Apple’s product graveyard

Apple has shelved a huge number of products over the years. Alex Blake remembers the most notable, and why they got canned

T hese days, Apple is known as a perennial winner, the company with the golden touch, but it wasn’t always

so. The firm that made the iPhone and the iMac also made iTunes Ping and the infamous ‘hockey puck’ mouse.

Yes, Apple has made its fair share of stinkers down the years, products that no one wanted or simply didn’t work. From the Newton to the Pippin, Apple doesn’t always get it spot on, and it certainly isn’t shy about giving something the boot if it’s not meeting its lofty expectations.

Of course, there are also many highly popular Apple products that are no longer with us today – even being a successful product loved by many may not be enough to save you from being phased out at Apple. From the iBook to iWeb and the iPod to the eMac, good sales figures and loyal fan bases couldn’t keep these products on the Apple Store shelves indefinitely.

Despite its successes, even Apple isn’t immune to market pressures, failed launches and low demand. If a product’s time has come and gone, it’s inevitably taken out to pasture by the bigwigs at the top.

So let us take you on a trip down memory lane to revisit some of the more interesting Apple products, launches and ideas that have been shown the door over the course of the company’s storied history.