TIAH: Macs - page 2

January 17, 1984: A week before its famous airing during Super Bowl XVIII, Apple’s iconic “1984” 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.

Cupertino’s sci-fi-tinged “1984” spot — which depicts a sledgehammer-wielding freedom fighter taking on a Big Brother figure supposed to represent IBM — gets such a favorable audience reaction that some theater owners continue to roll the ad after Apple’s 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 it’s 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 Jobs’ return).

January 10, 2006: Steve Jobs unveils the original 15-inch MacBook Pro, Apple’s 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 its awesome MagSafe connector?

November 18, 2003: Apple debuts a new iMac G4 sporting a 20-inch screen, the company’s biggest flat-panel all-in-one computer ever.

The introduction makes an already superb Mac even better. Somehow, though, the additional screen real estate makes the new Mac weigh twice as much as the 17-inch model.

November 16, 1982: Intent on giving his company’s upcoming personal computer a memorable name, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs pens an impassioned plea to audio company McIntosh Laboratory. In the letter, he asks permission to use the name “Macintosh.”
You can probably guess how the resulting discussions turned out!

November 8, 1984: After initial Mac sales prove disappointing, Apple CEO John Sculley dreams up the “Test Drive a Macintosh” marketing campaign to encourage people to give the revolutionary new computer a chance.
The promotional strategy advises people to drop into their local retailer and “borrow” a Macintosh for 24 hours. The idea is that, by the time potential customers need to return the Mac, they will have built up a bond with it — and realized they can’t live without one of Apple’s computers.
While 200,000 would-be customers take advantage of the offer, Apple dealers absolutely hate it.

November 3, 2010: Apple prepares to launch the Mac App Store, publicly accepting app submissions from registered developers — and kicking off a gold rush among coders.

After witnessing the enormous sums of money raked in by early entrants in the iOS App Store, the easy-to-use digital storefront that revolutionized software distribution on the iPhone, developers flood Apple with new Mac apps.

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 20, 2009: Apple goes big with its iMac redesign, introducing the first 27-inch all-in-one Mac. The sleek, sophisticated aluminum unibody design looks so good that the iMac will remain virtually unchanged for years.

As with the first Macintosh with a built-in CD-ROM drive, the iMac’s 27-inch display represents a sea change for tech. The big, beautiful screen signals that larger displays need no longer remain the domain of pampered professionals.

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!

October 17, 1996: Apple launches its Performa 6360 Mac in North America, sold elsewhere as the Power Macintosh 6300/160.

An impressive multimedia Mac, the Performa 6360 comes bundled with a TV/video card. It also lets users make phone calls, listen to CDs, and watch television — all of which seemed amazingly futuristic at the time. As Macs went, it was pretty affordable, too.

October 10, 1993: Apple ships its Macintosh Color Classic II, the last of the 9-inch compact Macs.

Also known as the Performa 275, the Color Classic II will eventually become something of a collector’s item, since Apple released it only in Canada, Asia and Europe.

September 30, 2002: Apple introduces iSync, a tool that lets Mac users synchronize their address books and calendars with their cellphones, iPods and Palm OS-compatible handheld organizers via Bluetooth.

“iSync is the beginning of something really big,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs says in a press release announcing the iSync public beta. “With the push of a button, iSync synchronizes the address book and calendar on your Mac with those on your mobile phone.”

It represents a big leap forward in the ability of computers and mobile devices to talk with one another. And it hints at some of Apple’s later advances.

August 31, 2004: Apple launches the iMac G5, a distinctive, white plastic computer that looks a little like the world’s biggest iPod.

Housed in a 2-inch-thick enclosure reminiscent of Apple’s Cinema Displays, the new all-in-one machine bridges the gap between the pleasing plasticity of the iconic original iMac and the minimalist form factor of the ultra-slim aluminum Macs that will follow.

“Just like the iPod redefined portable digital music players, the new iMac G5 redefines what users expect from a consumer desktop,” says Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a press release. “With the entire system, including a gorgeous 17- or 20-inch display, just two inches thin, a lot of people will be wondering ‘where did the computer go?’”

August 25, 1995: Apple releases the PowerBook 5300, the Mac laptop that will save the world from alien invaders in the 1996 blockbuster movie Independence Day.

The computer will make many more big-screen appearances, too. See some of the laptop’s most high-profile Hollywood cameos below.

August 15, 1998: The original iMac — Apple’s brightly colored, translucent Macintosh relaunch — goes on sale to a rabid audience. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs‘ first major new product since returning to Cupertino, the internet-ready iMac G3 line will cement his legacy as a forward-thinking tech visionary.

The all-in-one computer also introduces the world to the design talents of Jony Ive — and pretty much saves Apple in the process.

Just another day at the office, eh?

August 1, 1989: Apple gives the Macintosh SE a storage bump, courtesy of the new SuperDrive in the new Mac SE FDHD. The high-density floppy disks the SuperDrive uses offer an astonishing 1.4MB of storage.

In terms of portable storage, it’s a big step up for most Mac owners. The HD floppy disks compare very favorably to the 400KB single side double density (SSDD) disks and 800KB double side double density (DDSD) disks in use at the time.

July 29, 1993: Apple releases the Macintosh Centris 660av, a computer packed with innovative audiovisual features. These include an AppleVision monitor with microphone and speakers, and a port that can work as a modem with a telecom adapter. It also comes with PlainTalk, the first Apple software to recognize and synthesize speech.

At the relatively low price of $2,489, this was one of the first great affordable multimedia Macs.

July 26, 2005: Apple debuts the opaque white iBook G4, the last of its laptops to launch under the iBook name.

The portable computer adds Apple’s scrolling trackpad for the first time. It also incorporates Bluetooth 2.0 as a standard feature, and becomes the last Apple laptop with a PowerPC chip.

July 25, 1989: Apple suffers a major setback in its copyright-infringement lawsuit against Microsoft for allegedly stealing the Mac’s “look and feel” to create Windows.

Apple sued Microsoft on 189 counts of copyright infringement relating to Windows 2.0.3. The judge overseeing the case throws out 179 of them. This paves the way for Microsoft’s dominance over Apple in the coming decade.

July 21, 1999: The iBook, Apple’s colorful clamshell laptop that’s a hybrid of the iMac and the PowerBook, arrives and launches a Wi-Fi revolution.

Apple’s new AirPort networking card is the key component that delivers cable-free internet access to the masses for the first time.

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, there’s 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 Apple’s new, improved 1.44MB floppy disk SuperDrive. It also packs a hefty price tag of between $7,769 and $9,300 — the equivalent of $15,817 to $18,934 today.

So don’t even try 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 by 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 — and with a few neat features, to boot.