The Verge crowdsources ranking of Apple’s 50 best products with 1.6M votes

In short: The Verge ran a public vote to rank Apple’s 50 best products, collecting more than 1.6 million votes.

What happened

The Verge marked Apple’s 50th anniversary in 2026 by asking readers to help rank what it called the 50 best Apple products ever made. The site said the voting ran throughout the week on a dedicated page, and it ended up with more than 1.6 million votes.

The Verge framed the project as a community-driven list, meaning the final order depends on what readers choose, not just what editors pick. It also published additional anniversary coverage about Apple’s first 50 years.

The available coverage focuses more on the process than the final list itself. In The Verge’s own commentary, the approach was described as engaging but also flawed, because voting like this is subjective and can be shaped by who shows up to vote and which products get included in the first place (like taking a large poll, but only among people who decide to respond).

Other tech outlets also published anniversary rankings. T3 highlighted five products it said still feel relevant in 2026, including the iMac, the iPhone, and Apple’s AirPort Time Capsule router. Stuff published part of a longer ranking that placed the App Store at #40, the Apple Watch Series 5 at #39, and the Apple II computer at #36.

Why it matters

Apple turns 50 in 2026, since it was founded on April 1, 1976. These lists help show which devices and services people remember and value, but they also show how personal and biased “best of all time” rankings can be.

Source: The Verge AI