As 2022 comes to a close, we’ve had lots to celebrate, including major product announcements from Apple, such as the Mac Studio and Apple Watch ultra. At the same time, there were some products that did not make it to the next year, and some of those were overdue to be axed. Without further ado, let’s take a moment of silence for the five products that Apple discontinued this year.
5. iMac (27-inch)
Originally introduced in October 2009, the 27-inch iMac was introduced alongside the 21.5-inch iMac as part of a major redesign with larger display sizes that replaced both the 20- and 24-inch models, respectively. The exterior of the iMac got even thinner with the elimination of the Super Drive in 2012, and Apple brought the Retina display to the iMac for the first time in 2014. Since the introduction of the M1 24-inch iMac in 2021, there had been speculation on whether Apple would introduce a larger 27-inch iMac with Apple Silicon, potentially a revival of the iMac Pro. However, followed by the introduction of Mac Studio, the 27-inch iMac with Intel was discontinued. Only the higher-end Mac mini and Mac Pro have remained in the lineup as two Macs that have yet to transition to Apple Silicon.
4. iPhone 12 mini
Originally introduced in October 2022, the iPhone 12 mini brought a compact-sized phone that has all of the flagship features/design as its bigger brothers for the very first time. However, sales of the 12 mini fell short of Apple’s expectations. Consequently, Apple shifted most of its production to its higher-end iPhone 12 Pro models. Apple had sold the iPhone 12 mini until this September when the company debuted the iPhone 14 lineup. So the only mini-sized iPhone that Apple sells is the iPhone 13 mini, which was introduced last year.
3. Apple TV HD
Originally introduced in September 2015, this generation of Apple TV marked the biggest step for Apple’s attempt into the TV industry by reimagining the TV experience with a more optimized operating system, tvOS, along with the dedicated App Store. However, it did receive a price hike over the previous generation, which sold for $69. Apple continued to sell this model after they introduced the more advanced Apple TV 4K, and whenever Apple introduced a redesign for the Siri Remote, newer shipments of this model would include the “newer” remote. However, the hardware specs had always remained the same. It was eventually discontinued in October of this year, followed by the Apple TV 4K (3rd generation), which brought a more advanced A15 chip as well as a price drop.
2. Apple Watch Series 3
Originally introduced in September 2017, it brought cellular connectivity for the first time to an Apple Watch. It was revolutionary for its time; however, as Apple introduced a major redesign of the Series 4 with several hardware improvements, the Series 3 was getting rather long in the tooth. Despite the cellular variant being discontinued when Apple introduced the lower-cost Apple Watch SE, Apple even continued to sell this model for a few more years. With watchOS 9 finally dropping support for the Series 3, Apple finally killed off that model when they introduced the Series 8 and Ultra. Apple should’ve prevented customers from buying the Series 3 if they knew that model would receive limited support.
1. iPod touch
Originally introduced in September 2007 with the last generation introduced in May 2019, the iPod touch had been known as the “iPhone without the phone”. In other words, it was the only iPod that could run iOS, but it didn’t include any cellular capabilities. The last 7th generation featured the A10 chip, which was capable enough to run iOS 13 back then with support for Group FaceTime and AR. However, as iPhones receive yearly hardware updates with more advanced processors, it doesn’t make sense anymore for most people to buy the iPod touch. On May 10, 2022, Apple issued an update that the iPod touch would be available while supplies last, marking the end of an era for the entire iPod line. The press release was considered a very important one since music has always been an important part of Apple, and the iPod was what reimagined the music industry. With the incredible music experience across all of Apple’s products, the spirit of the iPod lives on.
Conclusion
2022 saw several discontinuations across all of Apple’s product categories, but it marked the first time that Apple has streamlined every product with the latest technologies as Apple has been criticized for offering products that were outdated for some time, especially the Apple Watch Series 3. I’m actually going to let it slide for the Intel-based Macs since we’re in a middle of a transition, and some customers prefer an Intel-based Mac for their applications and/or native Windows support via Boot Camp. I can’t wait to see what Apple would announce in 2023, most likely the final Mac models to complete the transition to Apple Silicon as well as the long-rumored VR headset. Let us know what your favorite product is from 2022. The Appleosophy Team wants to wish you a happy New Year!
