If you know Apple, you’ve almost certainly heard of the phrase “one more thing.” It’s been Apple’s favorite way to introduce an unexpected new product or feature at its events for decades, and its mere utterance is enough to send fans into bouts of frenzied excitement.
Back when Apple’s events were still in person, Steve Jobs would take to the stage and deliver the keynote address – also known as a ‘Stevenote’ – to highlight all of Apple’s latest updates. They became known for their ending flourishes, where Jobs would pretend to wrap things up, before pausing and uttering his signature phrase: “actually, there is one more thing.” Cue the rapture.
The first ‘one more thing’ … sort of (January 1998)
The moment that kickstarted an iconic trend found its origins at the MacWorld San Francisco event in 1998. After showcasing various apps that would work with the latest Mac software, Steve Jobs thanked attendees for coming and feigned walking off stage.
Before leaving, though, he stopped himself, announcing, “I forgot something. There is one last thing I gotta tell you.” He thanked all of Apple’s teams for their efforts, before revealing that the company was finally profitable again.
This was big news at the time. Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy when Jobs returned in 1997, and he took a machete to its extraneous products and services, cutting the company back to a lean, profitable machine.
Sure, he didn’t quite say “one more thing,” but all the key elements were there: the fake conclusion, the Columbo-esque turn to the audience, the exciting secret revealed. It was a classic move that Jobs refined and perfected over the subsequent years.
Mac OS X Aqua design and Jobs as CEO (January 2000)
Two years later, we got a “one more thing” double whammy at January 2000’s MacWorld San Francisco event. The show saw the unveiling of Mac OS X, and after explaining how it worked, Jobs said there was “one more thing” – which in this instance was the visual design, which he dubbed Aqua.
Instead of the grey boxes and scrollbars prevalent in operating systems at the time, Aqua was bright and shiny, a heady mix of brushed metal effects and glossy blue bars. It was unlike anything else and a worthy highlight.
Yet that wasn’t the last “one more thing” of the year – it wasn’t even the last one of this Stevenote. About an hour later, just as he was finishing things off, Jobs dropped another surprise into the mix: no longer would he be the company’s interim CEO, but instead its full-time chief. The statement was met with a standing ovation – considering how Jobs and his team had turned Apple’s fortunes around, this perhaps came as no surprise.
Power Mac G4 Cube (July 2000)
The year 2000 was a good one for “one more thing” moments, as another followed in July at the MacWorld New York expo. This time it was the turn of the Power Mac G4 Cube, one of the most visually arresting Macs to have ever launched – but also one of the most unsuccessful.
Jobs explained that the G4 Cube took the performance of the Power Mac G4 and shrunk it down to a quarter of the size, giving you impressive output in a tiny footprint, all without needing a fan. Yet the G4 Cube never really took off thanks to its high price and middling performance for the cost. Today it’s a beautiful collector’s icon, and Apple has never quite done anything like it again – and it was made all the more memorable thanks to Jobs’ famous introduction.
iPod Shuffle (2005)
The iPod was one of Apple’s greatest hits, and it revolutionized the way people listened to music, from enjoying tracks on a portable device to downloading and managing them on their computers. Apple had already shaken up the market with the iPod and the iPod mini, but it followed that up in 2005 with the iPod Shuffle.
On the face of it, the Shuffle seemed like a risky move for Apple. It ditched the screen entirely, giving you no way to browse your tunes. But Jobs’ “one more thing” announcement at MacWorld 2005 revealed that shuffle was the most popular way that iPod users listened to their music. Why not lean into that with a dedicated device? In the end it all paid off, with the Shuffle proving to be highly popular and helping Apple sell iPods at a lower price point.
MacBook Pro (January 2006)
Today, the MacBook Pro is one of the best laptops you can buy, and it made its debut at the MacWorld expo in 2006 – 20 years ago this week, in fact. That saw Apple move on from the PowerBook line into a new Intel-based era.
The switch to Intel chips gave Apple much more performance-per-watt – up to four times that of its previous PowerPC chips, in fact – ensuring the MacBook Pro could output far more performance without consuming too much power.
Aside from Intel processors, the first MacBook Pro introduced the beloved MagSafe connector, was even thinner than the PowerBook, and had a built-in iSight camera for video calls and conferences – the last of which drew huge cheers from the crowd. Not a bad reception for a little lens.
Apple Watch (September 2014)
Think of all the best smartwatches and the Apple Watch will surely be near the top of the list. Apple’s wearable has dominated the space since it launched in 2014, with several models to choose from and tons of class-leading features.
Steve Jobs was the master of the “one more thing,” but the Apple Watch was successor CEO Tim Cook’s first attempt at the turn of phrase – and it went pretty well.
Borrowing Jobs’ flair for the theatrical, Cook concluded his keynote by revealing that he’d been wearing an Apple Watch under his sleeve the entire time. That’s not a bad way to present an all-new device to the world, especially when it goes on to become such a key part of Apple’s product lineup.
iPhone X (September 2017)
Apple has a habit of overhauling its devices in major ways when it thinks it’s got a great new idea. That time came again in September 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X, the first all-screen iPhone, the first to go without the Home button, and the first to feature the instantly recognizable notch.
Given the scale of the transformation, the iPhone X had to succeed. Thankfully for Apple, it did, with every major iPhone following its design blueprint. Another measure of its success was how it changed the entire industry, with almost every one of Apple’s rivals ditching physical buttons and adopting its “black slab” look within a few years. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Apple silicon (November 2020)
What do you do when “one more thing” has become so well known that the audience comes to expect it every year? Well, why not name your whole show after it? That’s what Apple did in November 2020, and its One More Thing event took the phrase’s concept and applied it to the entire keynote.
That’s because this event was used to reveal Apple silicon to the world. It found its way into the MacBook Air, Mac mini and MacBook Pro at the show, and Apple also took the time to explain how macOS Big Sur would benefit from the new chips. It was the first – and, so far, only – time that every new product at an Apple event deserved a “one more thing” callout. Yet funnily enough, the company did not mention the phrase once during the show’s entire duration.
Vision Pro (June 2023)
Every previous “one more thing” had come at a live event, but WWDC 2023 was the first time the routine was tried at a pre-recorded event. While that must have been a touch disappointing for Apple – no cheers from the in-house audience this time – it didn’t stop an especially momentous product from taking to the stage.
That device was the Vision Pro, Apple’s first mixed-reality headset. Apple touted it as a paradigm shift in the company’s product roster, one that would chang the way you interacted with hardware and software forever.
The reality has been much less successful, with the Vision Pro reportedly selling in such disappointing numbers that Apple has drastically cut back production. Still, there’s no doubting that Apple thought it was a significant product – and deserving of the latest “one more thing” moment.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
