iMacs, AirPods, and now AR/VR headset: Apple’s BIG tech revolutions

Apple launched a slew of products on Monday (5 June), including a “revoluntionary” mixed reality headset – Apple Vision Pro. The tech giant also introduced the 15-inch MacBook Air, Mac Pro and Mac Studio powered by the M2 Ultra chip during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023. The company further unveiled new features for iOS 17, along with software updates for iPad, Watch and AirPods. With Apple again making a bold bet with its Vision Pro, let’s take a look at how the US-based company has been revolutionising tech through its products throughout the years. Apple II Apple II became a computer for the masses when it was launched in 1977. The personal computer had a built-in keyboard and came with four kilobytes of RAM. The device cost $1,298 (around Rs 107,254 today). As the Computer History Museum (CHM) website noted: “Unlike the earlier Apple I, for which users had to supply essential parts such as a case and power supply, the Apple II was a fully realised consumer product. Design and marketing emphasised simplicity, an everyday tool for home, work, or school.” Macintosh family Apple co-founder Steve Jobs rolled out the first Macintosh (or Mac) in 1984. According to a CNBC report, it is the computer that helped Apple become a “premier company”. It was the first “commercially successful computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI)”, the report added. [caption id=“attachment_12698652” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Apple’s Macintosh computers have seen innovation throughout the years. Reuters[/caption] Today, Mac has its own line of successful products. The latest member of the MacBook family is the 15-inch MacBook Air with a custom-made M2 processor. Starting at $1,299 (around Rs 107,339), the latest MacBook Air guarantees faster performance than Intel-powered MacBook Airs, noted CNN. The other member of the Mac family is Apple’s all-in-one desktop iMac. Boasting of a colourful, glassy design in the era when computers were mostly beige and boxy, the first iMac, known as iMac G3, was released in 1998. Jobs, the late Apple co-founder, had said at the time: “This is iMac. The whole thing is translucent. You can see into it. It’s so cool. We’ve got stereo speakers on the front. We’ve got infrared right up here. We’ve got the CD-ROM drive right in the middle. We’ve got dual stereo headphone jacks. We’ve got the coolest mouse on the planet right here.” iPod It was Apple’s venture into personal gadgets that accelerated its growth at the beginning of the 21st century. The company disrupted the music industry and pushed the boundaries of technology with the iPods. With the launch of iPods in 2001, Apple wanted its users to have “1,000 songs in your pocket. Its physical scroll wheel and sleek design made iPods looked “cool”, noted The Guardian. In April 2007, the tech giant sold its 100 millionth iPod. [caption id=“attachment_12698692” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] With the iPod, Apple wanted its users to have “1,000 songs in your pocket”. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Last year, Apple pulled the plug on its portable music player that had catapulted the company’s success. “If we didn’t do the iPod, the iPhone wouldn’t have come out,” Tony Fadell, former Apple senior vice president who invented the iPod, had told The Wall Street Journal. “The iPod brought us confidence. It brought Steve (Jobs) confidence that we could do something outside of the map and that we could actually continue to innovate in new areas.” iPhone The iPhone needs no introduction. As the company announced it is renaming itself from Apple Computer to Apple Inc in January 2007, it also revealed the iPhone to the world. At the time, Jobs described the mobile as “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device", reported The Guardian.  iPhone sales rose 1.5 to $51.3 billion in the second quarter of the 2023 fiscal year amid a slowing global economy. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently opened India’s first Apple stores – one in New Delhi and the other in Mumbai. In an interview with Reuters, he, in part, credited the boost in iPhone sales to demand in emerging markets, “particularly in Brazil, India and Mexico." AirPods With its AirPods products – wireless earbuds and headphones, Apple once again tried to shake up the way in which people listen to music. The wireless earbuds are a hit today with many people ditching their wired headphones and headsets for AirPods. AirPods easily connect to the user’s device and pause the audio/video/music automatically when the earbuds are removed from the ears. Apple Watch After its launch in April 2015, Apple Watch claimed more than 50 per cent of smartwatch sales that year. Increasing its focus on users’ health, the smartwatch can currently even detect if the person fell or was in a car accident. [caption id=“attachment_12698732” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Apple Watch is becoming more focused of the users’ health. Reuters File Photo[/caption] It can help keep track of your menstrual cycle by checking the body temperature to estimate if the user is close to ovulating. According to a Bloomberg report in February, the Cupertino-based tech giant is working on tech that will enable the Apple Watch to monitor the blood glucose of users in a non-invasive manner. Apple Vision Pro In what is being dubbed its “riskiest” hardware, Vision Pro is Apple’s “first 3D camera” that combines virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). According to Apple CEO Cook, the AR headset is “the first Apple product you look through and not at. Vision Pro feels familiar, yet it’s entirely new. You can see, hear, and interact with digital content just like it’s in your physical space." Starting at $3,499 (around Rs 289,099), the headset will display the user’s eyes on the outside. “So in the same way that Mac introduced us to personal computing and iPhone introduced us to mobile computing, Apple Vision Pro will introduce us to spatial computing,” Cook said, as per Reuters. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.