Top 10 Thurrott.com Stories of 2018

2018 has been a big year for the tech industry.

A lot of things happened throughout the year, with the big CES 2018 kickoff in January, followed by MWC in February, the big Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy and the Microsoft re-org in March, iTunes coming to the Microsoft Store and the release of Windows 10 April 2018 Update in April, Microsoft’s Build 2018 and Google’s I/O conferences in May, followed shortly by Apple’s WWDC conference and E3 2018 in June, the launch of Apple’s new MacBook Pro line in July, the release of Android Pie and a bunch of iPhone and Pixel leaks in August, a big month for Apple with the new iPhones, and OS updates in September, a big month for tech with new Google hardware, Microsoft hardware, the OnePlus 6T, and a major new Windows 10 update in October, the rebirth of the MacBook Air and the new iPad Pro in November, and a bunch of Xbox leaks ending the year in December.

Yep, all of that happened in the last 12 months.

2018 has been a big year for our site, too. Our coverage has been much broader than ever before, delving into new areas we have never covered in the past. We broke exclusive news like never before while publishing more than 2,250 stories in just the last 12 months, with nearly 320 premium stories for our Thurrott Premium readers.

And despite all these big events throughout the year, some of the top Thurrott.com stories of the year are much different than what you might expect. Let’s take a look at the top 10 stories, based on pageviews:

#10) Report: iPhone Sales Fail Triggered “Fire Drill” at Apple

This story was also one of the most recently published story to make it to the top 10 list, published on December. The story detailed how Apple’s executives triggered a “fire drill” situation, especially in the marketing department, after the sales of its latest iPhones weren’t doing as well as the firm expected.

#9) Exclusive: Windows 10 S is Dead, Long Live S Mode

This was one of the first exclusive stories we published this year, back in February. The story was quite a surprise to some, mainly because of after all the hype around Windows 10 S, Microsoft turning it into a “mode” in Windows was a little surprising to some.

#8) Microsoft’s Next-Gen Xbox Will Arrive in 2020

This was the first time we revealed the timeline for Microsoft’s next big Xbox flagship, Scarlett, back in June. It’s coming out in 2020, and the Xbox community was already very, very excited.

#7) Apple Admits to Hardware Quality Problems with iPhone X, MacBook Pro

Apple has been facing a lot of hardware quality allegations throughout the year, ever since it redesigned the MacBook Pro. The company confirmed some of the problems on the 2017 iPhone X and MacBook Pro, and the controversy surrounding all the Apple product quality problems likely helped this story shoot up the charts.

#6) Tip: Download Windows 7 and 8.1 ISOs

This was the most recently published story on our site to make it to the top 10 list — it was published on the same day as the Apple fire dill story (#10). Paul essentially wrote up a story notifying readers about the fact that Microsoft made the official ISOs for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 available once again, and SEO did the rest.

#5) A Few More Details About Microsoft’s Xbox Scarlett Game Streaming Service

Again, Xbox. This story was published in July just after Microsoft’s big E3 keynote, detailing some more details about Microsoft’s Scarlett game streaming service for the next-gen Xbox consoles.

#4) Microsoft’s Next OS is Based on Linux, Not Windows

This was probably the most interesting story to make it to the top 10 list, published in April. The headline here probably did the trick, as there’s been a ton of hype around Microsoft embracing Linux in the last year or so. The story particularly talks about Microsoft’s new Azure Sphere OS for IoT devices that’s based on Linux, supposed to help IoT makers to easily integrate Azure services into their tiny little gadgets or computers.

#3) Xbox, After the X

In April, Brad discussed some of Microsoft’s plans for the future of the Xbox. Reports suggested the company was working on a game streaming service, and we had a rough idea of the timeline for Microsoft’s next gen Xbox devices back in April. That is all before we uncovered much more of Microsoft’s plans later in the year, of course.

#2) Microsoft Finally Documents the Limitations of Windows 10 on ARM

This was an interesting story, published in mid-February, that detailed the limitations of Microsoft’s Windows 10 on ARM platform for the first time ever. Windows 10 on ARM has come a long way since then, in terms of hardware and a bit on the software side, but the platform itself was a big talking point earlier in the year after the big Qualcomm Always Connected PC announcements in late 2017.

#1) Microsoft’s Building a Disc-Less Xbox One for Release in 2019

Xbox was a big highlight for the site in terms of scoops this year, with Brad publishing a number of scoops on the next-gen Xbox consoles. Microsoft building a disc-less Xbox was one of the biggest stories, taking the first spot for the top 10 stories of the year, despite only being published in mid-November. A disc-less Xbox One is a big deal for many reasons, and it’s no surprise to see the Xbox community being so hyped about the new Xbox console coming out before the big Scarlett release in 2020.

There you have it — these were the top 10 stories we published in the last 12 months. 2019 is only going to have bigger stories, starting off with CES 2019.

What was your top highlight from the year? Make sure to discuss in the comments below.