Apple’s 3 biggest wins and 3 greatest failures of 2025

The tech industry has endured another turbulent year, buffeted by the continued rise of artificial intelligence and the economic threats posed by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Even the most prominent companies encountered challenges they never imagined they’d have to face. As 2025 comes to a close, here are Apple’s biggest wins and greatest failures of the year. Apple’s biggest wins of 2025 iPhone 17 series Without a doubt, Apple’s biggest win of 2025 is the iPhone 17 series , which includes the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Myriad reports suggest that iPhone 17 series sales have exceeded both Apple’s and investors’ expectations. Apple redesigned the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro this year, giving the former a much-improved display, a vastly better camera system, and longer battery life. The Pro versions got an all-new unibody design, the best cameras in an iPhone ever, and up to 39 hours of battery life. While these improvements are mainly iterative, they ticked the boxes that consumers care most about in their phones: camera and battery life. And those consumers have rewarded Apple for it. iPhone 17 sales have surged in the U.S. and, more importantly, in China , the world’s largest smartphone market after the USA. Apple’s iPhone sales were a key factor in the recovery of the company’s stock, after it got hammered earlier this year due to its possible exposure to Trump’s tariffs. Liquid Glass After the iPhone, Apple’s next most important product is iOS, the operating system that powers its handsets. This year, Apple made the rare move of completely revamping the look of that operating system with the introduction of the Liquid Glass design language in iOS 26. It was the first time the company had radically changed iOS’s look since 2013. While iOS 26’s Liquid Glass faced early criticism , as most visual overhauls do, Apple has continued to tweak the look and feel of the new design language. As a result, much of the online furor over the changes seems to have died down. More importantly, iOS 26’s new design gives Apple’s smartphone software a distinct look that immediately distinguishes it from Android. In the end, the software’s ability to mimic the way light bands and warps through glass has brought a level of fun and playfulness to Apple’s flagship product not seen since the days of Steve Jobs. Apple’s simplified branding The final big win for Apple in 2025 is not a product or feature, but a branding strategy. As Apple’s product lineup has grown in recent years, its product names have become confusing, particularly when it comes to software and services. But this year, Apple decided to simplify things . Previously, Apple’s operating systems were branded with different version numbers (iOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, etc). Now they’re named after the upcoming year: iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26. This streamlined naming structure makes it easy for users to determine whether their device...

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