Apple likes to describe its Macs as the best, most innovative computers in the world, so it’s easy to forget that the company has been giving off some real stink over the years. Not all Apple computers were a hit.
In this article, we delve into Apple’s history to unearth a computing dud that’s better forgotten. If you’ve ever wondered about the worst computer Apple has ever made (or wanted to see behind the scenes of Apple’s best Mac ever), you’re in the right place. .
Apple III (1980)
Introduced in 1980, the Apple III sought to build on the solid reputation of the popular Apple II. Unfortunately, it was so bad that about 20% of the total number sold had to be recalled due to serious stability issues.
Apple founder Steve Jobs argued that the Apple III should not have fans or vents in order to run quietly. result? Seriously overheating computer. Elsewhere I had major problems with the logic board. It was too small to fit all the computer components. The company’s co-founder Steve Wozniak says the problem stems from letting the marketing team design the computer, rather than his engineering team.
Apple was just four years old when it launched the Apple III. This raises the question of whether computer failures resulted in inexperience or arrogance. Either way, the Apple III was quickly thrown into a memory hole and never seen again.
Macintosh IIvx (1992)
The Macintosh IIvx was supposed to be a big step forward for Apple. Along with his brother’s Macintosh IIvi, it was his first Mac with a CD-ROM drive. But its production was rushed, and the resulting shortcuts were a drag from the start.
One had a 32mHz processor, but it didn’t work on a 16mHz bus. In other words, it was slower than the old Macintosh IIci. On the other hand, the serial port was limited to 57.6Kbps, so I had problems with the hardware connection.
Four months after the Macintosh IIvx was released, Apple announced the more powerful Centris 650 at $250 less than the IIvx, which was quickly discontinued. Apple nearly bankrupted him in the 1990s, and with a product like the IIvx, it’s not hard to see why.
Macintosh TV (1993)
Nearly 30 years after its release, the Macintosh TV remains an odd curiosity in the history of Apple devices. As the name suggests, he combined a computer and a television into one product, a case where the whole was never bigger than the sum of the parts.
You could display the output of both your computer and your TV, but you couldn’t do both at the same time (for example, display your TV’s content in a window on your computer’s desktop). Every time I changed my mind, I had to choose and switch between them.
To make matters worse, the computer itself was mediocre at best – just like the Macintosh IIvx, the 32mHz processor was throttled by a 16mHz motherboard bus. I would have been better off buying another product. This is what most people did. Only 10,000 were sold and it went extinct in just 99 days.
Macintosh 20th Anniversary (1997)
The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (TAM) is a cautionary tale about how an overzealous marketing department can derail an otherwise acceptable product. As Apple’s 20th anniversary approached, company executives decided to launch a celebratory computer, and TAM was born.
It was intended as a showcase for cutting-edge computing technology and even came with a concierge delivery service, but Apple’s marketing team decided to move it from a mainstream device to an expensive collectible too expensive for the masses. It is said to have changed direction.
The launch price of $7,499 (currently almost $14,000) was reduced to $3,500 just a few months later. Only a year after its introduction, the recently returned Steve Jobs canceled it outright and he lowered the price of the remaining units to $1,995. Jobs reportedly hated it, but he probably wasn’t as good as the guy who put up the $7,499 asking price in the first place.
Despite its shortcomings, TAM was a pioneer of sorts. It was the first of his Macs designed by Jony Ive, and it foreshadowed many of his major Apple products today, from iMacs to standalone trackpads. But its exorbitant pricing meant it was always doomed to failure.
Mac Pro (2013)
The 1990s are commonly regarded as Apple’s “wilderness years,” but the sheer number of crappy Macs released during this period means the mid-2000s may not be far behind. This second harrowing era for him kicked off with his Mac Pro in 2013. It earned the nickname “Trash Mac Pro”.
Apple is famous for its design chops, but the 2013 Mac Pro seems to have had its creative team a little over the edge. The device was formed in a cylindrical shape and the components were arranged around a central pillar that dissipated heat.
The problem was that the heat was not dissipated enough. In other words, Apple couldn’t upgrade the machine with newer, more powerful components. As the industry moved forward, the Mac Pro became too late. The fact that users could only upgrade memory and storage and were frustrated by the modularity that professional users often needed didn’t help matters.
The result was a computer that delighted Apple’s designers but frustrated its consumers. It speaks to the latest Mac Pro returning to both the standard tower design of his original Mac Pro, which first came out in 2006, and much better modularity.
12-inch MacBook (2015)
Every once in a while, companies come out with products that feel more like tech demos than products that are expected to sell millions (look at the first-generation Samsung Galaxy Fold). His 12-inch MacBook feels like a neat fit in this category.
This device felt like the result of a challenge given to Apple’s engineers. It’s about how thin and light you can make your laptop. Because the 12-inch MacBook was a real beauty. It’s by far Apple’s lightest laptop, and it almost feels incredibly slim.
The problem, well, is almost everywhere. Being so small meant that anything more powerful than a mobile CPU would generate too much heat, so laptops were terribly underpowered. Apple only allowed one port on the chassis, and Apple decided to go with USB-C, which was (at the time) largely unused. And what about the price? Let’s just say it wasn’t competitive at all when it came to performance.
Today, it’s taken for granted that a laptop has a USB-C port, but the 12-inch MacBook paved the way for it (in fact, it might even make a comeback soon. ). It’s a pity that the price was too high and the power was insufficient.
MacBook Pro (2016)
When Apple launched the redesigned MacBook Pro in 2021, it served as a counterpoint to almost everything that defined the previous version. And it all started with the 2016 model year.
The most obvious problem was literally the butterfly keyboard. It’s thinner than previous MacBook keyboards, but the keys tended to stick if dirt got under them. It was also unsatisfying to use, as the key travel is shallow and prone to errors and misspellings.
Elsewhere, laptops only had USB-C ports. This meant that users had to buy tons of dongles and adapters to connect their peripherals. Its Intel CPU was underpowered and overheating, but the Touch Bar was a great idea that never found its purpose.
Thankfully, Apple has since returned to more standard fare with its latest MacBook Pro, bringing back more port diversity and ditching the Touch Bar. Even better, the powerful Apple silicon chip puts MacBook Pro performance back where it should be.
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