15 most memorable Apple ads of the decade

7. 2005- Artists come out for iTunes
The partially silhouetted newer ads for artists such as Eminem, U2 and Coldplay appeared from the middle of the decade on, but our favourite is this slower 2007 ad featuring Sir Paul McCartney's Dance Tonight.

8. 2006 - Intel comes to the Mac

Intel's latest and remarkably clever 'rock stars' campaign is a far cry from it's previous dull 'chips in a factory' ads. But this one has been given an Apple ending to announce the arrival of Intel processors in the Mac and herald a new age of Windows being able to run on Macs as well as PCs.

9, 10 and 11. 2006 on - Get a Mac mania

The award-winning Get a Mac ads have now transcended into advertising folklore. Many people do sympathise with the PC though, not least because some of the ads such as 'Broken Promises' have an irritating snide quality to them that just makes Apple seem bitter and the Mac character seem too self important.

But when the Get a Mac series gets a bit cleverer, the ads are truly very funny. Our favourite? Probably 'Touche' but we can't ignore the cleverness of 'Restarting' - genius.

12. 2007 - iPhone says Hello

Probably our favourite of the lot, it was an absolutely inspired idea to use tens of movie and TV clips in this teaser ad for the iPhone – a device that people were simply in awe of at the time after its launch at the January 2007 Macworld.

13. 2008 - Out of the envelope

The MacBook Air's ad imagery was terrifically handled, with the manilla envelope picture not only appearing everywhere but also being much parodied. It was an inspired way to get the key message across.

14. 2008 - Funnest iPod ever

Apple decided not to market the iPod touch as the iPhone lite, instead choosing to focus on the gaming appeal of the new device. "The funnest iPod ever" has gone from strength to strength ever since – this ad shows the 2G touch.

15. 2008 - It's finally here

The 'It's finally here' iPhone 3G ad harked back to 1984 with its dark imagery, but the effect is far greater than the premise might have suggested; essentially a couple of guys carrying a secure box out of which then pops an iPhone 3G - "the first phone to beat the iPhone".

And a bonus ball from 1999

Just as the Get a Mac ads sneer at PCs now, the same was true in 1999 when Apple decided to have a go at PCs that might be affected by the millennium bug. This creepy ad features HAL2000 (a play on HAL9000 from Arthur C. Clark's Space Odyssey) "Dave, do you remember the year 2000 when computers began to misbehave?"

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Liked this? Then check out The good, the bad and the awful: a history of Windows ads

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Contributor

Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.