People keep saying this, but it is absolutely not true.

Apple was first to the personal computer. First to the smartphone. First to the tablet. First to wireless earbuds. The vast majority of the company's revenue comes from segments where they had a multi-year head start over their competitors.

In fact products where they play catch up are more prone to failing (Vision Pro, Airpods Max, Homepod, Maps, MobileMe, Ping, Music Connect, AirPower, Airport).

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stavros 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

I don't remember about the rest, but we definitely had smartphones long before the iPhone.

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blackoil 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They were first in phone with touch interface and no keyboard. In terms of other capabilities/apps there were other phones much more powerful and capable.

Edit: even for touch LG Prada was first.

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postexitus 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Not the first to personal computer. maybe first mass produced with a GUI with Lisa. We can always narrow a definition and find a first. Not first to the smartphone, but first to combine desktop quality browsing with mobile touch screen etc.

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DonsDiscountGas 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They absolutely were not first to the smart phone, that was blackberry. It's just that blackberry sucked. They were first to PC but I don't think they were first to laptop.

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paxys 5 days ago | parent [-]

Sure you can go back well before blackberry to find even earlier versions of the smartphone but the type we all use today was introduced by Apple.

	▲	SchemaLoad 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		They just removed the physical keyboard. Pretty much everything else about a modern phone was either added in later years or already existed. The first iphone was extremely basic.

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Philpax 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

...what?

Aside from maybe the personal computer, they were not the first to any of those. BlackBerry/Palm/Windows Mobile devices all existed prior to the iPhone; the LG Prada was announced prior to the iPhone and had a similar form factor. Many tablet PCs existed before the iPad. Many Bluetooth earbuds existed prior to the AirPods.

They did a much better job of integrating each of these into a cohesive experience, but they absolutely had predecessors in each category.