Apple certainly wasn’t sitting still this year. Here’s a look back at the major accomplishments of Apple in 2015.
MacBook
Apple retired the “MacBook” mark in 2010 when the white polycarbonate-clad laptop was discontinued, offering only the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro instead. The MacBook roared back to life in 2015, reimagined as a next-generation laptop designed to work entirely wirelessly.
The MacBook is Apple’s slimmest, lightest laptop, clocking in a hair over 2 pounds, equipped with a Retina display, Force Touch trackpad and a new keyboard that’s love it or hate it depending on your preference. It’s also a bit slower than the MacBook Air, thanks to the Core M processor inside — a lower-power, lower-speed variant of the processor used in other Macs.
Tim Cook has said that the MacBook is a look at the future of the laptop. Some design decisions, like using USB-C as the sole interface for power and external connectivity, haven’t been well-received, so we’ll see how much of this tech makes it into other Mac laptops over time.
MacBook Air and MacBook Pro
Apple’s other laptops got some attention in March, too. Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display with a new generation of Intel processor and some other features too, and also bumped the MacBook Air with a gentle refresh. The 15-inch MacBook Pro followed later in May.
The Apple Watch
After much fanfare following its unveiling in late 2014, Apple released the Apple Watch. The device’s long-term impact to Apple’s product line and designs remains to be seen, but eight months after its initial release, Apple has increased the device’s distribution from just Apple retail stores to major retailers including Best Buy and Target too.
Apple isn’t sitting still with the Apple Watch — they’ve already revised the design to offer the popular Sport model in different finishes including Rose Gold, introduced with the iPhone 6S this fall, and has revised the operating system, watchOS, to version 2, loaded with new features.
Third-party developers are still trying to figure out how to incorporate Apple Watch app designs and functionality into their products. This is going to be a very interesting market to watch in 2016, when Apple will presumably introduce a new Apple Watch with new features, better performance and more functionality.
iOS 9 and El Capitan
Apple’s annual operating system upgrade cycle — a fixture for the last half-decade — continued unabated this year with iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Both of them were introduced at WWDC in June, and saw public releases in the fall. iOS 9 and El Cap adoption have been good — it’s helped that this year was a real iterative change for both operating systems, not a major upheaval like iOS 8 and Yosemite.
iOS 9’s hallmark is “more intelligence:” Better contextual reminders, new ways to search and more effective Siri integration. A new News app gives you access to up-to-date info from your favorite sites, and a redesigned Notes app incorporates new features like drawing tools and the ability to include photos and images in notes.
El Cap’s performance is better thanks to some under-the-hood reworks. Core graphics technology is up to 40 percent better, Safari has been reworked and more. Apple’s also made apps like Notes, Maps, Mail, and Safari better than ever.
Apple Music
Apple had long bucked the trend toward music subscription services, but finally shook off that limitation in 2015 with the introduction of Apple Music. For $9.99 a month you get unlimited music streaming from Apple, and while the selection isn’t nearly as complete as the iTunes Store, there are millions of songs to listen to.
Apple sweetened the pot by offering new subscribers a 90 day trial version, and all indications are that it’s been hugely successful.
iPhone 6S
After introducing Force Touch with the MacBook and refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro earlier in the year, Apple introduced the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in September, revealing “3D Touch” as a new way to navigate the iOS interface. 3D Touch employs haptic feedback — force feedback — so you can “peek” and “pop,” dipping in and out of content without losing your place.
Live Photos record moments in time before and after the shot is taken, and the new 12 megapixel sensor on the new iPhones makes it possible to record 4K video.
Apple TV
Apple TV finally turned the corner in 2015 from a streaming video appliance to something more. The fourth-generation Apple TV debuted with a new remote — the Siri Remote, complete with Siri integration and a touchpad surface — and a lot of new functionality, including the ability to download apps from an Apple TV app store.
The new Apple TV costs more than its predecessor, but packs a much bigger punch. And if initial indications are any gauge, it looks like it’s off to a rousing start, although the rollout of apps to take advantage of the Apple TV has hit a few speedbumps along the way.
iPad Pro
For the first time since the iPad mini was introduced, Apple’s changed the form factor of the iPad. The $799 iPad Pro features a 12.9-inch Retina display, the biggest iPad screen ever. What’s more, the iPad Pro showcases unique technology like support for the Apple Pencil, a pressure-sensitive stylus that enables you to draw and illustrate on the iPad Pro’s screen effortlessly; and the Smart Keyboard, a combination keyboard/iPad cover that uses a three-conductor interface on the iPad instead of Bluetooth for reliable communications and power.
iMac
The iMac got some much-needed attention in October with refreshed 21.5 and 27-inch models. 5K display is now standard across the 27-inch line, with a 4K model serving as the high end of the 21.5 inch line.
Executive reshuffling
It wasn’t all product news at Apple this year. Some important behind-the-scenes stuff happened as well. In October the company elected former Boeing corporate president and CFO James Bell to the board of directors. Apple promoted Jeff Williams to the COO’s position, which had been vacant ever since Tim Cook took over at CEO following Steve Jobs’ retirement. Williams has been in control of Apple’s operations for some time, so this titular change doesn’t represent a new direction.
Apple also announced the appointment of Tor Myrhen, a creative from Grey New York, to the position of VP of Marketing Communications, replacing 18 year Apple veteran Hiroki Asai. Johny Srouji has been promoted to VP of hardware technologies after leading development of the A series processors used in Apple’s mobile devices.
And perhaps most tellingly, Apple senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller’s role has been expanded to include management of the various App Stores Apple has has developed to support iOS and OS X. Some Mac app developers are hoping Schiller’s appointment will help to move some long-standing issues regarding Mac App Store policies and procedures, but we’ll see.
Sadly, the word “fail” has been used in conjunction with a few of these things but I think all of these products are an over all success with the exception of Apple Music. I had high hopes for it and it seems like if you just want to rely only on streaming it is a good start. If you don’t stream and have your own library then it’s pretty terrible. I stream very little because of my data cap and the fact that I often find myself in poor service areas. I also couldn’t get over not being able to control the music that I own and whether it was on my device or not. I did let the service go but the pains are still there because the app caters to the streamer, it flat out sucks for non streamers. Every time I open I open the app I’m met with an interface that fails to pick up where it left off and forgets what song was playing last and where the song was during playback. Navigation is a pain beyond words. I keep hoping that each 9.xx update to iOS will bring improvements but alas, not yet.