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Apple's Biggest Hardware Flops of All Time
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It really isn’t an issue at all. It can be charged during a lunch break or, obviously, overnight. No big deal.
I will take this statement a step farther (or just repeat it differently, sorry): Certain failures, under the right leadership will inspire the right companies to greater success.
As has already been mentioned by other commenters... Steve Job's lessons from the failed ROKR (+ the lessons learned from Sculley's Newton) informed the gargantuan success that is Apple iPhone.
Flops are only bad if they can't be turned into a teachable moment that could take you to greater heights. Likewise, success is absolutely bad when it creates inertia that hinders greater investment, greater innovation, and greater "what-if" queries that could take you to greater heights.
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My guess it's just that when it needs charging it's usually at an inopportune moment.
I'm personally a huge fan of the Magic Trackpad as it lets me exploit laptop muscle memory gestures when I'm working at my desk.
It seems the idea is testing the glasses with developers and enthusiasts and then selling a more affordable ones after that.
I hope so if not, this list would longer…
I wouldn't call all these products "failures". Though they were commercially unsuccessful, they pioneered ideas and technology that would later find great commercial success in later products. For example, the Apple Lisa pioneered a metaphorical object-oriented interface that sold more successfully in the more affordable Apple Macintosh. And the Apple Newton pioneered a computer that could fit in the palm of your hand that sold much, much more successfully as the Apple iPhone.
As in, it didn’t sell and lost the company a lot of money. Yes, commercially, it was a flop.
The biggest duds with the highest stakes for the company were the Apple /// and the Lisa. Of this list, those were the only two that were egregiously damaging to the company IMO. The rest were more embarrassing than anything.
The Newton was a pretty good platform by the end, but if it survived into the time when Apple started developing the iPhone, it wouldn't have worked out nearly as well.
The G4 Cube didn't have a proprietary graphics card slot at all: it was a 2x AGP slot, just like the Gigabit Ethernet PowerMac G4s and most PCs had. The problem was the small space that required more compact versions of the graphics cards, as noted in the article.
The Newton was a pretty good platform by the end, but if it survived into the time when Apple started developing the iPhone, it wouldn't have worked out nearly as well.
The G4 Cube didn't have a proprietary graphics card slot at all: it was a 2x AGP slot, just like the Gigabit Ethernet PowerMac G4s and most PCs had. The problem was the small space that required more compact versions of the graphics cards, as noted in the article.
For me, its shape is what disappoints. I have large hands and after some use my hand would start to cramp up, and my wrist hurt. The gestures are the best thing about it,
Remember when the early ones got recalled for battery fire hazards?
On the topic of portables, we need to nominate the Macintosh Portable as well. Great computer but it was as heavy as a Mac SE, and if you were OK with not having battery power, the SE was a far better value.
I've still got my Cube - it was my daily production machine for some years and a fine piece of hardware. A bit ahead of its time.
I was expecting to see this on the list.
It’s still a 35+ year old computer. Quite reasonable to think most would be past their useful lives and desposed of, especially if they were purchased by businesses.
Everyone in this forum seems to think anything that isn't marking leading is a flop.
Personally I LOVE when Apple applies it's touch to more niche devices (exactly like the AirPods Max) - it's nice to see the biggest company in the world is still happy to make niche devices from time to time and they don't aim for everything to see like the iPhone. See the XDR display, the Apple Watch Edition, now the Apple Watch Ultra - not everything has to aim for iPhone numbers to be considered a success IMO. It just has to be a good product that people like (I'd say the G4 cube fit in this category)
Depending on your disability, I can see VR devices being an advantage or a disadvantage. And it doesn’t need to be accessible to everyone, because it won’t stop people from using devices more suitable to their abilities.
Some positives:
- For people who aren’t completely blind, but with low vision, you can provide a large virtual display in a portable package.
- The cameras and other sensors could be used to scan an environment and describe it to people with more severe vision loss.
- For people with limited control of their hands, eye tracking can be used for input.
- You aren’t stuck to a desk if you want a multi-monitor setup. I could make any desk into a standing desk just by putting a box/riser under the keyboard. Or you can use it while reclining.
With the exception of the Apple III, I have a prototype version of each of these units. Of all these failed devices, the Cube takes the cake. It's by far the coolest computer ever produced. The TAM's pretty sweet too. The sound system is really impressive even in 2023.
Wheres the Airpower charging mat in this list?
They straight up didnt even release it😂
They straight up didnt even release it😂
Because it wouldn't fly properly in a wind tunnel if it were on the top or side. Remember, with Jony and Apple, it's form over function.
Agree on the Apple /// - the failure to produce a proper successor to the Apple ][ probably helped Apple lose ground to the IBM PC in the early 80s.
However, without a couple of the other "flops", Apple probably wouldn't exist today.
The Lisa itself may have been a flop, I remember it causing a big stir at the time (it was mainly just too expensive) and it helped create the market for the Macintosh. Would the Mac have happened if Apple hadn't had a "learning experience" with the Lisa?
Likewise, the Newton. Yes, a flop, but as part of its development, Apple collaborated with Acorn and VLSI to create ARM ltd. (Acorn had already created the ARM, but Apple helped bankroll its development into the go-to mobile processor). No Newton, no ARM, probably no iPhone (or an inferior one) or Apple Silicon.
As they say - those who make no mistakes usually make nothing.
Yeah it's hard to say. I would pay $2k but not $3k... but I don't think it will be a flop, I think the existence alone will drive other manufacturers to jump into the VR/AR market. The Quest Pro is $1500 and I won't buy it. There just isn't enough improvement over the Quest 2.
You WILL NOT use a wireless mouse as a wired mouse under pain of Apple death!!
"Yeah. Yeah. THIS'LL fix 'em."