Year in Review: 10 Biggest, Most Memorable Things Apple Did in 2018
Credit: Wired UK
2018 was undoubtedly a rollercoaster for Apple. While it wasn't all high notes for the Cupertino tech giant, you couldn't say that it wasn't incredibly memorable. Not just that, but Apple made some important moves that could hint at its future. From hitting a historic market valuation to quietly introducing a feature that may revolutionize Siri, continue reading to learn about The 10 Biggest, Most Memorable Things Apple Did in 2018.
10 It Hit a Massive Milestone
Apple shattered records in August 2018 by becoming the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. It hit that milestone with a market valuation of over $1 trillion. However, Apple’s stock price has since fallen in the midst of a market-wide tumble — and Microsoft is now neck-in-neck with Apple. But Apple’s $1 trillion milestone was still a historic moment, both for the Cupertino tech giant and the tech industry at large.
9 It Released the First Consumer ECG
Apple has allowed the Apple Watch to reach its full potential this year. With the Apple Watch Series 4, the company debuted the first consumer-facing ECG available without a prescription — ever. It’s already in the U.S. and will roll out elsewhere in the future. Even beyond the ECG app, Apple’s flagship wearable has proven itself to be an excellent tool for health, fitness, connectivity, and productivity. Just think of all of the times that an Apple Watch has helped save someone’s life. There’s a reason why it’s the most popular watch in the world.
8 It Went Totally Green
Apple has long been known as one of the most environmentally friendly technology companies in the world. That shows in everything from its product packaging to the way it powers its data centers and headquarters. In April, Apple announced that it had reached its goal of becoming 100 percent powered by renewable energy. And Apple isn’t done yet since it's inching ever-closer to its goal of creating a “closed-loop supply chain” — reusing recycled iPhone components and materials to lessen its impact on the earth.
7 It Brought the iPad Pro Into the Future
This year was a massive one for the iPad Pro and Apple’s tablet lineup in general. The iPad Pro was completely overhauled with an edge-to-edge design, Face ID and a processor that can keep up with some of the best desktop CPUs currently on the market. But the 2018 iPad Pro lineup hints at even broader changes for the Apple tablet. This year, Apple made the unexpected move of ditching Lightning in favor of USB-C. With rumors of an iPad mini and refreshed iPad coming in 2019, Apple’s tablets seem to have a bright future ahead of them.
6 It Kept Shattering Records
In addition to hitting its $1 trillion market valuation milestone, Apple continued to break records with every earnings call. Virtually every quarter, Apple reported best-ever earnings. And in its Q2 earnings, it shocked investors by reporting that the iPhone X was, in fact, a success for Apple. That’s not even counting the rise of Apple’s Services business. Apple Music, Apple Pay and Apple’s other services are continuing to grow — combined, they raked in $10 billion in the last quarter alone. Services is actually expected to become Apple’s most important revenue driver within a few years.
5 It Walked the Walk
There are no two ways about it: Apple made a mistake with its lack of transparency over iPhone throttling power management system. While its response wasn’t perfect, the performance-enhancing boosts to older devices in iOS 12 proves that its goal isn't "planned obsolescence." Apple also continued to prove itself as a vanguard to protecting its users’ privacy. Even in the midst of several massive Facebook data scandals, the Cupertino tech giant continues to advocate for an expansive privacy law at the federal level in the U.S.
4 It Refreshed Much-Loved Macs
In comparison to the iPad or the iPhone, Apple’s macs seem like they have gone by the wayside in recent years. Before 2018, much of the Mac lineup was aging — and in some cases, several Mac products seemed fated for an untimely demise. But Apple gave some love to its Macs in 2018, refreshing the ever-popular Mac mini and MacBook Air this year. And there are still new Macs to look forward to, including a long-awaited Mac Pro refresh, incremental iMac updates, and hopefully some change that will allow the 12-inch MacBook to make more sense in Apple’s lineup.
3 It Made Moves Toward In-House Production
Back in October, Apple licensed technology from Dialog Semiconductor and hired about 300 Dialog engineers. That might not have been the most exciting news story this year, but it is likely one of the ones with the most wide-ranging implications. Apple is largely expected to bring more of its silicon production in-house. It already makes the A-series iPhone chips, W-series wireless chips, and T-series security chips. It may have more proprietary chips on the docket which would allow the company to ditch Intel — including a rumored ARM-based processor for future Macs.
2 It Max-ed out the iPhone
This year, we didn’t see any massive design changes or updates to the iPhone. In other words, it was thoroughly an “S” year. But that doesn’t mean that 2018 was inconsequential for Apple’s flagship device. Just think of how powerful the A12 Bionic actually is. Apple outdid itself with the iPhone XS Max, packing a massive 6.5-inch display into the same factor of previous Plus models. And while the iPhone XR isn’t quite as cheap as we thought it would be, it likely helped bring the future of iPhones to a wider market than the iPhone X.
1 It Gave Siri a Needed Boost
One of the most overlooked moves that Apple made in 2018 is the introduction of Shortcuts. Basically, the app allows users to set up complex workflows that can be activated using Siri. That’s a much-needed boost to the digital assistant. In its current form, Shortcuts probably isn’t powerful enough to change Siri. But Apple isn’t done boosting its digital assistant quite yet. The company is expanding its Siri team and doubling on machine learning. Siri becoming smarter and more capable is a trend that we’ve only seen the beginning of.