ArchiveOriginally published 2012

Apple in 2012: Liquidmetal Rumours, iPhone 5 Prices, the iPad Mini and Apple Maps

2012 was a heavy year for Apple stories on this site: a rumour that the next iPhone would be cast from an amorphous metal alloy, the announcement of unlocked iPhone 5 prices, an analyst's claim that the iPad was the fastest-adopted consumer device in history, reports of iPad mini production in Brazil, and the replacement of Google Maps with Apple's own. Some of it happened. Here is the scorecard.

The Liquidmetal rumour

Apple had licensed an amorphous metal alloy technology, marketed as Liquidmetal, in 2010, and through 2012 rumours circulated that the next iPhone body would be cast from it: stronger than aluminium, scratch resistant, mouldable into complex shapes. This site reported the rumour with appropriate hedging. The iPhone 5 arrived in aluminium. The alloy's inventor said publicly that using it for a whole phone body was years of development away, and as far as is known Apple's only shipping use of the material was a small SIM card ejector tool. Apple later let the exclusive licence lapse. The lesson for readers of rumour coverage has not changed: a licensing deal is not a product plan.

Unlocked iPhone 5 prices

The iPhone 5 launched in September 2012 through carriers, and a few months later Apple began selling it unlocked in the United States at 649, 749 and 849 dollars for the 16, 32 and 64 GB models. This site posted the prices, which was useful information for readers outside the US or on smaller carriers who wanted a phone free of contract. The unlocked pricing structure, a flat premium over the subsidised price with no carrier lock, became Apple's standard and remains recognisable in its pricing today, adjusted for a decade of inflation and larger storage tiers.

The iPad as the fastest-adopted device

An analyst note in 2010, widely repeated through 2012, estimated that the iPad had reached its first million and then its first several million sales faster than any consumer electronics product before it, including DVD players and the original iPhone. This site reported the claim. It was an estimate, but the shipment numbers Apple reported over the following two years supported the broad picture: the iPad created the tablet market almost by itself and dominated it for years. The claim has since been overtaken by later products and by services, but for a device in a category that did not previously exist it remains remarkable.

iPad mini in Brazil

Reports in 2012 said the iPad mini would be manufactured exclusively in Brazil. The reality was narrower. Apple's main contract manufacturer had opened facilities in Brazil to assemble some products for the Brazilian market, where import taxes made locally assembled electronics far cheaper. Some iPads were assembled there for local sale. The bulk of production stayed in China, as it did for every Apple product of the period. The story is a good example of a real fact, local assembly, inflated into a false one, exclusive production.

Apple Maps

The most consequential 2012 story was the one that sounded like a rumour and turned out to be a plan: Apple would replace Google Maps as the default on the iPhone with its own mapping service. It shipped with iOS 6 in September 2012, and its launch was rough enough that the company's chief executive published an apology and recommended competitors' apps in the meantime. Melted-looking bridges and misplaced landmarks were shared widely. Over the following years Apple rebuilt the underlying data and the app improved steadily; by the late 2010s it was a competent alternative, and in many regions a good one. The episode is now a standard case study in the cost of replacing a mature service with a new one before it is ready.