After deciding to shut down its print magazine and lay off most of its online staff, IDG is hitting pause on its annual gathering where big products like the first iPhone were once unveiled. Of course that stopped when Apple pulled out of its regular attendance of the show and began holding its own events in 2009. However, the Macworld Expo lived on as an event for third-party Apple companies and the Apple community to get together each year.

According to the show's planners, it's not the death of the event, but rather a break. "We are announcing today that Macworld/iWorld is going on hiatus, and will not be taking place as planned in 2015," Paul Kent of IDG's World Expo told Six Colors today. "Our MacIT event, the world's premiere event for deploying Apple in the enterprise, will continue next year with details to be announced in the coming weeks."

"It's safe to assume that the Macworld Expo as we knew it won't come back."

"While technically this is a 'hiatus,' I think it's safe to assume that the Macworld Expo as we knew it won't come back," says Jason Snell, the former editor in chief of Macworld. "Maybe it will take some other form — there are lots of amazing Apple-themed events out there — but I've got my doubts."

Ahead of the change in Apple's participation, the annual show had played host to numerous product launches, something Apple now does at its own events — just like the one coming up on Thursday. That list includes the original iPhone unveiling in 2007, the iPod mini in 2004, Mac OS X in 2000, iTunes in 2001, and its Safari browser in 2003. It also played host to major events in Apple's history, including the announcement that Microsoft was effectively bailing it out from the brink of bankruptcy with a $150 million partnership deal in 1997.