June 4, 1997: Mac clone-maker Power Computing hits its high point as the companyās top exec reaches an agreement with Apple concerning the forthcoming Mac OS 8.
The deal allows the company to start making moves toward an IPO as the fastest-growing PC company of the decade. Things donāt turn out well, though.
June 3, 2011: iOS overtakes Research in Motionās BlackBerry operating system for the first time, with Appleās mobile operating system inching past BlackBerry OS.
While Android remains comfortably in the lead in terms of market share, the news marks the beginning of the end for BlackBerry as a smartphone powerhouse.
June 2, 2014: Apple shows off Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite for the first time at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Following the Jony Ive-redesigned iOS 7, Yosemite boasts an aesthetic change that brings Appleās desktop computers closer than ever to the look of the companyās mobile software.
Named after Yosemite National Park, the update follows the previous yearās Mavericks as the second Mac operating system named after a California landmark.
June 1, 1978: Apple launches the Disk II floppy drive, one of the companyās most important peripherals ever.
The best floppy drive available at the time, Disk II solves the Apple II computerās most glaring weakness ā a lack of storage. It also helps establish Appleās flair for handsome profit margins.
May 31, 2013: The Chicago Sun-Times fires all 28 of its photographers, with the goal of training its staff to shoot photos using iPhones instead. Pulitzer Prize winner John H. White is among those who lose their jobs.
The move is significant not just because of what it says about the declining newspaper industry. It also spotlights the iPhoneās growing acceptance as a professional camera.
May 30, 2013: Apple marks the sale of the 100 millionth iPod touch by launching a new, stripped-down model with a budget price of $229.
The 16GB music player lacks some features of its high-end siblings. However, the smaller price tag makes it appealing to new customers.
May 29, 1992: Apple demonstrates its Newton MessagePad for the first time, showing how the upcoming PDA can be used to order a pizza and pull off other time-saving tricks.
Hailed by Apple CEO John Sculley as ānothing less than a revolution,ā the Newton is Appleās first major new product since the original Macintosh shipped eight years earlier. During the first Newton demo at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, Apple shows how people can customize a pizza by moving topping icons on a symbolic pie. Then they can fax the order straight from the device.
May 28, 2010: Customers across Europe and Asia queue up to buy the iPad when the international launch date for Appleās original tablet finally arrives.
The reason for the gap between the iPadās U.S. launch in early April and its international debut more than a month later? Unexpectedly large demand for the groundbreaking device.
May 27, 1986: An exiled Steve Jobs takes a shot at Apple after the company ditches Chiat/Day, the ad agency that created the iconic ā1984ā Macintosh ad. In a full-page ad published in The Wall Street Journal, Jobs says the move to competing ad agency BBDO shows that ācaretakersā rather than ābuildersā now run Apple.
From his perspective, it confirms that the company he co-founded has lost its revolutionary spirit.
May 26, 2010: In a massive milestone, Apple passes Microsoft to become the worldās most valuable technology company for the first time.
The changing of the guard proves particularly amazing given that, just 15 years earlier, Apple looked close to dead, while Microsoft dominated the tech world thanks to Windows 95.
May 25, 2010: Apple opens an investigation into a string of suicides at Foxconn, its Chinese manufacturing partner for assembling iPhones.
After reports of a ninth death at a Foxconn factory, Apple says it is āindependently evaluatingā Foxconnās response. Cupertino vows to take a long, hard look at the facilities that manufacture its products. Itās a tough challenge for Apple to deal with ā and CEO Steve Jobsā controversial comments donāt exactly help.
May 24, 2013: Apple begins phasing out the option to download movie trailers from its once enormously popular iTunes Movie Trailers website.
The move signals a major change in the way people consume digital content as the internet evolves. Downloads will continue to decline, as streaming services like YouTube and Netflix pick up steam.
May 23, 1985: Bitter about being ousted from his position running the Macintosh division, Steve Jobs attempts to stage a boardroom coup to seize control of Apple from CEO John Sculley.
The 30-year-old Apple co-founder plans to overthrow Sculley while the CEO is away onĀ a business trip in China. Unfortunately for Jobs, he makes a critical mistake when he tries to recruit the support of Apple executive Jean-Louis GassĆ©e, who informs Sculley of the plot.
Itās the beginning of the end for Jobsā first tenure at Apple.
May 22, 1997: Apple spins off its Newton division, creating an independent company to manage the line of personal digital assistants. Newton Inc.ās first job? Selling the MessagePad 2000 PDA, the best Newton device yet.
Apple also gave Newton Inc. a mandate to develop new technologies and market existing ones. āWe have a solid business plan and a strong management team in place to optimize the value of Newton technology for corporate users and take Newton technology into a new era,ā says Sandy Benett, former vice president of Appleās Newton Systems Group and chief operating officer of the new venture.
Instead, it turns out to be the beginning of the end for the ahead-of-its-time Apple PDA.
May 21, 2010: Apple quietly ends its award-winning āGet a Macā ad campaign. Debuting in 2006, theĀ ads starred actor Justin Long as the cool, youthful Mac. Comedian John Hodgman portrayed the stuffy, awkward PC.
Alongside the āThink Differentā and iPod āSilhouetteā campaigns, āGet a Macā will become one of the most fondly remembered extended advertising blitzes in Apple history.
May 20, 1988: Apple launches AppleLink Personal Edition, a user-facing online service that lets customers connect using a Mac-style user interface.
Years before Apple will get serious about its internet efforts, AppleLink offered a glimpse of things to come. Unfortunately for Apple, it did not become quite the hit many hoped!
May 19, 2001: Apple revolutionizes the world of computer shopping by opening its first two Apple Stores. Located in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Glendale, California, the new outlets represent the culmination of a long-term dream for Apple.
A couple of decades later, Apple will expand its retail operations to more than 500 stores in 26 countries and regions around the world. And they will become some of the most profitable retail outlets anywhere on a dollars-per-square-foot basis.
May 18, 2006: The world ā and, more specifically, the Apple-watching press ā gets its first glimpse of the swanky new Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City.
Previously hidden behind a black plastic wrapper during development, that all changes a day before the storeās grand opening. Workers remove the covering to reveal a 32-foot glass cube adorned with a floating, white Apple logo. At 10 a.m., members of the press get an exclusive tour of the new venue.
May 17, 1983: John Sculley takes the helm as Appleās third president and CEO. The former Pepsi-Cola boss is short on tech experience but long on marketing, which will become increasingly important as the personal computer revolution ramps up.
Steve Jobs personally lured Sculley to Apple using one of the most famous lines in the history of business. āDo you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water,ā Jobs asked Sculley, āor do you want a chance to change the world?ā
May 17, 1978: Steve Jobsā first child, a daughter named Lisa Brennan-Jobs, is born. The child of the 23-year-old Apple co-founder and his high school girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan, Lisaās parents are no longer a couple when she comes into the world.
Several shameful years follow in which Jobs denies paternity of his daughter, before they eventually reconcile.
May 16, 1994: Apple launches the PowerBook 540c, one of the best laptops in the companyās history.
Part of the innovative 500 series of PowerBooks, the 540c is the laptop to own in 1994. Blisteringly fast, packed with innovative features, and offering the best notebook display on the market, itās a triumph on every level. Although for $5,539 (over $11,900 in todayās money), it had better beā¦
May 15, 2001: Apple CEO Steve Jobs flips the script on the dreadful experience of computer shopping, unveiling an ambitious plan to open 25 innovative Apple stores across the United States. The first ones, located at Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, and the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California, are set to open later that week.
However, this new Apple initiative is about much more than just a couple of retail outlets. Itās a radical reinvention of tech retail that will change the way computers get sold.
May 14, 1992: Apple co-founder Steve Jobsā company NeXT runs into trouble as it loses a crucial deal with Businessland after the computer retailer closes its stores.
It comes at a time when NeXTās luck is going from bad to worse. The Businessland closure marks one of the lowest points in Jobsā career ā before everything starts to turn around again.
May 13, 1991: Apple releases System 7, the biggest upgrade to the Mac operating system since the original Mac shipped in 1984. The new Mac OS is whip-fast, beautiful to look at, and boasts a bevy of innovative features.
The longest-lasting of Appleās classic Mac operating systems, it will remain current until System 8 replaces it in 1997.
May 12, 2005: Longtime Apple frenemy Bill Gates tells a German newspaper that Apple may have hit it big with the iPod, but that its success isnāt going to last forever.
The reason for his take on the iPodās future? Mobile phones are going to steal the music playerās market share.
The good news for Gates is that he was right on the money. The bad news for Microsoft is that Apple cannibalized itself by making the iPhone. And Appleās smartphone became even more successful than the iPod.