April 4, 1975: Microsoft is founded by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The software company destined to become a tech behemoth ā and a major Apple frenemy.
A few years later, Microsoft will break through to the mainstream with Excel and Word, becoming a key developer of Macintosh software. Then comes the Windows operating system, looking suspiciously Apple-like. After Windows arrives, Microsoft and Apple will embark upon a long-running feud.
March 23, 1992: The āheadlessā Macintosh LC II arrives, wooing value-oriented customers with a beguiling mix of updated internals and budget pricing.
Designed to take up minimal space underneath a monitor (sold separately), the Mac LC II is destined to become a hit. In retrospect, the entry-level machine is roughly analogous to todayās Mac mini.
March 20, 1997: Apple launches its Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, a futuristic, special-edition Mac thatās ahead of its time in every way. Not part of any established Mac line, it brings a look (and a price!) unlike anything else available ā and Apple delivers them to buyers in a limo!
And yet the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh promptly bombs. Today, itās a collectorās piece.
March 14, 1994: Apple introduces the Power Macintosh 7100, a midrange Mac that will become memorable for two reasons.
The first is that it is among the first Macs to use new PowerPC processors. The second is that it results in Apple getting taken to court by astronomer Carl SaganĀ āĀ not once but twice.
March 7, 1989: Apple introduces the Macintosh Portrait Display, a 15-inch vertical grayscale monitor designed to show full pages on a single screen. Intended for word processing and desktop publishing, the $1,099 monitor (plus $599 for an additional video card to run it) works with any Macintosh.
Something of a rarity today, the Macintosh Portrait Display is an early example of the supersized displays Apple would release years later.
March 2, 1987: Three years after releasing the original Macintosh 128K, Apple launches a properĀ sequel, the almighty Macintosh II.
Although four Mac models already have been released, the definitive, full-number name of the Macintosh II makes clear that this is a major upgrade for the product line. With a massive hardware boost, optional color display (!) and a new open architecture,Ā it does not disappoint!
March 1, 1991: Apple introduces the Apple IIe Card, a $199 peripheral that lets users turn Macs into fully functioning Apple IIe computers.
The ability to emulate the popular Apple IIe on a Mac brings Appleās two operating systems side by side for the first time. While not quite the equivalent of Apple letting you run iOS on a Mac today, itās not a world away.
February 28, 2006: Apple introduces an upgraded Mac mini, an affordable computer powered by an Intel processor.
A āheadlessā Mac for entry-level users, itās the third Apple computer to switch to Intel chips. Oh, and it makes one heckuva media player when plugged into a television set.
February 22, 2001: The iMac Special Edition, sporting wild designs that would make a hippie happy, puts a wacky face on the computer that saved Appleās bacon at the turn of the century. The Flower Power iMac and Blue Dalmatian iMac evoke tie-dye shirts or other unconventional ā60s-era imagery.
A far cry from the super-serious, aluminum-heavy industrial design that will come to define Apple in coming years, these colorfully patterned iMacs stand out as some of the most irreverent computers Cupertino ever dreamed up. (Cāmon, when was a real Dalmatian blue?)
Under the consciously tacky exteriors, a pretty darn great iMac G3 hums along.
February 17, 1997: Apple launches the PowerBook 3400, a laptop the company claims is theĀ fastest portable computer in the world.
After a rough few years for the PowerBook, this model throws down the gauntlet to rivals. It packs a PowerPC 603e processor capable of running at speeds up to 240MHz. While speedier Apple laptops will quickly overtake the PowerBook 3400, at the time it can keep up with some impressive desktop Macs.
February 16, 2000: Apple introduces the āPismoā PowerBook, the finest of its G3 laptops. In the view of many, itās one of the best Apple laptops ever.
The Pismo PowerBook is the first modelĀ without either SCSI or an Apple Desktop Bus connector. Instead, it utilizes a USB port and Appleās Emmy Award-winning FireWire. Optional AirPort wireless support, tremendous battery life, and a gorgeous, curvy design just make this laptop better.
February 13, 1984: The first Macās launch generates enormous excitement from the tech press, as epitomized by an InfoWorld cover story about the Macintosh 128K.
The wave of coverage comes a few weeks after the January 24 release of the Macintosh. But when the press blitz finally arrives, it becomes clear the Mac is a hit.
February 10, 1993: Apple launches the Macintosh Color Classic, the companyās first compact Mac with a color screen.
As the first all-in-one Mac with an integrated color display, and the last U.S. Mac to offer the original modelās compact form factor, this model represents a landmark in the evolution of the Macintosh. A Color Classic unit also happens to become the 10 millionth Macintosh that Apple ships.
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 24, 1984: Apple ships its first Mac, the mighty Macintosh 128K.
Bringing a mouse and graphical user interface to the masses, and heralded by an acclaimed Super Bowl commercial thatās still talked about today, the first-gen Mac will quickly become one of the most important personal computers ever released.
January 23, 1985: Apple introduces The Macintosh Office, a combination of hardware and software that represents the companyās first real attempt at cracking the business market dominated by IBM.
Macintosh Office allows Macs to talk to one another. And Apple introduces amazing new devices like the LaserWriter printer that work with the business-oriented platform. Sadly, things wonāt work out quite as Apple hopes.
January 20, 1985: Attempting to build on the triumph of the previous yearās ā1984ā Macintosh commercial, Apple deploys another dystopian Super Bowl commercial. The new Apple ad, titled āLemmings,ā promotes the companyās upcoming business platform, called The Macintosh Office.
The dark, 30-second spot depicts blindfolded executives marching to their doom. The widely reviled ad will go down in history as one of Appleās biggest stinkers.
January 19, 1989: Apple introduces the Macintosh SE/30, arguably the greatest of the classic compact Macs with black-and-white screens.
When you picture the ideal 1980s Macintosh, this is likely the machine that comes to mind. And for good reason!
January 17, 1984: A week before its famous airing during Super Bowl XVIII, Appleās iconic ā1984ā commercial debuts as a trailer in movie theaters. To hype its revolutionary new Macintosh computer, Apple buys several months of promotion from theatrical ad distributor ScreenVision.
Cupertinoās sci-fi-tinged ā1984ā spot ā which depicts a sledgehammer-wielding freedom fighter taking on a Big Brother figure supposed to represent IBM ā gets such a favorable audience reaction that some theater owners continue to roll the ad after Appleās contract ends.
January 16, 1986: Apple introduces the Macintosh Plus, its third Mac model and the first to be released after Steve Jobs was forced out of the company the previous year.
The Mac Plus boasts an expandable 1MB of RAM and a double-sided 800KB floppy drive. And itās the first Macintosh to include a SCSI port, which serves as the main way of attaching a Mac to other devices (at least until Apple abandons the tech on the original iMac G3 upon Jobsā return).
January 10, 2006: Steve Jobs unveils the original 15-inch MacBook Pro, Appleās thinnest, fastest and lightest laptop yet.
Building on the previous PowerBook G4 laptop, the new laptop adds dual-core Intel processors for the first time. The MacBook Pro immediately makes waves in the tech community. And did we mention itsĀ awesome MagSafe connector?
November 17, 1995: Apple releases the first beta version of its new Mac OS Copland operating system to approximately 50 developers. Not so much a Mac OS update as a totally new operating system, it offers next-gen features designed to help Apple take on the then-mighty Windows 95.
Sadly, Copland OS will never reach the public.
April 3, 1995: Apple introduces the Macintosh LC 580, an affordable computer offering good multimedia capabilities on a budget.
It quickly proves popular in the educational market. If you used a Mac in the classroom in the mid-1990s, thereās a good chance it was this very model!
September 19, 1988: Apple debuts the Macintosh IIx, an incremental upgrade of its fantastic Macintosh II.
The updated model is the first Mac to come with Appleās new, improved 1.44MB floppy disk SuperDrive. It also packs a hefty price tag of between $7,769 and $9,300 ā the equivalent of $15,817 to $18,934 today.
So donāt evenĀ tryĀ complaining about the cost of an iMac, circa 2016!
August 23, 2002: Apple ships Mac OS X Jaguar, the third major release of OS X and the first to publicly adopt the cat-themed code name it had been known byĀ inside the company.
The $129 operating system is well-received by Mac users, who correctly view it as the most stable version of OS X yet ā and with a few neat features, to boot.