MacFormat Presents The Top 20 Apple Products of the Last 20 Years

As you may already know from some of our previous posts, U.K.-based Apple magazine MacFormat is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, and has produced lots of interesting dual-decade-spanning coverage to go along with it. The latest gem, which MacFormat was kind enough to share with us, is a roundup of the The top 20 Apple products of the past 20 years.

It’s pretty amazing to think about how much Apple (and technology as a whole) has changed in two decades or so – for instance, The Mac Portable,  which was released in 1989 as the first “portable Mac” weighed in at a horrific 16 pounds – barely portable by any definition! Compare thta to today’s MacBook Air, which is practically as light as a pack of legal pads (and many, many times more powerful)! It also cost $6500 at retail – a far cry more than the MacBooks of today.

Here’s what MacFormat editor Christopher Phin had to say!

Apple is good at revolution, but it’s even better at evolution; this top 20 shows it at its best for both. The svelte, powerful MacBook Air is the ultimate refinement of the traditional laptop computer, while the original iPod changed not just how we listen to music but the music industry itself.

 I was surprised, personally, to see the Mac Pro so high up the chart – it’s a great machine, though niche – but it was terrific to see the original translucent iMac G3 just scrape into the top 20; this was the computer that, on Steve Jobs’ return to Apple, marked its renaissance into the innovative, perfectionist company that makes it such a delight – and such a commercial juggernaut – today.

Here’s the full list – over 7,000 votes were cast to determine what made the cut!

Top 20 Apple products of the last 20 years:

  1. MacBook Air
  2. iPhone 5
  3. Mac Pro
  4. iPad 4
  5. MacBook Pro 15-inch Retina
  6. iPhone 4S
  7. iPad mini
  8. Apple TV
  9. iPod Classic
  10. MacBook Pro 17-inch
  11. Original iPhone
  12. Original iPad
  13. iPad 3
  14. iPod touch
  15. iPhone 4
  16. MacBook Pro 15-inch
  17. iPad 2
  18. iMac (slim aluminium)
  19. Original iPod
  20. iMac G3

For more great content like this, check out MacFormat’s iPad edition at http://macformat.com/ipad – the issue with the top 20 feature is available to download immediately!

J. Glenn Künzler

Glenn is Managing Editor at MacTrast, and has been using a Mac since he bought his first MacBook Pro in 2006. He lives in a small town in Utah, enjoys bacon more than you can possibly imagine, and is severely addicted to pie.