Definition: Apple

(Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) A manufacturer of computers and consumer electronics that since 2011 has been the most valuable company in the world (Microsoft also vies for that title). In 2023, Apple's market cap reached three trillion, the first for any company.

On April Fool's Day 1976, Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the garage of the Jobs family home in Los Altos, California. By year end, the Apple 1 was introduced at the Palo Alto Homebrew Computer Club, and several retail stores eventually began to sell it. See Apple 1.

A year later, the Apple II was introduced, which blazed the trails for the personal computer industry. A fully assembled Apple II with 4K of RAM sold for $1,298. With an open architecture that encouraged third-party vendors to build plug-in hardware enhancements, Apple IIs became the most widely used computer in the home and classroom. They were also used in business primarily to run the VisiCalc spreadsheet, which was a huge innovation at that time. See VisiCalc.

In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, the forerunner of the Macintosh. Lisa was aimed at the corporate market, but was soon dropped in favor of the Mac, which debuted in 1984. As a graphics-based machine, the Mac was immediately successful as a low-cost desktop publishing system. See Mac history.

In 1991, Apple surprised the industry by announcing an alliance with IBM to form several companies, the major result of which was the PowerPC chip (see Apple-IBM alliance). In 1994, Apple came out with its first PowerPC-based Power Macs, which proved popular, and its PowerBook laptops were an instant success. All subsequent models departed from the original Motorola 68K architecture to the PowerPC.

The Mac stood alone in a sea of PCs based on the IBM architecture and watched its graphical interface copied more with each incarnation of Windows. In 1994, Apple licensed its OS to system vendors in order to create a Macintosh clone industry. However, a couple of years later, that was discontinued.

Forced out of the company by Apple's board in 1985, Jobs founded NeXT Computer to create an advanced workstation. NeXT eventually switched from hardware to software, but in 1996, Apple acquired NeXT and brought Jobs back to the company he founded. Apple acquired many object-oriented development tools from NeXT, parts of which filtered down into the Mac operating system. See NeXT.

In 1998, Apple introduced the iMac, the first personal computer without a floppy disk. Self-contained in one unit like the original Mac, Apple sold 800,000 iMacs in a year, making it the fastest-selling computer in its history.

In 2001, Apple launched the iPod. Followed several years later by the iPhone and iPad, Apple set the bar for mobile devices and grew exponentially as a result. See iPod, iPhone and iPad. See Apple Park.

The Two Steves

Wozniak and Jobs (left to right) pioneered the microcomputer revolution. Wozniak's engineering and Job's charisma built a legend. Here they hold the motherboard from the Apple 1, Apple's first computer. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)

The Apple 1

Rather humble beginnings, yet the Apple 1 led to the very successful Apple II series, which thrived for many years. See Apple 1 and Apple II. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)

Apple's First Year

Radio Shack was a major source for electronic parts at that time. As one of the most famous people in history, in 2023, this 1976 check from Steve Jobs to RadioShack sold for $46,063 at RR Auction in Boston. Other checks written by Steve Jobs sold for more than double that amount. (Image courtesy of RR Auction.)

A Quarter Century After the Apple 1

With a CPU chip 500 times as fast, the G4 Cube in 2000 bore little resemblance to Apple's first offering. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)

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Definition: Apple