Return-era pruning
Products Steve Jobs Killed
A tour through the confusing, experimental, or drifting products that disappeared as Jobs simplified Apple after 1997.
Apple LisaThe Lisa brought the mouse-driven GUI — inspired by Xerox PARC — to market a year before the Mac.
Newton MessagePadAhead of its time and mocked for it — its handwriting recognition became a Doonesbury punchline.
Apple Bandai PippinApple licensed a stripped-down Mac as a CD-ROM games console, built by Bandai.
Macintosh TVA rare all-black Color Classic that doubled as a cable television — but you couldn’t show TV in a window, only full-screen.
Twentieth Anniversary MacintoshA $7,499 statement piece with a slim LCD, Bose sound and a separate bass unit, delivered by a tuxedoed concierge.
Macintosh PortableHeavy, expensive, and a bit of a punchline — but its gorgeous active-matrix display pointed the way.
Power Mac G4 CubeA gorgeous commercial failure, now in MoMA’s collection.
iPod Hi-FiiPod Hi-Fi was Apple’s bold, expensive speaker box for the iPod living-room moment: clean, loud and short-lived.Last updated: 2026-06-27