Replacing the “squat” design of the Generation 3, the iPod nano Generation 4 (model A1285) returned to a “skinny” design similar to its predecessors. The new wraparound curved aluminum and glass case was offered in an unprecedented nine colors: silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. The display was a wide-format 2-inch (diagonal) color LCD display at 320×240.
The iPod nano Generation 4 used Click Wheel navigation and had either 8 GB or 16 GB of flash memory, capable of storing 2000 or 4000 songs, 7000 or 14,000 photos, and 8 hours or 16 hours of video.
Apple indicated that “You can distinguish the iPod nano (4th generation) from previous iPod nano models by:”
Its taller screen
Its curved surface
Its oval shape when seen from the top or bottom
The inclusion of an accelerometer that is used by the Shake feature.”
The iPod nano Generation 4 included an accelerometer (automatically switched to “Cover Flow” navigation in landscape orientation), games and videos only played in landscape, a new Genius feature to dynamically create playlists, and shake-to-shuffle for songs. Accessibility options were added including larger text and spoken menu items. It also included Nike+iPod support, FM radio tagging (using the Apple Radio Remote), support for audio crossfade, and games including Maze, Klondike, and Vortex.
Replacing the “squat” design of the Generation 3, the iPod nano Generation 4 (model A1285) returned to a “skinny” design similar to its predecessors. The new wraparound curved aluminum and glass case was offered in an unprecedented nine colors: silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. The display was a wide-format 2-inch (diagonal) color LCD display at 320×240.
The iPod nano Generation 4 used Click Wheel navigation and had either 8 GB or 16 GB of flash memory, capable of storing 2000 or 4000 songs, 7000 or 14,000 photos, and 8 hours or 16 hours of video.
Apple indicated that “You can distinguish the iPod nano (4th generation) from previous iPod nano models by:”
Its taller screen
Its curved surface
Its oval shape when seen from the top or bottom
The inclusion of an accelerometer that is used by the Shake feature
The iPod nano Generation 4 included an accelerometer (automatically switched to “Cover Flow” navigation in landscape orientation), games and videos only played in landscape, a new Genius feature to dynamically create playlists, and shake-to-shuffle for songs. Accessibility options were added including larger text and spoken menu items. It also included Nike+iPod support, FM radio tagging (using the Apple Radio Remote), support for audio crossfade, and games including Maze, Klondike, and Vortex.
This translucent gray pen is reminiscent of Apple’s “graphite” color first used in the iMac DV SE in Summer 2000. It features a white Apple logo at the top of the barrel.
The pen has silver aluminum accents and features a clip.
The Apple Watch Series 8 is similar to the previous Series 7 model, but has a few more features including temperature sensors for health monitoring, a new Crash Detection feature, and a new Low Power Mode. Apple’s press release touts:
“Apple Watch Series 8 features the beloved design of Apple Watch, including a large, Always-On Retina display and a strong crack-resistant front crystal. With all-day 18-hour battery life, Apple Watch Series 8 builds on best-in-class health and safety features like the ECG app and fall detection by introducing temperature-sensing capabilities, retrospective ovulation estimates, Crash Detection, and international roaming.”
Like all previous Apple Watch models, the Series 8 uses a Digital Crown and a touch display. The 45mm size uses a 396×484 “Always-On” Retina OLED screen with Ion-X glass (the same size introduced with the previous Series 7).
The aluminum GPS models were available in four colors: Silver; Midnight (dark gray, almost black); Starlight (warm silver); and (PRODUCT)RED. Three Stainless Steel colors were available: Gold, Silver, and Graphite. All colors were available in 41mm and 45mm.
Two Stainless Steel Series 8 Apple Watch Hermès models were available in Silver and Space Black; thus, Space Black Stainless Steel was exclusive to the Hermès Series 8.
No Series 8 Apple Watch Edition models were offered. (Apple Watch Edition Series 7 models were offered in titanium and space black titanium.)
During the release of the Apple Watch Series 8 and iPhone 14, an extended demo of the Crash Detection was presented. Apple describes the feature:
“To enable Crash Detection, Apple developed an advanced sensor-fusion algorithm that leverages a new, more powerful gyroscope and accelerometer on Apple Watch… To create the algorithm, data was collected from these new motion sensors at professional crash test labs with common passenger cars in simulated real-world accidents, including head-on, rear-end, side-impact, and rollovers. In addition to motion data, Crash Detection uses the barometer, GPS, and the microphone on iPhone as inputs to detect the unique patterns that can indicate whether a severe crash has taken place.”
Soon after the the release of Crash Detection, media began reporting incidents of false positive reports. 9to5Mac reported that “even though Apple uses all-new hardware, an advanced algorithm, and over a million hours of crash data, false positives are still possible… roller coasters have been causing a number of erroneous automatic 911 calls by tricking Apple’s Crash Detection.” The Verge reported, “Apple’s iPhones and watches contain sensors and safeguards designed to trigger Crash Detection only in a true emergency. But skiers and snowmobilers are unknowingly setting it off.”
The release of Apple Watch Series 8 coincided with the release of watchOS 9. Among other features, for the first time, watchOS 9 allowed all Apple Watch users to access previously exclusive Nike watch faces: “Starting this fall, any Apple Watch user running watchOS 9 — even those without a Nike model — will be able to access all the Nike watch faces, including the fresh colors coming to the Bounce face.”
This Starlight Aluminum 45mm model shipped with a Starlight Sport Band. It is shown here with a Pistachio Braided Solo Loop band.
Apple announced their AirPods Max over-ear headphones on December 8, 2020, and they shipped one week later on December 15. The original press release touted:
“AirPods Max feature incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio”
The headphones featured a brand new design and included the Digital Crown from the Apple Watch as the primary control interface. Materials included a “breathable knit mesh canopy” that spanned the headband to reduce pressure on the head while wearing the headphones for extended periods. The headband frame was made from stainless steel and telescoped to allow a custom fit. The ear cushions were made from a “custom-designed mesh textile [that] wraps the ear cushions to provide pillow-like softness while listening.” The outer ear cup was aluminum in a rectangular shape with rounded corners (as opposed to a round or oval design seen on other over-the-ear headphone designs).
The audio technology included “H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio.” The battery on AirPods Max was advertised at 20 hours.
AirPods Max headphones were available in five colors: space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink. The colors consistently referred to the color of the outer ear cup of the AirPods Max—since each color option used a different combination of accent colors. Space gray used space gray outer ear cups with black ear cushions and headband. Silver used silver outer ear cups with white ear cushions and headband. Sky blue used light blue outer ear cups with light blue ear cushions and a dark blue headband. Green used light green outer ear cups with light green ear cushions and a pale green (white tinted with green) headband. Pink used pale pink (similar to Apple’s rose gold) outer ear cups with dark pink ear cushions and a red headband.
AirPods Max Ear Cushions were also sold separately by Apple as replacements—or to allow users to customize their headphone style. By mixing and matching the Ear Cushions, 25 color combinations were possible, or 125 combinations if two different ear cushion colors were used.
The AirPods Max shipped with an arguably unusual case design that provided little protection, but allowed the headphones to go into “an ultralow power state that helps to preserve battery charge when not in use.” The case was frequently maligned by critics.
When AirPods Max were released, they were almost universally praised for their superior sound quality and noise-cancelling features, but panned for their high price of $549. The primary technical issue shared by some reviewers was the tendency for AirPods Max to “form condensation under the earcups and the water that is formed gets inside the drivers causing ear detection problems.”
Apple’s Wireless Keyboard, Generation 3, was released in October 2009 and was a slight revision to the Generation 2 version. The Generation 3 version used only two AA batteries (instead of three) and became Apple’s new standard, shipping with iMac computers released the same day.
Like its Generation 2 predecessor, this keyboard was thin and had an aluminum enclosure with thin white keys, similar to the laptops of the time. In addition, functions were added to the function keys such as media controls. Its round power button was found on the right side of the keyboard—opposite the cylindrical battery enclosure. It connected via Bluetooth.
This keyboard style was updated one more time to a Generation 4 version when Mac OS X Lion (10.7) was released. The Generation 4 version updated two function keys: the Exposé key was changed to a Mission Control key, and the Dashboard key changed to a Launchpad key.
This keyboard design was replaced entirely on October 13, 2015, with the Apple Magic Keyboard.
Apple’s Magic Trackpad was made of glass and aluminum and was announced on July 27, 2010. It used a matching design and angle to the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and the two devices could sit side by side and function well together. The Magic Trackpad release corresponded to an update of the iMac line of desktop computers and could be ordered along with a new iMac as a Mouse replacement.
Apple described the Magic Trackpad:
“The Magic Trackpad brings the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures of Mac notebook trackpads to the desktop. With its glass surface, the wireless Magic Trackpad enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with their fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of web pages or photos. The Magic Trackpad can be configured to support single button or two button commands and supports tap-to-click as well as a physical click.”
The Magic Trackpad used a Bluetooth connection and was powered by two AA batteries.
This version of the Magic Trackpad was replaced with the Magic Trackpad 2, released on October 13, 2015.
The iPod nano Generation 6 was a major design change from previous iPod nano models. This iPod nano came in silver, graphite, blue, green, orange, pink, and (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. Its design was a square aluminum and glass case with a clip on the back. It used a 1.54-inch Multitouch screen at 240×240 pixels.
Although its interface looks similar to iOS, the iPod nano Generation 6 cannot run iOS applications or games compatible with previous iPod models. Its features include a pedometer, FM radio with live pause, Nike+iPod functions, VoiceOver, and Shake to Shuffle.
This example is graphite—a shade of gray that was darker than silver.
Notably, some third-party manufacturers, such as Belkin, offered a watch band accessory for this iPod nano that took advantage of its built-in watch face app and the device’s clip. Using this accessory, the iPod nano Generation 6 could be worn on the wrist like a watch.
As the manual for this Mac Pro states, “This is no floor model. Go ahead and keep it right on your desk.” This Mac Pro was a radical design departure from all previous Mac Pro—and other Apple desktop models with its cylindrical design. According to an Apple press release:
“Designed around an innovative unified thermal core, the all-new Mac Pro packs unprecedented performance into an aluminum enclosure that is just 9.9-inches tall and one-eighth the volume of the previous generation. Mac Pro features 4-core, 6-core, 8-core or 12-core Intel Xeon processors running at Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz and two workstation-class AMD FirePro GPUs that deliver up to eight times the graphics performance of the previous generation Mac Pro.* PCIe-based flash storage delivers sequential read speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional desktop hard drives, and ECC DDR3 gives the new Mac Pro up to 60GBps of memory bandwidth for seamlessly editing full-resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the background. With an incredible six Thunderbolt 2 ports, each with up to 20Gbps of bandwidth per device, the new Mac Pro completely redefines desktop expandability with support for up to 36 high-performance peripherals, including the latest 4K displays.”
As is often the case with unique designs, this Mac Pro is sometimes unfortunately referred to as the “trash can” Mac. I have included a couple of tongue-in-cheek photos in reference to this moniker.
Apple announced their AirPods Max over-ear headphones on December 8, 2020, and they shipped one week later on December 15. The original press release touted:
“AirPods Max feature incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio”
The headphones featured a brand new design and included the Digital Crown from the Apple Watch as the primary control interface. Materials included a “breathable knit mesh canopy” that spanned the entire headband that was meant to reduce pressure on the head while wearing the headphones for extended periods. The headband frame was made from stainless steel and telescoped to allow a custom fit. The ear cushions were made from a “custom-designed mesh textile [that] wraps the ear cushions to provide pillow-like softness while listening.” The outer ear cup was aluminum in a rectangular shape with steeply rounded corners (as opposed to a round or oval design seen on other over-the-ear headphone designs).
The audio technology included “H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio.” The battery on AirPods Max was advertised at 20 hours.
AirPods Max headphones were available in five colors: space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink. The colors consistently referred to the color of the outer ear cup of the AirPods Max, since each color option used a different combination of accent colors. Space gray used space gray outer ear cups with black ear cushions and headband. Silver used silver outer ear cups with white ear cushions and headband. Sky blue used light blue outer ear cups with light blue ear cushions and a dark blue headband. Green used light green outer ear cups with light green ear cushions and a pale green (white tinted with green) headband. Pink used pale pink (similar to Apple’s Rose Gold) outer ear cups with dark pink ear cushions and a red headband.
AirPods Max Ear Cushions were also sold separately by Apple as replacements or to allow users to customize their headphone style. By mixing and matching the Ear Cushions, 25 color combinations were possible—or 125 combinations if two different ear cushion colors were used.
The AirPods Max shipped with an arguably unusual case design that provided little protection, but allowed the headphones to go into “an ultralow power state that helps to preserve battery charge when not in use.”
When AirPods Max were released, they were almost universally praised for their superior sound quality and noise-cancelling features, but panned for their high price of $549. The primary technical issue shared by some reviewers was the tendency for AirPods Max to “form condensation under the earcups and the water that is formed gets inside the drivers causing ear detection problems.”
