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In Depth: Apple's highs and lows in 2010

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/TechRadar/Mobile%20phones/iPhone/Hands%20on/iPhone_4_06-200-200.jpg"> Apple isn't the sort of company to skulk in the background. Whether it's wowing everyone with the MacBook Air, confounding industry expectations with the iPad, or trying to convince people that Ping isn't a total waste of time, the Cupertino company never seems far from promoting the next big thing. 2010 was no exception, and so here are TechRadar's highs and lows for Apple from the past twelve months; if we've not included your favourites, let us know in the comments. Apple's highs of 2010 1.iPad Analysts cleverly predicted failure for Apple's giant iPod touch and competitors scoffed; millions of happy iPad customers later and the entire industry's trying to pretend they always knew the iPad would be huge, and competitors are trying to catch up. A combination of usability, quality components and a surprisingly low price has turned the iPad from a potential breakout hit to a possible future of computing, also giving Apple new inroads into business. 2. The App Store It wasn't a 2010 invention, but the App Store continues to be a huge win for Apple. The store passed five billion downloads in June (and a billion dollars paid to developers), Apple finally provided insight into the app-review process, and there's a Mac equivalent due in 2011. Crucially, The App Store also sets iOS apart from competing platforms, which lack the quality apps found on Apple's store. 3.Steam for Mac It's not been revealed how much work Apple and Valve have done together, but there's no doubting Steam's arrival on Mac OS X is a big deal for Mac gamers. Although the selection of games is dwarfed by that for Windows, new products are increasingly coming to Mac (Portal 2 will get a simultaneous release). 4.Record company growth Apple's numbers went crazy in 2010, with records falling by the wayside. In October, the company reported $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings, both records for the company. Its market cap exceeded Microsoft's in May, and it's threatening to overtake Exxon, which would make Apple the most valuable company in the world. Part of Apple's huge wealth will enable it to double its Cupertino HQ in 2011. 5.New Apple Stores Industry rumblings had suggested Apple was to spend more time concentrating on major stores rather than typical mall outlets. Sure enough, 2010 saw Apple's flagships go from merely impressive to jaw-dropping, most notably with the Shanghai store's glass tower and the massive Covent Garden store incorporating a beautiful Grade II listed building. 6. iPhone 4 Despite problems we'll cover in Apple's 2010 lows, the iPhone 4 is an astonishing device. It's powerful, with a screen resolution that makes digital text look like print, and a stills camera that can match point-and-shoots. This is a convergence device with few compromises, backed by a quarter of a million apps. The iPhone 4's Retina display is so crisp it looks like one of those stickers you peel off a device before seeing the real screen. 7. iOS 4 arrives With multitasking, Game Center, iBooks, AirPrint and AirPlay, and improvements to the springboard, Mail, Safari and iPod app, iOS 4 dealt with the bulk of perceived shortcomings in Apple's mobile devices. Major accessibility improvements also enabled disabled users top-quality access to content via Apple devices. 8.Macs crack ten percent Although not a big global player, Apple finally grabbed a ten percent market-share in the USA during 2010, biting at Acer's heels. Given Apple's massive profits compared to its contemporaries, market-share is more a psychological boost than anything; and had iPads been added to the 'PC' mix, Apple would have been the US leader in terms of shipped units. 9.Redefining laptops Many Apple products are evolutionary, but now and again something revolutionary occurs, shaking up the industry. The late-2010 MacBook Air is one such device, effectively merging the MacBook Pro and iPad, creating a super-light next-generation laptop with solid-state storage, long-lasting battery, great display and full-size keyboard and trackpad. 10.Steve Jobs alive and well It might seem odd to highlight Steve Jobs's health as an Apple 'high', but there's no denying a fit (if rather more streamlined than of old) Steve Jobs is great to see. Jobs taking the lead on keynotes and announcements is part of what makes Apple Apple, and he offered great quotes in 2010 ("Notebooks aren't better at anything," for example, during the iPad keynote); long may he continue to do so. Apple's lows of 2010 Not everything went well for Apple in 2010. Here's our pick of the year's biggest Apple blunders and failures. 1.Gizmodo and the 'lost' iPhone If you're an Apple employee, leaving your pre-release iPhone 4 in a bar isn't a great idea when there are slightly shifty people lurking. Cue: Gizmodo 'acquiring' the device and amazingly not noticing half the new tech, Apple lawyers getting astonishingly angry, police doing 'policey' things, and a general feeling that Apple had turned into the Big Brother it derided back in 1984. 2. Antennagate Apple thought it had made an iPhone with a much-improved antenna. But there was a problem.Other smartphones have similar issues, but they're not so high-profile. Antennagate didn't stop iPhone 4 being huge, but it arguably took the shine off the device and gave Apple's rivals a huge PR victory. 3.The white iPhone The iPhone 4: in any colour as long as you're a fan of black or white—and don't want a white one. Comically delayed several times, the white iPhone 4 abruptly disappeared from Apple's marketing material towards the end of 2010, with Apple having previously cited manufacturing challenges (although rumours still cling to the belief it'll appear 'soon'). Apple should just officially shoot it in the head and tell fans of white to wait for iPhone 5. Don't hold your breath waiting for a white iPhone 4, or you'll expire. 4.Ping The social network that isn't social and is trapped inside the lumbering beast that is iTunes, Ping never stood a chance. No-one cared, no-one really knew what it was for, and even its recent hook-up with Twitter has merely turned Ping into a Twitter spamming service, not an essential for social networking nuts. 5.iPadlockgate We made up a name for this one, but, yes, we really are saying that Apple changing the iPad screen orientation lock to a pointless 'mute some noises but not others' switch is a 2010 low for the company. The reason: Apple took something usable and great, then removed it on a whim, and even though the change was made in software there's no setting to revert it. This shows the arrogant side of Apple is always bubbling under the surface, ready to strike. 6.Apple TV The revamped Apple TV is tiny, affordable and filled with iOS unicorns. Sadly, said unicorns are nailed to a fence, so you can't install apps on the headless iPod touch; additionally, the new Apple TV pushes a rental-only model (bar streaming from a computer), and offers few TV shows to rent. (If you're outside of the US, 'few' means 'none at all', along with 'and by the way, no Netflix or equivalent either'). Expect Apple TV to be a 'high' of 2011, but for now it's a damp squib. 7.Lower Apple margins Due to the nature of the products Apple's selling and it making the likes of the iPad more affordable than everyone expected, the company announced its margins had again dropped in 2010. This is a low only in the sense that it was widely misreported as 'Apple is doomed' by lots of clueless analysts, ignoring Apple's insanely high profits. Margins will drop again in 2011—expect analysts to claim Steve Jobs will be working in a fast-food outlet by 2012. 8.AirPrint Best filed under 'maybe they'll fix it later', iOS 4.2's AirPrint devolved from a must-have feature to a near-disaster. In late betas, you could print from any shared printer; in the final release, only a tiny handful of HP printers were compatible. 9.Foxconn suicides Without doubt the saddest Apple-related story in 2010 was a spate of suicides at Foxconn, the Chinese company that manufactures many Apple products. Arguments raged about working conditions and cheap labour, and many were quick to note that Foxconn customers include other high-profile names, such as HP and Sony. However, the press mostly associates Foxconn with Apple, and despite Foxconn raising wages its and Apple's reputations were tarnished from the more than dozen suicides. 10.Steve Jobs is not a ninja With his penchant for black (turtlenecks), we did wonder if Steve Jobs was a ninja, and stories about him sneaking shuriken out of Japan seemed to support this idea. Sadly, Apple later stated that the incident was "pure fiction".