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 fires 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 Touch ID for authentication and secure payments on the iPhone and other devices.
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. In the longer term, AuthenTec’s mobile wallet tech paves the way for Apple Pay.
July 23, 2012: Looking for the perfect spokesman for its new virtual assistant Siri, Apple turns to the director behind some of Hollywood’s most violent gangster movies. A new ad shows Martin Scorsese using Siri voice commands on his iPhone to juggle his busy schedule.
One in a string of celebrity-studded ads showcasing Apple’s recently released virtual assistant, it ranks among the best. However, it seriously oversells Siri’s skills.
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. In the e-books lawsuit, Apple stands accused of conspiring with five major book publishers to fix prices on digital books.
After all five publishers settle their claims outside of court, Apple becomes the only one to go to trial. The e-books lawsuit settlement closes the book on a bad chapter in Apple’s history.
July 15, 2015: Apple introduces the sixth-generation iPod touch, attempting to prove that there’s still a place for the humble music player in the crazy, crazy world of iPhones and Apple Watches.
Apple calls the device “the best iPod touch yet” in a press release, and touts “a new lineup of colors for all iPod models, including space gray, silver, gold, pink and blue.”
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 425,000 apps, which give the iPhone and iPad incredible capabilities and add to the devices’ wide appeal.
July 2, 2010: Apple opens up about “Antennagate,” issuing a letter that addresses iPhone 4 reception problems publicly for the first time.
In a letter addressed to iPhone 4 users, 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 MobileMe, its subscription-based suite of online services and software offering push email, chat, data storage, a photo gallery and other features.
After letting the service limp along for four years, Apple finally decides to pull the plug, pushing users to switch to iCloud. The company gives MobileMe users until the end of July to remove their data from the service.
June 30, 2015: Apple launches 24/7 radio station Apple Music 1 (launched originally as Beats 1). Part of Apple Music, the new global radio station features top DJs ranging from former BBC presenter Zane Lowe to top musical artists like Lil Wayne.
Apple calls Apple Music 1 “the biggest radio station in the world” and says it beats (no pun intended) all other music stations when it comes to concurrent listeners. However, without hard figures to back that up, some call out Cupertino on this claim.
June 24, 2010:. The iPhone 4 release date finally arrives, bringing a sleeker design, a new video telephony service called FaceTime and a gorgeous Retina display. Simply put, it’s a stunning smartphone.
While history may remember the device for the “Antennagate” scandal caused by that new design, it is otherwise a fantastic upgrade over the iPhone 3GS. In its first weekend, Apple will sell 1.7 million iPhone 4 handsets. That’s a major triumph for Cupertino.
June 21, 2010: Apple releases iOS 4, which introduces a range of productivity features as well as the FaceTime videotelephony service. The iOS 4 launch 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 latest smartphone, with iPhone 4 preorders racking up 600,000 sales on their first day.
The company calls the number “far higher” than expected. At the time, it’s the most 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: Chinese authorities sentence three people to prison 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!
June 13, 2013: Apple exec Eddy Cue takes the stand to defend the company’s iBooks business strategy in an antitrust case regarding e-book pricing.
Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, runs the iBooks Store initiative. His testimony proves vital to a case brought by the Department of Justice, in which potential damages climb well into the nine figures.
June 3, 2011: iOS overtakes Research in Motion’s BlackBerry operating system for the first time, with Apple’s mobile operating system inching past BlackBerry OS.
While Android remains comfortably in the lead in terms of market share, the news marks the beginning of the end for BlackBerry as a smartphone powerhouse.
June 2, 2014: Apple shows off Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite for the first time at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Following the Jony Ive-redesigned iOS 7, Yosemite boasts an aesthetic change that brings Apple’s desktop computers closer than ever to the look of the company’s mobile software.
Named after Yosemite National Park, the update follows the previous year’s Mavericks as the second Mac operating system named after a California landmark.
May 31, 2013: The Chicago Sun-Times fires all 28 of its photographers, with the goal of training its staff to shoot photos using iPhones instead. Pulitzer Prize winner John H. White is among those who lose their jobs.
The move is significant not just because of what it says about the declining newspaper industry. It also spotlights the iPhone’s growing acceptance as a professional camera.
May 28, 2010: Customers across Europe and Asia queue up to buy the iPad when the international launch date for Apple’s original tablet finally arrives.
The reason for the gap between the iPad’s U.S. launch in early April and its international debut more than a month later? Unexpectedly strong demand for the groundbreaking device.
May 26, 2010: In a massive milestone, Apple passes Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable technology company for the first time.
The changing of the guard proves particularly amazing given that, just 15 years earlier, Apple looked close to dead, while Microsoft dominated the tech world thanks to Windows 95.
May 25, 2010: Apple opens an investigation into a string of suicides at Foxconn, its Chinese manufacturing partner for assembling iPhones.
After reports of a ninth death at a Foxconn factory, Apple says it is “independently evaluating” Foxconn’s response. Cupertino vows to take a long, hard look at the facilities that manufacture its products. It’s a tough challenge for Apple to deal with — and CEO Steve Jobs’ controversial comments don’t exactly help.
May 24, 2013: Apple begins phasing out the option to download movie trailers from its once enormously popular iTunes Movie Trailers website.
The move signals a major change in the way people consume digital content as the internet evolves. Downloads will continue to decline, as streaming services like YouTube and Netflix gain steam.
May 7, 2014: Katie Cotton, the fearsome, much-admired head of Apple’s worldwide publicity machine, steps down from her vice president post after 18 years with the company.
During her stint at Apple, Cotton worked in lockstep with CEO Steve Jobs and proved instrumental in controlling the company’s portrayal in the press. Her departure provides one more reminder that the Jobs era is over at Apple.
May 4, 2011: Reports circulate that Apple is negotiating with carriers to bring over-the-air updates to iOS, beginning with iOS 5.
Such a move would free iPhone owners from using iTunes to get updates for their devices. That means no more plugging an iPhone into a computer via USB to download the latest version of iOS.
April 29, 2010: Apple CEO Steve Jobs pens “Thoughts on Flash,” an open letter to explain why, basically, Adobe Flash kind of sucks. The letter marks the beginning of the end for the once-omnipresent plugin that powered multimedia in internet browsers for years.
Following the devastatingly blunt broadside, Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen hits back at Apple, arguing against Jobs’ complaints. But the Apple leader has clearly made up his mind: iOS devices will never support Flash. The writing is on the wall.
April 24, 2015: The original Apple Watch launch means consumers, who endured a seven-month wait after the device’s unveiling at a keynote the previous September, can finally strap an Apple wearable onto their wrists.
Apple CEO Tim Cook describes the smartwatch as the “next chapter in Apple history.” Behind the scenes, however, the first Apple Watch launch is a moment long in the making.