Top 10 Apple Fails

Changes come at a hefty price. In the build-up for the release of the iPhone 7, rumors were circulating that Apple planned to ditch the analog headphone jack. Obviously, customers were not happy – but Apple wasn’t swayed by the petitions or criticism. The company dumped the jack in favor of the Lightning port, meaning customers could not listen to music through Apple's EarPods and charge the phone at the same time. While Apple's marketing chief – Phil Schiller – called the move courageous, the decision was largely motivated by a want to free up space for extra tech.

A brand's name can make or break a product. Apple's Final Cut Pro is an important video editing program that has been employed by many Hollywood films. In 2011, Apple released Final Cut Pro X, a program that was a complete departure from the previously released Final Cut Pro 7. Besides being conceptually different, the "X" could not import work from its predecessor and lacked some of its features. While Final Cut Pro X is a great program on its own terms, Apple could have better prepared existing Final Cut users for what proved to be an incredibly abrupt change.

The late '90s were a turbulent time for Apple. While they showed a willingness to innovate, quite a few of their products failed to hit the mark. At one point, the company managed to even get the mouse wrong. Apple's so-called Hockey Puck looks really cool, but the compliments pretty much end there. The USB mouse's perfectly circular shape made it hard to control, as there was no intuitive way to know whether the user was holding the mouse straight. The Puck's lifespan was ultimately short-lived, as Apple went back to the drawing board and introduced the Apple Pro Mouse.

Just three days after launch, the iPhone 4 sold over 1.7 million units. Unfortunately, not everyone was happy with their purchase. Many users complained about the iPhone's weak reception signal, a problem caused by gripping the phone's lower left edge. Apple's initial response left a lot to be desired, as they merely suggested that consumers should not touch the affected area while in a call or to buy a thirty dollar “bumper” case. After a handful of frustrated customers took Apple to court over the issue, the company finally decided to take some sort of action, and opted to supply cases free of charge.

Technological advancements are great, but they also need to be affordable. In the early '80s, Apple announced the Lisa, an innovative computer that was home to the first ever Graphical User Interface and featured an operating system with protected memory. While these were important advancements for the industry, Lisa's processor struggled with the workload and, in comparison with its contemporaries, felt slow. Worse still, it was priced at nearly $10,000 – around $25,000 in today's money. All of this amounted to pathetic sales figures, and the Lisa being discontinued less than four years after its launch.

As always, Apple was looking to push the envelope with the announcement of their personal digital assistant. To that end, the company not only gave us the term “PDA,” but also brought handwriting recognition to the format... kind of. In theory, the device would allow users to take notes, manage their schedule, and organize contacts, but most importantly, translate handwriting to text. Except, at launch, this ambitious feature barely worked, a reality that practically killed the Newton before it really had a chance.

Unwilling to allow Google Maps to own the market, Apple released their own version in 2012. While things eventually improved, Apple Maps got off to such a rocky start that it required the company's CEO to publicly apologize. The application's biggest issues included misspelled place names, an inability to differentiate from cities that shared names, out of date information about stores and places of interest and completely wrong locations – all of which was a pretty damning problem for a product marketed on its accuracy. Apple would eventually fix over 2 million errors in the app.

When you think of classic '90s gaming, Apple doesn't exactly spring to mind. The Pippin technology platform was licensed to Bandai Company Ltd, which advertised its Bandai Pippin model as a gaming console. However, they sold less than 50,000 units… so it isn't that surprising. Depending on your point of view, the system was either an overpriced console or a cheap computer. Stateside, the system offered just 18 titles, but it did offer players the opportunity to connect to the internet, or as it was known at the time, “the 'net”. Unfortunately, very few people had an internet connection up to the demands of online gaming, making the Pippin a pretty useless purchase and underwhelming experience.

Complete failures are quite rare, but Apple found a way to do the improbable. Replacing the Apple II, the Apple III was meant to push the company into the business sector; instead, this faulty device led to near financial ruin. Partially due to Steve Jobs' inflexible demands and instructions to not include a cooling fan, the device suffered from overheating and would break down after a couple hours of use. This was particularly problematic since it was targeted towards businesses rather than hobbyists and enthusiasts. Software for the Apple III was also scarce, and the computer got dismissal reviews right out of the gate.


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.

The Apple Powerbook 5300

The Apple Macintosh Portable


The Letter “I” Not Working On The iOS 11

With Microsoft dominating the PC market by licensing out their Operating System, Apple tried to close the gap by doing the same thing with their Macintosh. The idea was to provide a cheaper means for consumers to get used to Apple's system, but the clones were often more advanced than the Macintosh computers. Unlike Microsoft - who were mainly into software - Apple's decision just resulted in an over-saturated market that threatened to leave them in the dust. With Motorola preparing to launch their Mac-based G3 powered StarMax 6000, Apple opted to stop the licensing program to save themselves.