Eight Apple Products and Services Make Fortune's List of Top 100 'Greatest Designs of Modern Times'

Fortune today published a list of the 100 "greatest designs of modern times," featuring products that have made people's lives simpler, better, and more stylish.

iphonelineupguide b
Apple's iPhone, which first came out in 2007 and has since been updated every year, made the number one spot on the list for the way that it has "transformed human communication" and impacted almost every aspect of our lives.

"An iPod, a phone, an Internet communicator" was how the late Steve Jobs announced the iPhone to the world in 2007. At the time it was an impressive claim. Now it seems like a massive understatement for a device that changed how we live. Analysts were initially skeptical that Apple could succeed selling a premium phone for $499 in a market in which most devices were subsidized or given away by carriers. But by relentlessly pushing the envelope of hardware and software design, adding a professional-grade camera, and creating an ecosystem of apps and services, Apple has sold more than 2 billion iPhones--and in the process has become the most valuable company in the world.

Another Apple product, the 1984 Macintosh, made the second spot on the list for defining the personal computer revolution.

Six other Apple products were also included on the list in various spots. The 2001 iPod came in 10th, the 2006 MacBook Pro took the 14th spot, the App Store was 22nd, iOS is in the 29th spot, the Apple Watch made the list at spot number 46, and Apple Pay was also included as the 64th product on the list.

For its list, Fortune teamed up with the IIT Institute of Design and polled educators, influencers, freelance designers, and corporate design teams on the designs they consider "truly great," using that information to compile a top 100 list.

The complete list, which also includes products and services like Google Search, the Sony Walkman, Uber, Netflix, Google Maps, the Tesla Model S, and more, can be found on Fortune's website.

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...

Top Rated Comments

calzon65 Avatar
73 months ago
I refused to use a Blackberry when everyone had a love affair with them, but when I saw the iPhone, I knew at that moment, that was the future versus the Blackberry with all its buttons.

Apple and Steve Jobs hit a home-run with the iPhone design ... it set the stage for ALL smartphones and tablets of today.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrazyForCashews Avatar
73 months ago
This list is accurate as the iPhone is number 1.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Feyl Avatar
73 months ago
I would replace that MacBook Pro with MacBook Air.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeepIn2U Avatar
73 months ago

This list is accurate as the iPhone is number 1.
hmm. I’d say the Macintosh should be number #1 and OS X should be #2 for Apple as both was needed before the iPhone could take place. Took Apple 3 yrs before a “professional grade camera” was added - iPhone4. (iPhone 3G/3GS having a VGA camera while others already had 3-5mp cameras with decent quality is NOT professional all pics where blurry as crap).

2006 MacBook Pro? I keep forgettingMBP existed before the 2008 unibody designs.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wordup60 Avatar
73 months ago
Great list. I would have chosen the 2008 unibody Macbook Pro over the 2006 model though. The single piece of aluminium body is still the benchmark in laptop design, and apart from minor tweaks, has held up to this day.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mazz0 Avatar
73 months ago
No iPad?!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)