Apple made decisions that rocked our world this year, entering new areas of business, bringing products back that we once thought were goners and taking risks on entirely new software and hardware.

Apple threw a ton of unexpected news nuggets our way. So let's look back at the biggest Apple news that happened in 2023 and the stories that will shape our world going forward.

Vision Pro becomes a reality

 

Apple shows off the Vision Pro being used on an airplane. 

Apple

There's no bigger story for Apple this year than the Vision Pro headset. It was rumored and reported on for years, but Tim Cook finally debuted it to the world in June at Apple's developer conference WWDC.

But, it's not quite done yet. We got a preview of what it will look like and even the $3,499 starting price. We learned some things you can do wearing it, how you'll control it and what you'll look like wearing it. But we did not see Tim Cook or any Apple executive use it. Only a select group of reporters, including CNET's Scott Stein, have experienced it in brief demos. The headset even has its own software called VisionOS.

What makes the Vision Pro extra special is that there's been so much buildup. But it's not the first time we've waited for a new Apple product to launch after its announcement. The first iPhone was announced at MacWorld in January 2007, but didn't launch for another six months. When the iPad was announced in January 2010, it wasn't released until April and the Apple Watch was unveiled in September 2014 but went on sale seven months later.

The past six months have included a lot of Vision Pro teases and developer testing. The tech involved does make it a more ambitious product than the first iPhone, iPad or Watch. While there's still a lot to learn about how it works in the real world, you can be certain that the Vision Pro is going to shape every Apple conversation in some fashion for the foreseeable future. Now, we just have to patiently wait until it is ready to launch in early 2024.

Apple Pay Later and later, Goldman Sachs

 

The physical Apple Card is made of metal.

James Martin/CNET

Apple also launched two new financial products. The first was a high-yield savings account for Apple credit card customers. Then there was the rollout of Apple Pay Later that gives people the option to pay for purchases with a series of four installments over the course of six weeks.

But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Apple financial news. Reports show that Goldman Sachs lost billions of dollars trying to build out their operation for the Apple Card. In November, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is pulling the plug on its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, giving the investment bank a proposal for how to exit its contract over the next 12 to 15 months. 

Next year, we could find out which company will be taking over Apple's credit card and savings account business. Chase and American Express are a couple of the names analysts hope are in the running.

But it's not great to announce a new product like the Apple Card savings account and read news that your partner wants to leave the deal all in the same year.