This digest compiles the latest from Apple Insider.
Today’s Apple Insider Roundup
Mac mini, the little Mac that could, is 21 years old
It’s once again a fan favorite with its new M4 version, but 21 years after Steve Jobs launched the Mac mini, it has had an extraordinary life of rave reviews — and criticism.
Steve Jobs introduced the Mac mini with the explicit aim of attracting Windows switchers. Yet it never quite seemed to do what Apple wanted, and instead became a cult favorite Mac, even when the company has tried to forget about it.
Jobs unveiled the Mac mini on January 10, 2005. Apple didn’t issue a press release until the following day, though, and the Mac mini itself didn’t ship until January 22.
Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone on January 9, 2007
On January 9, 2007, in the shadow of the CES, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone. You know that it was an extraordinary and flawless demo from the outside, but what you don’t remember is everything else that was launched — nor how part of the keynote went wrong.
Context is everything. Just before the iPhone launch, on Sunday, January 7, 2007, Bill Gates gave the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Hammering home Microsoft’s then buzz phrase of the ‘Digital Decade,’ he talked about how great hardware wasn’t enough, that we needed connected experiences. “Where people are being productive, doing new creative things, where they’re mobile… that is the key element that is missing.”
The MacBook Pro is 20 years old, today
In one moment on January 10, 2006, Steve Jobs said Apple was through with the hit PowerBooks. So, instead, he unveiled the first MacBook Pro with Intel inside.
It’s now 19 years since he did that, which means we’ve had the MacBook Pro for longer than Apple’s original laptops. And where the MacBook Pro was then introduced during the changeover from PowerPC to Intel processors, it would later become a key part of the change from Intel to Apple Silicon.
“It’s because we’re kind of done with ‘power’,” said Jobs on stage at Macworld, “and because we want Mac in the name of our products.”
iPhone Fold: What it could look like, how much it will cost, and when it will launch
The iPhone Fold is expected to finally arrive later in 2026, and will be a major departure from the usual. Here’s what to expect from Apple’s take on a foldable smartphone.
The iPhone Fold is a long-awaited device that has frequently been the subject of rumors and speculation. With rival smartphone producers going to market with their own versions, there has been an increased expectation that Apple will eventually do the same.
That expectation, along with the passage of time, also means the Apple rumor mill has a lot to say about the unannounced but anticipated product.
End of today’s Apple Insider roundup.
