Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California. Apple is the world's largest technology company by revenue, with US$394.3 billion in 2022 revenue. As of March 2023, Apple is the world's biggest company by market capitalization. As of June 2022, Apple is the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. It is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft.
The Apple community is a group of people interested in Apple Inc. and its products, who report information in various media. Generally this has evolved into a proliferation of websites, but latterly has also expanded into podcasts, either speculating on rumors about future product releases, simply report Apple-related news stories, or have discussions about Apple's products and how to use them.
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its second generation model, it is an HDMI-compliant source device and can only be connected to an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen television through HDMI to function.
iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes the system software for iPads as well as on the iPod Touch devices. It is the world's second-most widely installed mobile operating system, after Android. It is the basis for three other operating systems made by Apple: iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. It is proprietary software, although some parts of it are open source under the Apple Public Source License and other licenses.
iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and was first released as iPhone OS in June 2007, coinciding with the launch of the first generation iPhone. iPhone OS was renamed iOS following the release of the iPad, starting with iOS 4. With iOS 13, Apple began offering a separate operating system, iPadOS, for the iPad. iOS is also the foundation of the newer audioOS and tvOS, and shares some of its code with macOS. New iOS versions are released every year alongside new iPhone models. From its launch in 2007 until 2010, this occurred in June or July, since then, new major versions are released in September or October. Since the launch of the iPhone in June 2007, there have been 16 major releases of iOS. The current major version of iOS is iOS 16, released in September 2022.
Siri is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, audioOS, and visionOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Internet services. With continued use, it adapts to users' individual language usages, searches, and preferences, returning individualized results.
Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. They are the basis of Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTag, HomePod, and Apple Vision Pro devices.
Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector created and designed by Apple Inc. and introduced on September 12, 2012, in conjunction with the iPhone 5, to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector. The Lightning connector is used to connect Apple mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, and iPods to host computers, external monitors, cameras, USB battery chargers, and other peripherals. Using 8 pins instead of 30, Lightning is much smaller than its predecessor. The Lightning plug is symmetrical and therefore is reversible. The plug is indented on each side to match up with corresponding points inside the receptacle to retain the connection.
The iPad Pro is a premium model of Apple's iPad tablet computer. It runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized version of the iOS operating system.
tvOS is an operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the Apple TV, a digital media player. In the first-generation Apple TV, Apple TV Software was based on Mac OS X. Starting with the second-generation, it is based on the iOS operating system and has many similar frameworks, technologies, and concepts.
audioOS is an operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its smart speakers, the HomePod and HomePod Mini. It was launched alongside the release of the original HomePod, released on February 9, 2018.
iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, iOS 12 was released to the public on September 17, 2018. It was succeeded for the iPhone and iPod Touch by iOS 13 on September 19, 2019 and for the iPad by iPadOS 13 on September 24, 2019. Security updates for iOS 12 continued for four years following the release of iOS 13 for devices unable to run the newer operating system. The last update, 12.5.7, was released on January 23, 2023.
iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone, iPod Touch and HomePod lines. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 3, 2019, and released on September 19, 2019. It was succeeded by iOS 14, released on September 16, 2020.
AirTag is a tracking device developed by Apple. AirTag is designed to act as a key finder, which helps people find personal objects. To locate lost items, AirTags use Apple's crowdsourced Find My network, estimated in early 2021 to consist of approximately one billion devices worldwide that detect and anonymously report emitted Bluetooth signals. AirTags are compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch device capable of running iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later, including iPhone 6S or later. Using the built-in U1 chip on iPhone 11 or later, users can more precisely locate items using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. AirTag was announced on April 20, 2021, made available for pre-order on April 23, and released on April 30.
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the fourteenth-generation, "affordable flagship" iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 11. They were unveiled at a virtually held Apple Special Event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California on October 13, 2020, alongside the "premium flagship" iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max and HomePod Mini. Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 started on October 16, 2020, and the phone was released in most countries on October 23, 2020 alongside the iPhone 12 Pro and fourth-generation iPad Air. Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Mini began on November 6, 2020, and the phone was released on November 13, 2020, alongside the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
MagSafe is a proprietary, magnetically attached wireless power transfer and accessory-attachment standard developed by Apple Inc. for its iPhone and AirPods product lines. It was announced on 13 October 2020, in conjunction with the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro series. It provides up to 15 W of power and is compatible with the open Qi standard for up to 7.5 W of power. The connector also enables connecting non-charger accessories such as card holders and cases with communication through an integrated NFC loop. The charger uses a circle of rare earth magnets.
The fifth-generation iPad Pro, colloquially known as the M1iPad Pro, is a line of iPad tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Announced on April 20, 2021, it was available with the same screen size options as its predecessor: 11-inch (28 cm) and 12.9-inch (33 cm). Preorders began on April 30, 2021, and the product was released worldwide on May 21, 2021. It comes in two colors: Silver and Space Gray.
The iPhone's hardware is designed by Apple Inc. Apple directly sub-contracts hardware production to external OEM companies, maintaining a high degree of control over the end product.
The sixth-generation iPad Pro, colloquially known as the M2iPad Pro, is a line of iPad tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on October 18, 2022 and was released on October 26, 2022. It is available with the same screen size options as its predecessor: 11-inch and 12.9-inch.
