Lows
1. Bendgate
What do you get if you combine the laws of physics with hit-hungry websites? Bendgate: the not-overhyped-at-all story that found thin metal things bend if you apply sufficient force. Cue dullards going into Apple Stores to try and break iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets, endless "Apple is doooooomed!" columns and the sound of a molehill being blown up to mountain size.
2. iOS 8
Here's our new OS! Oops, it's broken! Here's an update! Oops, it's more broken than the broken one it was supposed to fix! Google's Lollipop had release issues too, but it wasn't as bungled as the iOS 8 launch. The only way Apple could have bungled it more would be if it had put a picture of Bungle from Rainbow on every iPhone's lock screen.
That isn't the only problem with iOS 8. There's a developing story over iOS 8 extensions, which are supposed to give developers the tools to share data with other apps: at the time of writing Panic's excellent Transmit app has been forced to remove iCloud Drive sharing because of confusing and contradictory developer policies. A developer backlash may be brewing.
3. U2
U2 have just announced a world tour, and wags have suggested that instead of booking venues they'll just break into people's houses and do gigs whether the owners want them or not. That's more or less what happened when Apple gave away their latest album, Songs of Innocence: instead of offering it as a free download Apple automatically added it to everybody's iTunes. Many people thought they'd been hacked, others were just appalled that Apple thought they'd want a U2 album, and Apple was forced to create a U2 removal tool to banish Bono.
4. Endless iPads
Is it just us or does Apple appear to be losing its laser-like focus on making a handful of very good products? Since Autumn's new launches Apple now offers more iPads than Marks & Spencer has pants: there's the iPad mini, the iPad mini 2, the iPad mini 3, the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, all in Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and Cellular options and various colours. A £199 iPad mini is certainly cheap by Apple standards, but given the pace of change in iPad-land we're not sure the owner will stay cheerful for long.
5. 2014 Mac Mini
The late 2014 Mac Mini is a long-awaited update to a computer last refreshed in 2012, and while the lower price tag is welcome the lower specs aren't. Quad-core processors are no longer available and the RAM is soldered in, so you can't upgrade it later. The Firewire port's gone too. For many Mini fans, what Apple giveth doesn't compensate for what Apple hath taken away.
6. Apple TV
So much for an app-happy update to Apple's "hobby". With fresh rivals from the likes of Google's Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV couldn't look much longer in the tooth if it were a sabre-toothed tiger. It's still good for AirPlay streaming, but here in the UK especially its lack of services means it's looking less attractive by the day.
7. Sapphire
2014 was going to be the year of sapphire screens, but it didn't work out that way: Apple's manufacturing partner, GT Advanced Technologies, encountered both technical problems - it couldn't make enough usable sapphire at the price Apple wanted to pay - and business ones, with apparent organisational chaos ultimately forcing the company into bankruptcy protection. GT says it's all Apple's fault, Apple says it's all GT's fault, and over at the Gorilla Glass factory Corning executives probably popped open the champagne.
