The 15 biggest Apple flops of all time, from AirPower to Bendgate via the Newton

Last week, Apple did something it rarely does: the company canceled a project already announced. More precisely, Air power, a wireless charger that would power the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time. After 18 months, not a single AirPower device has emerged.

The unexpected death of AirPower This is an unusual event for Apple, which so carefully maintains its public image as a buttoned society: it rarely advertises a product as long in advance, and even more rarely cancels a project publicly before its shipment.

The misstep of AirPower especially among the hit-parade of Apple over the past 20 years. From iTunes, from iMovie and FaceTime to the iPod, iPhone, Apple Watch and MacBook Air, Apple has been offering outstanding apps and devices for decades.

But from time to time – as with the AirPower loading mat – the company stumbles with the design or launch of a product. Here are 15 times that Apple would probably have liked to have a stop.

Apple has not responded to a request for comment.

Apple cancels the AirPower wireless charger before its release (2019)

Announced in 2017, the Apple Wireless Charging Mat is designed to simultaneously charge iPhone, Apple watches and AirPods. The devices could communicate to make sure everything was loaded efficiently. But the ambitious power carpet has missed its Release date 2018, and late last Friday, Apple announced that it was cancel the project.

(If you're waiting for AirPower, check out these alternative chargers that you can buy.)

iPhone batteries, strangled; and MacBook batteries, exploding (2017)

Following reports of past slowdowns on older iPhones, Apple has admitted that it is slowing older iPhones to preserve battery life. The iPhone owners were, hmmm, unhappy to learn that Apple had made this decision without their knowledge and without their consent. To remedy the situation, Apple proposes to replace the batteries concerned to 29.99 USD and to replace 11 million new batteries by the end of 2018. Parallel to the batteries of the iPhone, Apple had to deal, over time , reports scattered about the explosion of batteries in MacBook. and Powerbooks.

Bendgate distorts the reputation of the iPhone 6 (2014)

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus end of September 2014, YouTube seemed filled with iPhone owners folding their Apple devices. It was shocking and you could not look away. Apple claimed that only a small number of iPhone owners had defective and flexible devices, but that it would replace phones with manufacturing defects. For a year or so after, the excessive folding ability of a new phone was a concern.

iTunes spammed you with U2 (2014)

To promote the new U2 album, Apple has transferred the Super Band's song Songs of Innocence for free to 500 million iTunes libraries. Instead of thanking Bono, the leader of the U2 group, Bono, many felt taxed at best, or raped at worst. Stores that relied on the sale of albums became angry, as did other musicians who thought that people had to pay for music and not wait for it for free. Then there was a good chunk of the 500 million Apple customers, who felt like Apple had spammed them with an album that they did not want or n? did not accept.

Growth pains at Apple Maps (2012)

Designed to replace preloaded Google maps on iPhones, Apple Maps is offered by default. map application for iPhone and iPad in 2012. Unfortunately, Apple Maps also contains a series of serious problems, ranging from erroneous instructions to strangely distorted images. Apple Maps was Tim Cook's first CEO fiasco after the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, and it became so bad that Cook apologized for the unstable application.

Antennagate, aka "You're wrong" (2010)

The iPhone 4 used an elegant stainless steel frame that wrapped the device and housed the phone's antennas. When this feature was captured (or simply false, as the case may be), the phone signal was reduced when it was shipped in June. In the midst of reminder rumors and software updates, and even free bumpers for Apple phones preventing fingers from slipping a finger on the frame, Apple is apologetic and said that the owners of the phone are not allowed to use the phone. iPhone 4 could make their phone as they wished.

The loneliness of iTunes Ping (2010)

Ping was a social network designed to connect you to your friends and your favorite musicians as part of a great iTunes update. Prior to its release, Apple had shown Ping with hooks in Facebook, but upon delivery of Ping, Facebook's integration had been removed from Apple's social networking attempt. Without Facebook, finding your friends on Ping was a challenge. And once you found them, you often found that their musical tastes were as bad as you feared.

Wobbling MobileMe (2008)

There was a lot to say about MobileMe, Apple's collection of online services that can subscribe for $ 99 a year. This allows you to synchronize your calendar and contacts. It offered online storage, Find My iPhone, a photo gallery and even a fairly easy-to-use website design tool called iWeb. Unfortunately, the service started badly, as potential subscribers could not register and could not access it once they subscribed. The service never really recovered and Apple replaced it a few years later with iCloud.

iPod Hi-Fi exorbitant price (2006)

Designed to replace your home's stereo system, the iPod Hi-Fi was a cumbersome and expensive speaker, devoid of AM / FM radio, bundled with a limited remote control and an early iPod mounted on top. It sounded like an audio device, but potential buyers were crushed for its cost (at $ 349, it cost $ 50 to $ 200 more than competing products), its design and inability to use it with readers audio other than Apple.

G4 Cube, cracks and everything (2000)

The cube G4 was striking, housed in acrylic glass, worthy of being in a museum. The Mac boxy was also expensive, does not come with a monitor, requires external speakers and could form cracks that spoil the outside of the Mac. It was barely a year since Apple gave it back in 2001.

Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (1997)

An all-in-one design that seemed more oppressive than elegant, the Twentieth Anniversary Mac contains everything you want on your computer: LCD screen, FM radio and TV tuner, CD-ROM drive, Bose sound system, and leather handrests. It was also expensive, with a price of $ 7,500 at launch, and that did not seem very correct. It did not sell and Apple reduced its price by nearly 75% a year later, to $ 1,995 to empty its stock.

Pippin, an all-in-one that never took off (1996)

It would be a game console, an internet device, a set top box, a way for Apple to enter the living room. Pippin, however, has never attracted buyers, software developers or hardware manufacturers who would license a versatile design. In 1997, Apple moved on.

Attack of clones (1995)

In the first decade of the Mac, Apple resisted licensing Mac OS to third-party manufacturers. But in 1995, as its market share dwindled, Apple hired a handful of tech companies to license System 7, as well as to manufacture and sell Macintosh clones, with the goal of developing the market. Macs. The manufacturers of clones were disconcerting and competitive (read an advertisement of Power Computing), but instead of growing the market, the clones mainly took the sales of Apple.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he ended the cloning test for good, and Apple again tightly controlled his ecosystem.

Copland, The Crossed Star OS (1994)

By the mid-1990s, the original Macintosh operating system was beginning to show its age, and so Apple began replacing it. The project, named Copland, would give Apple a modern system to compete with Microsoft Windows PCs.

Copland's designs were ambitious and varied – it was said at one point that Copland would be able to run Windows applications – and Apple worked for several years to work together. However, Copland's plans were too ambitious and Apple was not able to publish anything stable for developers or Mac users. In the summer of 1996, Apple's management canceled the Copland project, deciding to release Copland's usable elements as and when they were upgraded from its existing Mac OS.

The collapse of the Copland project, however, left Apple with an aging operating system and no way forward. Deciding that the fastest way to replace the Mac operating system was to buy one instead of build it, in a "stunning move," Apple bought NeXT Computer, a company founded by Steve Jobs after leaving Apple. With the purchase of NeXT, Apple got its replacement operating system and its next CEO, Steve Jobs.

Newton shows the future (1993)

Apple Newton – the founding project of Apple CEO John Sculley – spoke about the future of handheld devices. The pioneering personal digital assistant stood in your hands, was endowed with task management applications and could recognize handwriting on the screen. He was also priceless and suffering from various problems, so instead of being seen as a technological breakthrough, the PDA has become an easy joke.

Steve Jobs killed the Newton project on his return to Apple but applied the lessons to the iPhone and iPad, and even reused his handwriting recognition in the MacOS.

The CNET editors also remember these infamous problems from the distant past and not so far away.

FaceTime Bug. A problem in the Apple videoconference application allowed a caller to listen to a conversation on the other end of the wire before the recipient answered (2019).

Butterfly keyboard. A keyboard fault the keys have stuck or do not work as expected on some MacBook models 2015 through 2017 (2015).

Magic Mouse 2 charging port position. It was necessary to return the wireless mouse from Apple to recharge it, thus rendering it unusable when powering on (2015).

IPhone 4 lost. Even before Antennagate, the iPhone 4 had a difficult start, as an Apple worker accidentally left a prototype in a bar, which was eventually transferred to Engadget (2010).

The Apple USB mouse caused repetitive stress. The translucent hockey puck mouse looked great, especially when it was attached to the first colorful iMac. He was also miserable to use (1998).

Expensive Macintosh TV. Apple's first attempt to adopt television was too expensive and had too many design compromises to succeed (1993).

The late and dear Apple Lisa. It was revolutionary both inside and out, but the much delayed Apple Lisa was too expensive and was overshadowed by the Mac when it was delivered a year later (1983).

Apple III, late and problematic. Intended to rely on the success of the Apple II, the Apple III was rather the first serious flop of Apple (1980).