We recently took to Twitter and we popped the question, no – not that question, but this one:
With 2010 being an extremely successful year for Apple Inc, we wondered what you felt was their biggest release of the year. 100’s of you replied to the tweet and here is the result..
#1 iPad
Our Twitter stream lit up with iPad fever. The iPad was released in April and within 80 days more than 3 million units were shifted. Overnight Apple gained control of approximately 95% of the Tablet market. Wow, how amazing is that! Especially when you consider that nobody really needs an iPad – it’s a luxury item of the highest order, and Apple had a massive failure not so long with the Newton.
The iPad is Apple’s most successful product of 2010 – no surprise there!
#2 iPhone 4
It’s of little surprise that the iPhone 4 is the second most popular release of 2010. The 4th generation release of the world’s favorite Smart Phone saw big changes to an already brilliant foundation. A drastically improved display and a more powerful battery has seen more than 14 million iPhone sales since its release in June. Other new features include a front facing camera, HD video recording capabilities, video calling through FaceTime, and improved processing.
#3 iPod Touch 4G
I am a bit surprised that the iPod Touch 4G crept ahead of some other products but here she is, in 3rd spot. In September of 2010 an 8GB model was introduced along with the 16GB and 32GB models. A front facing camera, an improved display using Retina Display, and the ability to shoot video in HD was also introduced.
#4 Macbook Air
In 2010 the Air received a new lease of like and Apple positioned it as a competitor to the Netbook market with the release of the 11.6″ Air. Apple also somehow made the Air thinner, lighter and sexier. The performance of the Air also saw a big improvement. While the 1.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor doesn’t sound like much, the use of onboard flash storage makes the Air a beast of a machine and a viable alternative to the Macbook Pro series as a primary laptop rather than a sex symbol device.
#5 Apple TV
2010 also saw a new Apple TV release. It was more than 3.5 years since the first release of the Apple TV and some were questioning the future of Apple TV since the Mac Mini was a viable alternative. That didn’t stop Apple from releasing Apple TV 2nd Generation in September 2010. The new Apple TV puts a movie theatre in your living room with a near endless catalogue of great content courtesy of the iTunes Rentals Store and NetFlix. Apple announced in December that Apple TV has shifted more than 1 million units in under 3 months.
#6 Magic Mouse
The Mighty Mouse is dead, long live the Magic Mouse! For a long time Apple has struggled to figure out the mouse – remember the puck? Thankfully 2010 saw the release of Mighty Mouse – a sleek, multi-touch, and multi-gesture dream. The biggest change is the removal of the horrible roller ball that existed in the previous Mighty Mouse – no more problems with cleaning the roller ball.
# 7 Steve Jobs Action Figure!
Last but not least, an honorable mention for the Steve Jobs action figure. The less said about this, the better…
What do you think? Was the iPad Apple’s best release of 2010 or should the iPhone 4 be on top?