Top 5 Most Unloved Apple Devices

For as many Apple products that have been well-received and loved by the masses, Apple has also created some questionable pieces of technology — gadgets so wildly-unpopular and bizarre in nature, their time in the limelight was not only short-lived, but their legacy was forever etched in stone as a flub. Here are the top five most unpopular Apple products.
5. Apple’s Original USB Mouse (1998)
Apple’s original USB-connected mouse (affectionately known as “the hockey puck”) was, and probably always will be, the quirkiest pointing device the world has ever seen. Apple released this mouse as a bundled accessory with the original, Jony Ive-designed iMac G3 that was unveiled at Macworld 1998. Most early iMac adopters, though, were graphic designers and creative professionals — and they for the most part loathed this mouse for a very good reason: its perfectly circular shape rendered it impossibly difficult to grasp and maneuver.
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4. Macintosh TV
Originally released back in 1993, the Macintosh TV sought to bridge the gap between two burgeoning trends of the early 1990s: a standalone TV set, and the personal computer. Essentially, the machine embodied a bulky Mac computer base, coupled with a screen that could also double as a standalone TV monitor, complete with analog cable connections. Unfortunately, there was no way to enjoy both parts of the product at the same time, and users had to manually switch between the TV or PC interface. It was essentially a computer with a TV screen as the monitor, and for $2,000, it wasn’t a particularly unique or affordable entertainment experience.
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3. Bandai Pippin
Apple tried hand-and-tooth in the latter half of the 1990s to capture a slice of the increasingly popular gaming console market that was dominated by contenders like Nintendo, SEGA, and Commodore. One of its few attempts to do so was by releasing the ‘Bandai Pippin’ in 1996. The gaming system wasn’t necessarily a technical failure, to be fair, but it was nevertheless a commercial flop due to the vast amount of competition in the gaming console space. While the machine had an initial run of about 100,000 units, it’s believed that only half of those were ever purchased; and at $599 a pop, we can't necessarily say we’re that surprised by the Pippin’s short but sweet presence on the gaming circuit.
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2. Apple G4 Cube
Apple’s G4 Cube, originally released in 2000, was actually not a bad looking computer. Sure, its clear casing and smooth, refined edges made it an aesthetically pleasing device; but in terms of raw sales figures, well, the G4 Cube just didn't sell well at all. Of the units that Apple did sell, several users complained about failing machines and the presence of ‘cracks’ in the outer casing, too. Of the initial run, Apple reportedly sold about one-third of its $1,799 a pop inventory of G4 cubes, prior to sales slumping so low the company ultimately decided to cancel it altogether.
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1. iPod Shuffle (3rd Generation)
In recent years, especially, Apple has had a penchant for developing slimmer, lighter, smaller and yet more powerful devices with each successive refresh — and the 3rd-generation iPod Shuffle, released in 2009, was no exception to the rule. While the first and second generation iPod Shuffles were fairly popular versions of Apple’s pint-sized MP3 player, for some reason the company decided to forego buttons of any kind when it released the 3rd-gen shuffle in 2009. In lieu of physical buttons, users controlled the remarkably tiny device using a variety of different button presses on the included EarPods. That may sound ‘cool’, but most users didn’t think so. Unfortunately, the 3rd-gen Shuffle’s design was incredibly counterintuitive despite Apple’s drive for innovation.