It ’s been a brutish yr , but Apple has amount out of 2020 with a litany ofsuccessesto look back on – as well as some misstep and miscalculations it might with hindsight have handle other than .
In an elongated variant of our weekly Apple Breakfast news program roundup , we look at the big Apple - touch story throughout the year .
If you ’d care to get regular roundups , sign up to our newssheet . you could alsofollow us on Twitterfor breach tidings story .
January
The year starts quietly , and the Apple press is mostly occupied with rumours about products that will launch later in 2020 , such as a 5 G iPhone ( and a replacing for the iPhone SE ) , an update iPad Pro and a MacBook Pro with an improved keyboard . Most of the rumour wrick out to be true ; Apple ’s veil of secrecy has been subvert for some years , but the unusual condition under which its employees are obligate to exploit in 2020 will make it out of the question to keep things hidden for long .
Macworld also takes the prison term to explainhow to swear on an iPhone . Like we say , it ’s a quiet month .
February
Reports from Apple ’s Asiatic provision chain of mountains warn of delaysas a result of COVID-19 , with suppliers operating at only 30 % to 50 % of capacitance : the autumn ’s all - authoritative iPhone launch may have to be force back . later on in the year the mesa will be sour and Apple ’s home nation , the US , will be touch on more badly than China .
On 12 February Mobile World Congressis cancelled , and numerous other major tech events follow suit of clothes . The big question for Apple watchers is this : will WWDC be cancelled ?
March
2 March : Apple agree to pay up outbetween $ 310 m and $ 500mto gazillion of customers dissemble by the so - holler Batterygate iPhone trouble .
13 March : Apple sustain that WWDC will go ahead in June , but it will beonline - only . The company promptlycloses all of its Apple storesoutside China .
16 March : Apple isfined a billion eurosfor ‘ cartel ’ behavior in France .
18 March : It ’s sentence for Apple ’s traditional spring launches . We get anew MacBook Air , anew iPad Pro(in 11 in and12.9insizes ) and anew Magic Keyboardfor the iPad Pro .
Note that the MacBook is based on Intel chipping , which will prove significant subsequently in the year .
April
15 April : Surprise ! There ’s a Modern iPhone . It ’s anupdated iPhone SE , reviving a brand that most of us imagine was gone forever , having been launched in March 2016 and discontinued in September 2018 .
The Modern SE gets rave reviews and appears to deal well , offering a clue that comparatively small and relatively cheap phones can be quite pop . Who knew ?
20 April : Apple Storesstart to reopen .
30 April : Financial results for Q2 2020 show aslight revenue increasecompared to last twelvemonth .
May
4 May : skillful news program for MacBook Pro fans feeling neglected after the Air ’s update in March . Thenew MacBook Pro 13 in , like the Air , is based on Intel bit .
5 May : Daniel Ek , the genus Bos of Spotify , lay claim in an interview that Apple ’s platform isnot yet “ capable and fair ” . We ’ll be hear more about the way Apple treats its better half later in the year .
20 May : Analyst Ming - Chi Kuo says Apple may release an iPhone this autumnwithout any bundled headphone , the first sighting of a rumour that will pop up consistently between now and the launching . It ’s right .
June
1 June : A dissatisfied iPhone owner files a cause against Apple seeking compensation of$1 trillion .
4 June : Tim Cook posts a alphabetic character on Apple ’s website headedSpeaking up on racism , in response to the demise of George Floyd on 25 May .
“ George Floyd ’s death is shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far high than a ‘ normal ’ hereafter , ” he write , “ and make one that hold out up to the high ideals of equality and justice . ”
5 June : Apple ’s livestock hit itshighest ever Nasdaq listing .
12 June : It emerges that US antitrust researcher have demanded that Tim Cook – along with a tidy sum of other tech CEO – face questions overpotential anticompetitive behaviour . In Apple ’s case the App Store is the focus . afterwards in the calendar month theEU will comply case ; as willAustralia , in September .
22 June : Apple opensWWDC 2020with a keynote presentation unveiling Modern interpretation of its five heavy operating system : iOS 14 , iPadOS 14 , watchOS 7 , tvOS 14 andmacOS Big Sur .
That is expected , since Apple does a beat of O updates every summertime . A more dramatic promulgation – albeit one that was rumoured previously – is the company ’s move from Intel chips in its Mac range to proprietaryApple Silicon . We ’ll be hearing more about this as the class progresses .
July
3 July : on-line advertisers revolt againstprivacy measures in iOS 14 . The measures will cease up beingpostponed .
17 July : In a class - action lawsuit , Apple is accused of profiting fromgift - card pretender .
29 July : Tim Cookfaces the antitrust subcommittee . “ More than 1.9 million American Book of Job in all 50 body politic are attributable to the App Store ecosystem , ” he argue .
30 July : Apple ’s quarterly reportshatters expectations . Less gayly , the firm is oblige to confirm that theiPhone 12 is delayed .
August
4 August : It’siMac time ! The smaller 21.5 in model receives only cursory changes , switch from hard drives to SSDs as measure , but the27 in iMacsees more significant improvement to its specs . Neither model gets a physical redesign , which we hope willchange in 2021 .
10 August : Tim Cookbecomes a billionaire . Possibly .
13 August : Epic Games adds a ignore unmediated - payment option to its Fortnite mobile game , and Apple promptlyremoves it from the App Store . Thus begins a prolonged contravention that will hang over the difference of the year for both companies , with Apple laterterminating Epic ’s accountand both side gettingslappeddownat various times in sound proceedings .
It ’s all very tedious , but speaks to a large issue : the relationship between Apple and its smaller ( and oftenmuchsmaller ) package developer partners . Does the troupe treat them somewhat ? The question will stay .
20 August : Apple becomes the first US companionship to bevalued at $ 2 trillion .
September
15 September : Apple hold itsTime Flies practical case , which many rooter desire will see the launch of the new iPhones . Instead we take heed about two Modern Apple Watch example ( theSeries 6and theApple Watch SE ) and two novel tablets ( theiPad Air 2020and theiPad 10.2 in 2020 ) .
The company also announcesApple One , a subscription bundle combining multiple entertainment service – Apple TV+ , Apple Music , Apple Arcade and more – under a individual toll tag . AndFitness+ , a guided workout service .
October
13 October : A 2d case of the autumn , this time with the taglineHi , Speed . And yes , it ’s time for some new iPhones .
There are four new French telephone : theiPhone 12 mini , theiPhone 12 , the12 Proand the12 Pro Max . ( Samsung and Xiaomitease Appleabout the deficiency of a battery charger with the sound , but it ’s not long before Samsungcopies the approach . )
But Apple does n’t hold on there . We also get theHomePod miniskirt , a delightful , shrunken adaptation of the HomePod that manages to bring forth much of that twist ’s audio muscle at a fraction of the terms .
November
10 November : Apple makes it three events in three calendar month . At theOne More Thingvirtual event the company goes cock-a-hoop on Macs , announcing new versions of its MacBook Air , MacBook Pro and Mac miniskirt with the M1 Apple Silicon processor .
Subsequent examination – such as the benchmarks we ran for ourMacBook Air M1 review – reveals that the M1 is a major step up from the performance of Intel ’s chip , and thoughts sour to when Apple will install proprietary processors in its other Mac models . you could read our clause aboutMac trend in 2021for more on that .
December
8 Dec : Many pundits – including this one – take over that Apple is done with the production promulgation for 2020 . But it has not : it has left theAirPods Maxfor last .
These prove to be a controversial fashion to close out the year , not least because of a£549/$549 price tagwhose valuewe were sceptical about . This is a idea taken up by subsequentreviews , which almost uniformly praise the audio quality but question whether it should cost so much ( given that the top choice in ourbest wireless headphonesgroup run be £ 350/$350 ) .
They also point out that the Smart Case is actually a act dumb . Partly because it leave seemingly the most vulnerable part of the headphones , the meshing headband , unprotected , and part because you have to habituate the sheath to activate blue - major power mode ( or at least , to activate it forthwith ; Apple later clarifies that the AirPods Max will go into standby even when uncased , butit take longer ) .
22 December : Combative Tesla honcho Elon Musk claims on Twitter that he tried tosell the ship’s company to Appleback in 2017 ( at a fraction of its current economic value ) and that Tim Cook would n’t even take the meeting .
And that ’s it for this class . detain Appley , andsee you in 2021 !
