The biggest iPhone, iPad, and Apple editorials of 2012

Neither the world, nor the web, lives by news alone. 2012 had more than its fair share of new apps and devices, of major triumphs and tragedies, but to go along with all the facts and specs, to counterpoint the news, iMore published a slew of views and opinions, reviews and comparisons. So, once again, we fired up the analytics, ordered everything by popularity, and put this togther. And here they are, your favorite editorials of 2012! 5. The future of Siri and Apple's services Now, Apple has started hiring people away from Amazon to help with the service and, in the wake of a management re-ogranization, Siri has been given to Apple's "fixer", senior vice-president Eddy Cue to help set, or reset, its course going forward. Because Siri is only as useful as its weakest server and slowest response, and both those things are going to need some serious attention. The future of Siri and Apple's services No skin in the Game Center 4. Best free iPhone apps We love paying for great apps, because it ensures we'll get more great apps, but when you don't know what you want, when you're new and just want to try stuff out, when you're looking for a fling instead of a relationship, nothing beats great free apps. Leanna put together an amazing collection of apps, and Simon of games, and you guys couldn't get enough of them. Best free iPhone apps Best free iPhone games Best free iPad apps Best free iPad games 3. The 16:9 iPhone A few days ago rumors began to focus on the idea that Apple was moving to a 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5 (or whatever Apple ends up calling iPhone 5,1). I went through the mental exercise of mocking up, and breaking down, the various 4-inch iPhone options to try and figure out how Apple would get there. Now, however, the rumors are coalesced around one specific option -- one I initially thought had fewer advantages, and was hence less likely -- a 16:9 aspect ratio, 1136 x 640 display. The 16:9 iPhone Going big: The 5-inch iPhone 2. Higher hanging fruit Once all the low-hanging fruit has been picked, what do you go after next? We took a look at iOS 5 and what it lacked compared to competing operating system, and it proved remarkably popular. Given the direction Apple went with iOS 6, much of it still applies for iOS 7. Interestingly, many of the newly rebooted operating systems lacked -- and some still lack -- all the features of their predecessors. And because they rebooted, Apple's iOS, once the new smartphone operating system on the block, is now one of the oldest. That doesn't mean Apple can and should replicate each and every feature of their competitors. I'd argue many of the ones listed below shouldn't be copied, perhaps shouldn't even be re-imagined with an iOS twist. But they should be considered. Apple is famous for saying "no" more than they say "yes", but they're just as famous for the arduous design and prototyping process they go through to get there. Higher hanging fruit Apple's multi-billion dollar balancing act 1. iOS 6 review Our biggest non-news story of the year was Apple's big mobile software release of the year. At almost 16,000 words, we dove deep, and you loved every bit of it. (And several of our other reviews as well.) iOS 6 is a software update divided against itself. Apple claims over 200 new user-facing features, which is the same if not more than previous versions of iOS. Many of these are good and solid, reducing the friction and increasing the functionality of iOS, and delightfully so. But a lot of it them are also about Apple and the future of their platform. iOS 6 review iPhone 5 review iPad 4 review iPad mini review

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