This year has undoubtedly been marked by the happy pandemic, which to a greater or lesser extent, has affected all the inhabitants of the planet. And evidently Apple has not escaped suffering the effects caused by the virus, starting the year with the closure of the plants of suppliers in China, and increasing the problems as the virus spread throughout the rest of the world.
Store closures for months, telecommuting, and the inability to travel between countries have greatly impaired work at the company. But Apple's machinery is too big to stop, and many are the new devices we've seen this year ending today. Let's see a summary.
Despite all the setbacks that Apple has suffered this year due to the happy pandemic of the COVID-19, there have been many devices that have been presented in these twelve months. Without a doubt, the launch of the first Apple Silicon takes the cake, but we must not forget many other devices that have seen the light this year that ends today. Let's look at a chronological summary.
January and February
The first two months of this year passed without any launch by Apple. Only the Mac Pro Apple with its criticized "cheese grater" box priced at almost 7.000 Euros which was launched on January 14.
March
In this month of March, the company did start its activity with the introduction of a few new devices and accessories. Apple introduced a new MacBook Air still with Intel technology, two new iPad Pro models, and the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro.
The new MacBook Air introduced in March featured a new scissor-action keyboard, a 100 Euro price drop, and improved internal specifications. While it would later be replaced by the first MacBook Air M1, it represented a notable revision at the time.
New models of 11 and 12,9-inch iPad Pro with an A12Z processor and a LiDAR scanner on the back. The company also introduced the Magic Keyboard, bringing a trackpad to the iPad Pro experience for the first time.
April
After a frenzied March, in April the new iPhone SE. Following a lot of buzz about the new low-end iPhone, it was announced on April 15, with pre-orders starting on April 17, with deliveries beginning on April 24.
The new iPhone SE has a 4,7-inch screen (like the iPhone 8 it replaces) that is smaller than the rest of the iPhone flagship line. Includes processor A13 Bionic inside, just like the iPhone 11 series. A small terminal with great performance.
May
This month Apple continued to update its line of Macs with an update to the MacBook Pro. On May 4, Apple released the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the same scissor keyboard that arrived on the MacBook Air in March. This officially marked the end of the era of the butterfly keyboard on MacBooks.
Addition Magic Keyboard, the 13-inch MacBook Pro was also made more powerful thanks to the XNUMXth generation Intel processors inside, along with more RAM in the standard continuation and other settings. Those who bought these laptops, did not yet know what Apple was going to present a few days later.
June
Craig Federighi went down to the basement of Apple Park and showed us at WWDC what had been going on in a top secret way for a long time. As usual, June was a busy month for Apple as it held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, this time completely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Software was the focus of WWDC 2020, with Apple introducing iOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14.
But also at WWDC, Apple officially confirmed its plans to transition from Intel Macs to its own processors. Apple silicon. While the first Apple Silicon Macs for consumers were not released until November, Apple released a version of the Mac mini for developers with the A12Z processor. A complete revolution, without a doubt.
July
July was a very quiet month for Apple. It basically focused on polishing all the bugs reported by the developers after the June launch of all the betas of all the new firmwares of the company.
August
During the holidays Apple unveiled a new line of iMac on August 4, adding new Intel processors, SSD storage by default, and a new matte nano-texture screen option. The most obvious changes were made to the 27-inch model. A somewhat strange update, since the company had already introduced the new era of Apple Silicon with ARM processors, and these new iMacs still mounted Intel.
September
Apple held the first of three virtual events of the year on September 15, focusing on two product categories: Apple Watch and the iPad. Apple had two new Apple Watch models to introduce, the high-end Apple Watch Series 6 and the mid-range Apple Watch SE.
For the iPad lineup, Apple introduced a new eighth-generation iPad powered by the A12 processor. More novel was the new iPad Air with Touch ID on the power button, an iPad Pro-inspired design, and Magic Keyboard support, though it wasn't released until October.
October
The company took a liking to virtual events and the second was for new ones iPhone 12. Apple unveiled four new iPhone 12 models with a totally new design, 5G connectivity, an A14 Bionic processor, and many more new features. Apple also announced the new MagSafe accessories for the iPhone 12 series in that same recorded keynote, along with the HomePod mini, though it wouldn't be released until November.
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro were released on Friday, October 23, as was the iPad Air that Apple announced in September. Apple also launched another novelty: its Apple One service package, on October 30.
November
Finally, in November, attention turned to a new event (the third and last of this year). The main announcement during the November 10 event was the M1 processor, Apple's first ARM processor for computers. Apple announced a trio of new Macs already with an M1 processor: the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini.
November also marked the launch of the two remaining iPhone 12 models: the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Both were announced in October and put on the street on November 13. The home pod mini it was also released in November.
December
After a busy September, October and November, it seemed that all the fish sold at the Cupertino fish market was already there, but no. Apple still had something to teach before Christmas. Some brand new (and expensive) headphones: the AirPods Max. They were presented and put on sale on December 8. The company also debuted its Apple Fitness + subscription service on December 14.
Summary of the year
Despite the known problems on all fronts because of the happy pandemic, 2020 has been a very busy year for Apple. The company not only released its traditional iPhone updates, new hardware for the Apple Watch, and new hardware for the iPad, but it also embarked on a massive Macs transition with the first computers of the new era Apple Silicon.
Looking ahead to 2021, we expect Apple to continue the path started with the Apple silicon. In addition, the first indications are that we will get a new update of the iPad Pro in the first quarter of 2021 with mini LED screen technology. The Apple Park wheel keeps turning….