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Over the last 50 years, Apple reimagined personal computers, catalyzed the era of the smartphone, enlarged an iPhone and called it the iPad and garnered a strong position in wearable tech through its Watch series and its AirPods. It also popularized software and services like its App Store, FaceTime, iCloud, iMessages and many more. For a lot of us, the first time we pinched-to-zoom on a photo was likely on an iPhone.
However, Apple gives and it takes away. Things have had to change, be removed and consumers have to move on to whatever's new. For better or worse, the weight of Apple's influence has led to entire product categories following suit. Or, more typically, there's resistance, complaining and then… following suit. With the benefit of hindsight, most of these cases are examples of Apple seeing where technology was going and getting ahead of a transition that would have been inevitable. Often, these transitions have caused short-term pain for some, but time has proven Apple (mostly) correct about dropping older tech.
As Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch once said: murder your darlings. Here are some of the darlings we've lost over the years.
The death of the disk drive (1998)
This is a two-parter. The iMac G3 marked Steve Jobs' return. The colorful all-in-one Mac was a new start in many ways. In 1998, Apple ditched the standard ports and myriad cable types of personal computers, going all in
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 Meta is testing a new subscription service for Instagram that offers users "exclusive" features like the ability to post Stories for longer than 24 hours. Screenshots promoting "Instagram Plus" have been spotted by users in the Philippines and Mexico in recent days.
According to screenshots shared by social media consultant Matt Navarra, a subscription to Instagram Plus comes with a number of Story-focused features not otherwise available to Instagram users. This includes the ability to create multiple "audiences" for Stories posts, see info about who has rewatched your Story, search the list of people who have viewed your Story, preview Stories posts, extend Stories longer than 24 hours and create "spotlight" Stories. It also mentions something called "super hearts" for reacting to Stories.
A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the test to Engadget, saying that Instagram Plus is currently available in "a few countries," but didn't say which. A dedicated help page on Meta's website says that this feature is not available to everyone right now." The spokesperson confirmed the feature list shown below, and added that "preview" would allow people to see some of another user's Story without "showing up as a viewer" and that Stories posts could be extended for an additional 24 hours. "Our hope from these tests is to understand what's most valuable to people in a premium feature set," the spokesperson said.
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 Apple accidentally started rolling out Apple Intelligence features in China before receiving regulatory approval, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
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 Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone.
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A jury in New Mexico has found Meta liable for violating the state's consumer protection laws in a high-profile civil trial over child exploitation and other safety issues. One day after closing arguments in the weeks-long trial concluded, the jury ruled against Meta on every count and ordered the company to pay $375 million.
The case was brought by New Mexico's attorney general in 2023 and centered around allegations that Meta knew its platform put children at risk of exploitation and mental health harms and failed to put safety measures in place. In the end, the jury ruled that Meta was liable for both counts of violating New Mexico's consumer protection laws for misleading people in the state about the safety of its services. It imposed a penalty of $375 million, the maximum amount under the law based on the number of violations.
During the trial, jurors were shown numerous internal documents throughout Meta's history. These included the results of research into mental health issues facing teens, and email exchanges in which Meta executives discussed safety problems like sextortion, self harm content and grooming. Prosecutors argued that these documents showed Meta knew children were experiencing harms on its apps, despite public statements that it prioritized safety.
In a statement, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the company would appeal the verdict. "We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content," he said. "We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain con
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