The Apple Core - Top 10 posts of 2012

Now that 2012 is in the books, I thought I'd recap the top 10 blog posts here at The Apple Core last year. Here they are, ranked by popularity:

10) Five great games that push the iPad 3's Retina display (March 20, 2012)

THEN: All work and no play make Jason a sad boy. Here are five games that I'm thoroughly enjoying on the iPad 3's new Retina display. (Spoiler: Sky Gamblers, Mortal Combat 3, Real Racing 2 HD, Infinity Blade II and Flight Control Rocket)

NOW: Real Racing 3 for iOS has been delayed to "late February 2013" but add AC/DC Pinball and Catapult King to the list.

9) Two must-have MacBook Pro upgrades: SSD and OptiBay (October 31, 2011) 

THEN: Two essential upgrades for the MacBook Pro: Mercury Extreme Pro SSD from OWC and the OptiBay Drive Kit from MCE Technologies.

NOW: The optical drive is pretty much dead, but the OWC SSD upgrades are still the best. 

8) MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? The decision just got a lot harder (June 13, 2012)

THEN: Monday's announcement of a thinner, lighter MacBook Pro with Retina graphics makes the decision between 'Pro and 'Air notebooks much more difficult, for me the Air wins on price and weight.

NOW: I've now switched from the Air to the rMBP13. The increase in screen real estate is worth the small increase in size and weight for my situation.

7) Where to follow Apple's iPad HD press event live (March 6, 2012)

THEN: Here's where you can follow live blogs of tomorrow's Apple media event in San Francisco.

NOW: This one really surprised me. There was so much interest in the Retina Display packing iPad 3 (not the "iPad HD," natch) that this post linking to all the live blogs was a big clicker.

6) What Apple should copy from the Samsung Galaxy SIII (August 28, 2012)

THEN: Apple can learn a lot from Samsung's latest hotness. Design matters and Apple needs to stop recycling the same tired iPhone form factor. Three years is simply too long. Although it has its flaws, the Samsung Galaxy SIII is the Android phone to have. 

NOW: I still stand by my comment from last summer: Apple needs to update the iPhone hardware design every year to keep it current and it needs to pay closer attention to what users want and to what the competition is doing.

5) Don't upgrade to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion before reading this (July 26, 2012)

THEN: It's tempting to install OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" immediately, but to avoid a costly mistake you need to thoroughly check all of your productivity apps to make sure that they're compatible.

NOW: I still recommend reading the Mountain Lion support overview, discussion boards and RoaringApps.com before installing OS X 10.8.

4) Tablet wars! Google's Nexus 10 could break the 300 PPI barrier (October 23, 2012)

THEN: Apple was rumored to release an iPad mini. Microsoft's Surface RT started shipping and Google was rumored to have an uber-tablet waiting in the wings that will trump both of them?

NOW: Google released the Nexus 10 in late October, a Samsung-made 10.05-inch tablet with a 2,560 x 1,600 display and a pixel density of 300 PPI besting the iPad 3 & 4's 2048 x 1536, 264 PPI panel.

3) Grading iOS 6 Maps: pass or fail? (September 20, 2012)

THEN: There's no denying the sex-appeal of iOS 6 new photo-realistic and interactive 3D Maps, but would you trade transit information and Street View data for it?

NOW: Almost everyone knew that Apple's new Maps app was a fiasco, but I don't think anyone knew the extent of its self-inflicted damage. A rare misstep for the most valuable company in the world and one that cost Scott Forstall his job. 

2) How to get started with iOS 6's most underrated new app: Passbook (September 26, 2012)

THEN: While it's not NFC, Passbook for iOS is pretty darned compelling. And if the Passbook launch apps don't convince you, Starbucks will have Passbook support in less than four days.

NOW: Although it's slowly achieving penetration with some major retailers, Passbook hasn't lived up to its full potential. Hopefully Apple will come to its senses and blaze a trail with NFC in 2013.

1) The Nexus 7 is only missing one thing (July 20, 2012)

THEN: The Nexus 7 is the best 7-inch tablet to hit the market and it's selling like hotcakes. But there's one thing that would make it sell even better.

NOW: The thing that would make the N7 sell better is iOS, and sure enough Apple indeed released its Nexus 7 killer -- the iPad mini -- on October 24.