February 2, 1996: Apple reveals that turnaround artist Gil Amelio will take over from Michael “The Diesel” Spindler as CEO of the struggling company.
With disappointing Mac sales, the disastrous “clone Mac” strategy and a failed Sun Microsystems merger to his name, Spindler is asked to resign by the Apple board. Then, Cupertino enlists supposed corporate miracle worker Amelio for the job.
Unfortunately, he turns out to be no more successful than Spindler in the role.
January 31, 1998: Mac clone-maker Power Computing goes out of business, having auctioned off its office supplies and computers.
Apple bought out Power Computing, once the fastest-growing PC company of the decade, the previous year. As a result, Power Computing shareholders receive Apple stock as a replacement. As it turns out, that may not have been a terrible deal.
January 30, 1995: Apple Computer launches the Newton MessagePad 120, the first truly great device in an unfairly maligned product line.
Coming 18 months after the original Newton MessagePad, the upgraded PDA packs more power — and truly shines once Newton OS 2.0 rolls out.
January 29, 1990: Apple CEO John Sculley appoints Michael Spindler as the company’s new chief operating officer.
Nicknamed “The Diesel” on account of his work ethic, Spindler’s new job continues his upward trajectory at Apple. Three years later, he will become CEO.
January 25, 1996: Rumors circulate that Sun Microsystems is in talks to acquire Apple.
With Sun at the peak of its power, and Cupertino struggling, the rumored $3.89 billion deal would see Apple snapped up for between $5 and $6 a share.
January 7, 1997: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak returns to the company to participate in an advisory role, reuniting with Steve Jobs onstage at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
Woz’s homecoming is revealed at the end of the Macworld conference. With Jobs’ recent return to Apple (thanks to the NeXT acquisition), it marks the first time the two co-founders have been at Apple together since 1983. It’s a great way to celebrate Apple’s 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, the reunion won’t last.
January 6, 1998: Just months after taking over a company on the verge of bankruptcy, Steve Jobs shocks attendees at San Francisco’s Macworld Expo by revealing that Apple is profitable again. An Apple comeback is on the way!
Referring to the company’s strategy since he took over as interim CEO in September 1997, the recently returned Apple co-founder says, “It’s all come together for us.”
Little did most of us know exactly how astonishing Apple’s rebound would be.
January 5, 1999: Apple introduces a revised Power Mac G3 minitower, nicknamed the “Blue and White G3” or “Smurf Tower” to distinguish it from the earlier beige model.
The first new Power Mac since the original iMac shipped, the pro-level machine borrows the same transparent color scheme. Unfortunately, it doesn’t hang around too long.
January 4, 1995: Apple signs a deal with third-party Mac accessory-maker Radius, allowing the company to build Macintosh clones that run on Mac OS.
Radius is the second company to license the Macintosh operating system. (Power Computing did the same thing a month earlier.) However, Radius will become the first licensee to bring a clone to market when its System 100 ships in March 1995.
December 30, 1999: Microsoft hits the height of its 1990s dominance and begins its early-2000s decline, clearing a gap at the top for Apple.
After hitting an all-time high of $53.60, Microsoft stock starts to fall. Less than a year later, MSFT shares will fall more than 60% in value to $20.
December 29, 1999: Apple starts shipping its unfathomably large 22-inch Cinema Display, the biggest LCD computer display available anywhere,
Apple’s all-digital flat panel is a far cry from the bulky cathode ray tube monitor of the original iMac, which took the world by storm the previous year. The Cinema Display is also Apple’s first widescreen display — and the first to sport a digital video interface.
December 21, 1994: Mac gamers get their hands on Marathon, a sci-fi first-person shooter designed as an answer to the massive success of PC title Doom. Created by Bungie, the team that would later create the Halo franchise, the new Marathon game introduces important features to the FPS genre.
Just as importantly, it isn’t available on PC. Marathon quickly becomes a favorite among Mac gamers.
December 20, 1996: Apple Computer buys NeXT, the company Steve Jobs founded after leaving Cupertino a decade earlier.
The deal costs Apple $429 million. It’s a massive price to pay for the failing NeXT, a computer company that already saw its hardware division crash and burn. But the price is worth it when you consider what Apple gets as part of the deal: the return of Steve Jobs.
December 16, 1994: Apple Computer inks a licensing deal with Power Computing, for the first time allowing a company to produce Macintosh-compatible computers, aka “Mac clones.”
With falling market share, and longtime rival Microsoft steaming ahead thanks to its software licensing strategy, Apple executives think the only way to compete is for the company to allow its operating system on third-party Macs. Of course, it doesn’t turn out exactly like that.
December 4, 1992: Apple engineers demonstrate a “proof of concept” of the Mac operating system running on an Intel computer. More than a decade before Macs will switch to Intel processors, getting Mac OS to run on PCs is an astonishing feat.
It’s part of an aborted plan to make Apple’s software available on other manufacturers’ hardware. Apple ultimately chickens out, fearing (probably correctly) that such a move would hurt Macintosh sales.
December 2, 1991: Apple ships its first public version of the QuickTime player, bringing video to Mac users running System 7.
Containing codecs for graphics, animation and video, QuickTime confirms Apple’s status as a leading multimedia tech company. The software also starts us on the path to playing video on our computers. This fundamental transformation of Macs into media machines eventually leads to iTunes Movies, YouTube and more.
November 29, 1995: Capitalizing on the success of Toy Story, Pixar floats 6.9 million shares on the stock market. The Pixar IPO makes Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who owns upward of 80% of the animation studio, a billionaire.
After the windfall, one of the first people Jobs calls is his friend, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who’s already a member of the billionaire’s club.
“Hello, Larry?” Jobs tells his friend on the phone. “I made it.”
November 25, 1996: A midlevel manager at NeXT contacts Apple about the possibility of Cupertino licensing NeXT’s OpenStep operating system. The phone call sows the seeds of Mac OS X and Apple’s rejuvenation.
The talk in question takes place between NeXT’s Garrett L. Rice and Ellen Hancock, Apple’s chief technology officer. While just the first formal step in a long process, it ultimately leads to Apple buying NeXT, the creation of Mac OS X, and Steve Jobs returning to the company he co-founded.
November 24, 1999: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs gets another feather in his cap when Toy Story 2, the sequel to the 1995 Pixar hit, debuts in theaters. It goes on to become the first animated sequel in history to gross more than the original.
While more a piece of Steve Jobs history than Apple history, the release of Toy Story 2 caps a spectacular year for Apple’s interim CEO.
November 12, 1996: Apple lays out a wild plan to get into the restaurant business, saying it will open a chain of Apple Cafes with a touchscreen point-of-sale system. A bit like the company’s future retail stores — but without the computers and iPhones for sale — the Apple restaurants would open in cities around the world.
The first, Apple says, will be a 15,000-square-foot restaurant in Los Angeles, opening in late 1997.
Spoiler alert: None of this happens.
November 7, 1997: Apple releases the Newton MessagePad 2100, the last and best iteration of the company’s early line of handheld devices.
Among its improvements over previous generations, the MessagePad 2100 packs expanded memory, enhanced speed and upgraded communications software. Nevertheless, the Newton’s fate is sealed. Apple CEO Steve Jobs, freshly returned to the company, will scrap the product line within months.
November 4, 1997: Apple unveils its plan to open small “store within a store” areas inside CompUSA outlets around the United States. Apple-trained employees will staff these mini-stores and sing the praises of the Mac and other Apple products.
The move gives Cupertino more control over the way its products are displayed and demoed to consumers. While ultimately disappointing, Apple’s CompUSA experiment paves the way for the flagship Apple Stores that will launch four years later and become the world’s most profitable retail outlets.
October 27, 1999: Dell Computer overtakes Apple in the educational market, stealing Cupertino’s crown as the top company selling computers to U.S. schools. Dell’s cheap Windows PCs make sense for schools looking to buy computers without breaking the bank.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, still in the process of rebuilding Apple after its near-collapse in the 1990s, faces heavy criticism for ignoring one of the company’s strongest markets.
October 21, 1991: Apple launches its PowerBook 100 series Macs. The lightweight laptops quickly become one of the most important tech gadgets of all time.
These devices will almost single-handedly turn notebook computers into mainstream technology. Apple’s subsequent success in this category — whether it’s the current MacBooks or even the rise of mobile devices like the iPhone — owes a huge debt to the PowerBook 100 series.
October 19, 1992: Apple launches the Mac IIvx, the first Macintosh computer to ship with a metal case and, more importantly, an internal CD-ROM drive.
The last of the Macintosh II series, the Mac IIvx experiences one of the more notorious price adjustments in Apple history. Within five months of shipping, Apple slashes the computer’s launch price of $2,949 to $1,899. That’s one way to reward early adopters!