2020: A MONUMENTOUS YEAR FOR APPLE
Whatever your background, there’s no denying that 2020 has been a challenging year for us all. COVID-19 has impacted virtually every aspect of our lives, yet for Apple, it’s been a year of monumental growth, cementing the company’s market dominance. At a time when we needed our devices more than ever to stay connected, Apple stepped up to the plate with new hardware and software. In this special edition, we look back at its biggest year to date…
A CHANGE OF APPROACH
Although Apple typically kicks off the year with a host of product announcements, this year the company was forced to take a different approach. As concern over the coronavirus grew, , at the same time as many governments implemented strict lockdown restrictions such as travel bans and forcing all non-essential stores to close. Though Apple originally planned for the closures to last a couple of weeks, they actually lasted for several months, with Apple eventually reopening them from August onwards. Alongside the closures, Apple announced a historic partnership with smartphone rival Google, to develop a . The partnership did, indeed, cause controversy in some markets, and although the rollout was slow, it was successfully implemented in many countries, including the United Kingdom, which . At the same time, the company launched its own COVID-19 symptoms app in the United States, in partnership with the CDC, to help users screen themselves for COVID-19, . Apple’s partnership with Google and subsequent release of its own handwashing app for watchOS 7 demonstrate the company’s huge impact on modern life, no doubt helping to slow the spread of the pandemic and reduce the strain on health services.
