A Look Back at the iRevolution: 10 Important Product Releases in Apple History

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Year Released: 1998

The beginning of the exhaustive line of branded iProduct that Apple put on the market, the iMac G3 was the first iteration in a range of all-in-one computers that later became to be known as the iMac. Important in both Apple's history and as a piece of hardware, the release of the iMac 3G brought Apple out of near-financial ruin, setting the standard for the quality of their products for years to come by abandoning the then-standard floppy disk in favor of emerging USB technology.

Year Released: 2001

Released in 2001, just a little under a year after iTunes dropped on Macintosh computers, the first generation iPod was an expensive investment, and was only compatible with other Mac hardware. As a result, sales were quite low on the device, as other MP3 players dominated the market at that point. Still, the first-gen iPod opened the floodgates for just what a portable media device was capable of at the time, as the emerging portable MP3 player became a critical and commercial success for the company in 2004.

Year Released: 2004

One of the more short-lived creations in Apple's iProduct line, the iPod Mini was first released in 2004, and was discontinued in early 2004 in place of the iPod Nano. Even so, the iPod Mini represents an important step for Apple, as the clickwheel technology used in the iPod Mini is still being used in current generation iPods.

Year Released: 2005

The successor to the iPod Mini, the iPod Shuffle emphasized the smallness of its size, being the first brand of iPod that could fit into the pocket of a user. With 14 hours of battery and a 4GB storage, the iPod Shuffle showed that size truly doesn't matter, it's the hardware around it that counts. This model is also still being supported by Apple, with the latest release of the 7th generation iPod Nano in 2012.

Year Released: 2005

Hot on the heels of the iPod Mini, the iPond Nano came on the scene in 2005 with a reckoning force, ousting its predecessor in a unceremonious fashion. With a flash based memory and compatibility with Windows devices, the iPod Nano was the first Apple portable media player to connect with non-Mac using audiences and has continued to receive support and updates as of 2012.

Year Released: 2007

Critics have called it the "iPhone without the phone," but the iPod Touch is much more than a cheap knock off. Released co-currently with the iPhone in 2007, the iPod Touch is a media powerhouse, and currently comes in 32GB or 64GB packages, and eschews many of the phone-based apps of the iPhone for more of a focus on media playing and management.

Year Released: 2007

The grandmaster of all iDevices, the iPhone has revolutionized the cell phone market, and has truly set the standard for what is expected in a modern smartphone in 2013. In 2007, the original version was a shell of what we expect today from later models, but with over 250 million iPhones sold across all generations, the original iPhone was a true precedent for great things to come.

Year Released: 2008

The current Intel-based iMac is a powerhouse of a computer, and is used as a standard in editing and photography suites worldwide. Additionally, constant support and updates for the Intel-based iMac have shown constant improvement, as the device currently comes standard with Nvidia video cards, USB 3.0 ports, and for the first time, a Fusion Drive, which combines the quickness of a solid state drive and the efficiency of a hard disk drive to create faster and more efficient memory storage.

Year Released: 2011

The first model of the iPhone to feature the modern iteration of Siri, the one-stop-shop for all your search and lonely conversational needs, the iPhone 4S marked an important milestone in Apple's mobile hardware. With over one million models sold within the first day of release in 2011, the iPhone 4S allowed Apple to take over as the largest mobile device vendor in the world by revenue, overtaking the former reigning champion, Nokia.

Year Released: 2012

The latest in iPhone technologies, the iPhone 5 marks a significant upgrade from the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Released in 2012, the iPhone 5 has a 4-inch display, up .5 inches from its predecessors' 3.5 inch screen. Additionally, its processor is 22 percent smaller while delivering twice the speed, doubling performance over the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and is also thinner, marking a significant development in portability, speed, and efficiency.