50 years of Apple
We’re celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary with a week of content about the tech giant. It covers everything from our writers’ personal memories to the best and worst Apple gadgets as voted for by you, and you can read it all on our 50 Years of Apple page.
This week marks Apple’s fiftieth anniversary, and the company has been a vital pillar of the tech landscape for much of that time.
We’ve already rounded up Apple’s worst gadgets (and, for balance, its best gadgets of the last half century). But the moments below represent his biggest misjudgments when it comes to software, services, and confusing product decisions.
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We’re big fans of Apple when it gets it right – which is more often than not – but even the most hardened fan has to admit that the company has dropped some huge, sometimes hilarious, tech noises…
1. MobileMe — or should it be “MobileMess”?
Before iCloud, there was MobileMe, itself from iTools and .Mac. This paid service acted very similar to what we expect from cloud services today, like offering cloud storage that works across Mail, Contacts, Calendars and more.
Unfortunately, it quickly earned the nickname “MobileMess” because it was too unreliable for just anyone to use. Syncing was unreliable, often interrupting just when you needed to access your most important files, and many users complained about lost emails.
The embarrassing launch infuriated Steve Jobs, who reportedly gathered the development team and told them, “You have tarnished Apple’s reputation. You should hate yourself for letting yourselves down.”
After debuting in 2008, it was taken offline in 2012 and given the much more reliable iCloud. If you’ve ever cursed an iCloud syncing problem, consider yourself lucky not to use MobileMe instead.
- Learn more: MobileMe: What’s Wrong?
2. This “hockey puck” mouse
Have you ever seen an iMac G3? They have a great retro quality today, but in 1998 they represented the future – a brightly colored look at tomorrow’s computing future.
The problem was that the supplied mouse, the Apple USB Mouse, was circular. If you’ve ever used a mouse (and there’s a very good chance that you, a savvy TechRadar reader, have), you’ll know that holding a circular mouse is hardly conducive to a strong grip or doing a lot of things.
Combine that with a short cable and you have a complete recipe for hand cramps. The worst? Apple has persevered for two years.
- Learn more: “A Complete Disaster”: The 11 Worst Apple Gadgets of the Last 50 Years, According to You
3. The great trial and error of Apple Maps
Although Apple Maps has become a very reliable mapping service, its launch was the stuff of legend – and not for positive reasons.
Apple wanted to remove Google Maps from its devices and started working on its own maps app. It launched in September 2012, and almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. It was a fumble the size of Apple Park.
Incorrect location information, unreliable directions, and Apple’s inability to read the room during geopolitical tensions have all been criticized by users. Incredibly, new CEO Tim Cook actually asked users to look at their competitors while iOS Maps was being fixed.
“While we improve Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest, and Waze, or use Google or Nokia Maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen for their web app,” he said in an open letter on Apple’s website at the time.
Even though Apple Maps is now a much better product – some would even say better than Google Maps – for some it will still be tainted by this launch.
- Learn more: Apple admits Maps failure, suggests users try competing apps
4. The rapid rise and fall of Ping
Whether you’re a die-hard iTunes fan or use another service entirely, chances are that removing iTunes Ping is something you didn’t even realize was happening.
Billed by Steve Jobs as a cross between Facebook, Twitter and iTunes, the idea was to make it easy to share music with friends and family, see what they were buying and be accessible on iPhone and iPod Touch.
Unfortunately, Ping was short-lived: Apple launched it in September 2010, and it disappeared two years later.
Tim Cook, who only took over as CEO after Ping launched, summed up Ping’s lackluster reception with characteristic understatement. “We tried Ping and I think the customer voted and said it’s not something I want to put a lot of energy into…Are we going to kill it? I don’t know. We’ll look into that,” he said.
A month later, Apple actually looked into this – and pulled the plug on poor Ping.
- Learn more: One more thing: Apple kills Ping
5. U2’s unforgettable mistake
Do you like U2? In September 2014, the answer to that question didn’t really matter, because Apple teleported Bono and Co. Songs of innocence album directly into your iTunes library.
The 500 million iTunes subscribers found the album that was waiting for them, whether they wanted it or not. For some, this caused storage space issues and it wasn’t particularly easy to remove either.
It also led to further discussions about the value of music and raised suggestions that U2 had devalued the art form. Just wait until you get to streaming services, guys…
- Learn more: Achtung freebie: U2 album gives the Internet another reason to hate iTunes
6. The butterfly keyboard fiasco
Nothing encapsulates Apple’s emphasis on form over function – and the occasional mistakes that can result – better than the Butterfly keyboard fiasco of 2015.
The 12-inch MacBook was already making headlines for replacing USB with USB-C (which at the time was still an emerging technology), but the keyboard’s “butterfly” hinge system was a huge problem for Apple, especially since these were also the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models.
From key repeating to keys that simply come off during use, all of this has cost Apple millions to repair. The free repair program expired in 2024, so if your keyboard breaks now, you’re out of luck.
- Learn more: Apple is finally writing checks for its butterfly keyboard fiasco – so if you’ve made a claim, it’s time to cash in
7. The iTunes phone that made iPods is amazing
Steve Jobs presents Motorolo Rokr (iTunes Phone) – Apple Special Event 2005 – YouTube 
Look on it
If you were looking for a way to take your iTunes library on the go in 2005, your only option besides the Apple iPod was the Motorola ROKR E1.
Haven’t you heard of it? We don’t blame you. Touted as the phone that lets you take your iTunes library anywhere, it had two major drawbacks.
For one thing, its USB 1.1 speeds meant that moving files to and from the device was painfully slow. The other problem was that it would only allow users to download 100 songs in order to protect iPod sales.
That’s not exactly a good selling point – and it’s incredible to think that just 15 months after the video above, Apple would introduce the iPhone and immediately make all “music phones” seem like ancient history.
- Learn more: Our review of the Motorola ROKR E1 from back in the day
8. Where is the loading port located?
Every once in a while, Apple makes a decision that seems like it could have been avoided by asking a single person outside the design room what they thought.
One of them buried the Mac Mini’s power button below the otherwise incredible mini PC. But the most famous example is the Magic Mouse (second generation). In the top half, it’s everything Apple does so well: it’s a great mouse, comfortable in the hand and sleek, while supporting fluid gestures. Down ? The loading port.
This means that if you want to use the computer while charging the mouse (a somewhat unreasonable use case), you have to plug it in and use another mouse while it powers up.
Apple then stunned the computing world by doubling down on that move with a redesigned Magic Mouse in 2024, which is a rare example of a consumer product that’s also immaculate rage bait.
- Learn more: Good news! Apple finally redesigns the Magic Mouse with USB-C! Bad news! The charging port is always at the bottom
9. RIP AirPower, gone too soon
Apple’s September 2017 “Let’s Meet at Home” event will be remembered for many things, including the iPhone X – which is a good thing, considering one of the announced products never shipped.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were overshadowed by the reveal of the iPhone X, the first iPhone to remove the home button and opt for an all-screen display. Its $999 price tag attracted a lot of attention, as did AirPower.
A charging mat meant to charge your phone, AirPods, and Apple Watch at the same time, no matter where you put them, was almost a no-brainer for a company that launched all three in the same year.
Unfortunately, manufacturing issues with the prototype meant that AirPower never made it to market, with some reports suggesting that Apple’s early units struggled to dissipate heat and also melted plastic – phew.
- Learn more: The AirPo prototype wer shows why Apple was right to abandon its wireless charger
10. Antennagate, or how to dig yourself a bigger hole
The iPhone 4 debuted in 2010 with a new design that made your iPhone 3GS look cheesy in comparison, but the new metal frame that doubled as an antenna held a secret – or, more accurately, those who held it would find that its signal would stop.
Apple initially claimed that users were “mistaken.” Well, Apple didn’t exactly say that, but it did say in an erroneous statement: “Grabbing any mobile phone will cause some attenuation in its antenna performance, with some locations being worse than others depending on the location of the antennas.” This is a reality for every cordless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the bottom left corner so that it covers both sides of the black metal band strip, or just use one of the many cases available. »
This problem quickly became widespread enough to prompt Apple to eventually issue an official apology and offer free bumper cases to affected users.
Fortunately, the iPhone 4S, released the following year, shared the same visual design but fixed the antenna problem.
- Learn more: Need more iPhone 4 signal? There is no app for that
11. Apple Intelligence, or lack thereof
While the rest of the tech world was buzzing with AI products and services, Apple seemed to be off to a standing start and struggling to catch up.
Siri was lagging (to put it politely) when pitted against other assistants, and although Apple had partnered with ChatGPT to resolve some issues, it was clear that it needed a quantum leap to catch up.
Luckily, that’s what was promised at WWDC 2024, showing how Siri could read your emails to extract context and more. The problem ? Many features weren’t delivered, and many still aren’t, almost two years later.
The company has faced lawsuits based on false advertising for promised features and now appears to be partnering with Google Gemini to supercharge Siri to come even closer to what was promised.
- Learn more: Apple is setting WWDC for June 8 – and this may be its last best chance to fix Siri and deliver the AI we were promised.
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