretires” to lead a new technology group.
October 28, 2012: More than a year after Steve Jobs’ death, the luxury yacht he commissioned is finally shown off for the first time, launched from a shipyard in North Holland.
Called Venus, the distinctive-looking yacht was one of the big personal projects Jobs pursued in his last years. As he told biographer Walter Isaacson, “I have to keep going on it. If I don’t, it’s an admission that I’m about to die.”
Sadly, Jobs never lived to see the finished vessel.
