2015 was a pretty amazing year for Apple. Most of the products in Apple’s line were updated and some new products were rolled out. The Apple Watch was perhaps the most notable as Apple Watches began shipping in very limited quantities and prices on eBay skyrocketed and then as supply caught up with demand, the Apple Watch now has more points of distribution and companies like Best Buy and Walmart are using the Apple Watch as loss-leaders. Nevertheless, the Apple Watch was a big success considering it was a completely new product category. I am still wearing and using mine so it has withstood a bit of a test of time.
The new Apple TV has re-booted Apple’s “hobby” product into a whole new paradigm with the Apple TV App store, a fantastic new remote with Siri and some awesome new Apps. If I can ever stop playing Crossy Road maybe I can check some of them out.
iPhones continued to be Apple’s bread and butter representing the lion’s share of Apple’s revenue, profit and growth. Apple did not disappoint this year with the new iPhone 6s and 6s+. While new iPhones were expected, continued record iPhone sales were astounding with Apple selling almost 50 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2015!
iPads have been suffering a decline in sales perhaps due to an over-saturated market but let’s be clear, iPads are everywhere and are really the only tablet worth considering. You see them in restaurants as menus, you see them in the cockpits of airplanes and you see them in the Vermont legislature, too. This year Apple updated my favorite iPad, the iPad mini with the iPad mini 4 and introduced the iPad Pro with the new keyboard and pencil. These are just starting to ship with some regularity and those that have purchased them are giving them rave reviews.
Macs were not left out of the excitement this year with Apple posting record Mac sales at a time when most PC sales are in the dumps. We got the new exciting MacBooks featuring state-of-the-art laptop technology in a diminutive package. MacBook Pros, Mac minis and even the iMac received updates this year. Only the Mac Pro stayed the same but there is always next year.
Apple Music was launched and as of this week is available on Sonos systems, too, so I have been listening to Apple Music instead of Pandora as I go to sleep each night. With 15 million subscribers or more, Apple Music has to be considered a big win for Apple.
I am not gonna talk about the Apple car rumors because unless you count their staffing and secret testing grounds there is nothing here for you to see. Or as Obi Wan Kenobi would say “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for…”
Check out Apple’s Best of 2015 lists here:
