But for all its triumphs, Apple flaws were prominently on display in 2010, which really shouldn't be all that surprising. As Apple CEO Steve Jobs said earlier this year, "." Here's a look at some of Apple's most notable human blunders from 2010.
The Lost iPhone
An Apple engineer set off a firestorm when he lost his iPhone 4 test unit in a Redwood City, California bar in March. The phone eventually found its way into the hands of gadget blog Gizmodo resulting in a about the device including a detailed teardown. The fallout from the lost iPhone debacle read like something out of a tabloid magazine with news of a , a , and a mysterious hit squad sent to . In the end, Apple got its iPhone back, but don't expect to be seeing Gizmodo attending Apple press events any time soon.
Antennagate
Shortly after the iPhone 4 launch in late June, users started reporting when they held the iPhone in a way that covered the lower half of the handset.
At first Apple tried to , but the firestorm over iPhone 4 performance continued and even a few were filed.
The iPhone 4 antenna debacle reached a turning point when Consumer Reports announced it . Two days later , prompting to discuss the issue.
To quell user complaints Apple announced it would offer to all iPhone 4 owners who requested one until September at an to Apple.
The free bumper case program is now over, and the furor of the has passed. But Apple continues to sell lots of iPhones despite the antenna debate. Apple announced in October it had sold more than 14 million iPhones worldwide between July and September, a 91 percent increase compared to the same time last year.
White iPhone
During the iPhone 4 launch Apple announced it would be selling a white model alongside its traditional black version. But the white iPhone wasn't ready in time for launch and was . Apple cited manufacturing problems as the cause of the delay.
July came and went, but the white iPhone never materialized on store shelves, and users began to pine for the elusive device. White iPhones were later and in the hands of British . The white iPhone 4 became so desirable that a popped up. A teenager in Queens, NY got into trouble for selling out of his parent's home after it was discovered he was making $130,000 off his home-based business, according to .
Now the white iPhone 4 is said to be , but many wonder if Apple won't scrap the white iPhone 4 altogether and try again with a white iPhone 5 next summer.
AirPrint
When Apple released the beta version of AirPrint, a feature in iOS 4.2, the company said it would enable users to print from the iPad or iPhone to any network printer. The AirPrint feature would be able to send a print job to an AirPrint-compatible printer or to non-compatible printers through a Mac or PC.
At the time, Apple told PC World there would be "."
But shortly before iOS 4.2's release in November, Apple quietly . The company also scrubbed most of its Website of any mention of shared printer support, and didn't release a statement about why it had decided to pull the AirPrint feature. Some developers said shared printer support worked perfectly, and were surprised to see it pulled from iOS 4.2. The reasoning behind the fate of remains a mystery.
iPhone 3G vs. iOS 4
Apple's iOS 4 update wreaked havoc on unsuspecting iPhone 3G users in August. Shortly after the new iPhone OS came out, people using the second generation iPhone complained of . Apple's was 118 pages long at the time of this writing.
For the most part, the update to iOS 4.2 has solved the iPhone 3G's problems. In fact, iOS 4.2 may have even , although there are still complaints coming in.
The most recent comment on Apple's support forum, left on Tuesday by a user named powerstack, complained that his phone was now slower than a "." When he took his phone into an Apple Store to seek help, Powerstack claims an Apple Store employee suggested buying "an Android phone." The iPhone 3G on iOS 4 problems also inspired this parody video.
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There were other woes for Apple in 2010 including the sloppy iPhone 4 launch, the debate over the iPad's and the . Next year promises to bring a , a next-generation iPhone by the summer, and a rumored to launch in January. With so much Apple-related stuff set to launch in 2011, next year promises to be another 12 months of triumph and tragedy for Apple.
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