Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak began Apple in a storage within the Nineteen Seventies.
At the moment, the maker of MacBooks, iPhones, and AirPods is valued at almost $4 trillion
Apple is among the world’s most iconic manufacturers. Within the Nineteen Eighties, the corporate, which initially operated out of a storage, helped revolutionize the non-public laptop trade with its Macintosh lineup. Within the 2000s, it took benefit of the digital revolution with the introduction of the iPod music participant. In the identical decade, the world was made moveable with the iPhone, a cell phone that took pictures, despatched emails and textual content messages, and calculated the prices of products, amongst different duties.
Apple grew to become synonymous with model and stays so for many who don’t desire a cellphone powered by Alphabet’s Android working system.
Right here’s a quick historical past of Apple, adopted by a timeline of key occasions within the firm’s historical past.
We’ve divided Apple’s historical past into 5 common phases based mostly on modifications in firm management.
Steve Jobs, decrease proper, speaks in entrance of a file {photograph} of himself and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in the course of the firm’s early days.Picture by Bloomberg on Getty Pictures
Steve Jobs was the visionary founder, whereas Steve Wozniak was the technical genius who constructed the muse for the corporate’s {hardware} and software program improvement. Initially, the 2 faculty dropouts constructed computer systems in Jobs’ dad and mom’ storage with the aim of creating private computer systems smaller and extra user-friendly.
They established Apple Laptop in 1976, beginning with Apple I board kits that lacked a keyboard and monitor. Quickly, these can be added on, and their Apple II model grew to become well-liked with households that didn’t need an IBM PC within the early Nineteen Eighties.
Whereas Wozniak was restricted in his means to suppose past the {hardware} and software program elements of the PC, Jobs envisioned a pc that might be extra user-friendly, and he borrowed Xerox’s use of a mouse and graphical consumer interface to develop the Macintosh, which included a monitor and a central processing unit right into a single casing.
In contrast to different PCs that customers needed to work together with by way of a command line, the Macintosh’s software program functions may very well be run with the clicking of a mouse, separate from the keyboard. By the tip of the Nineteen Eighties, Macintoshes can be in a whole bunch of hundreds of properties and faculties throughout the nation.
The Macintosh was Apple’s most profitable product line in the course of the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, however executives have been unable to duplicate that success within the post-Steve Jobs period.Picture by AAA-pictures on Getty Pictures
Whereas Jobs demanded perfection and tended to micromanage tasks, Apple’s board was averse to Jobs’ seeming lack of administration experience, and he was quickly forged to the wayside in 1985 to make room for John Sculley, a seasoned govt from PepsiCo, who lacked information of the pc market however knew what shoppers wished.
Finally, mismanagement, too many product strains, and the licensing of Apple’s OS to different PC makers have been problems with concern for buyers, and the declining inventory value mirrored this. The corporate failed to duplicate the success of its Macintosh laptop line with different merchandise.
In 1997, Jobs returned to Apple, which was then getting ready to chapter after years of poor administration and failure to grab progress alternatives with new merchandise. He satisfied Invoice Gates to put money into the corporate, and in August, Microsoft acquired a reported 18.1 million shares in Apple—a stake of round 5% or 7%—valued at $150 million by way of a personal placement. The transfer helped stave off chapter and boosted investor confidence that Apple remained a viable firm. Had Microsoft held onto these shares as a substitute of promoting in 2003 after the collapse of the dot-com bubble, the stake—adjusted for inventory splits—can be valued at about $531 billion as of late 2025.
In 1998, Jobs unveiled a brand new line of Macintosh computer systems, together with one which housed a monitor and CPU in a single casing—a throwback to its 1985 introduction.
Jobs capitalized on the digital revolution introduced on by the web. In 2001, he revamped the PowerBook lineup with the discharge of a smooth, titanium casing in January—a prelude to the favored MacBook line. In November, Apple launched the iPod, a conveyable MP3 participant, and it grew to become an immediate hit.
Initially, to obtain music and switch songs to the iPod, customers would wish to purchase Apple’s computer systems. Cell-first quickly grew to become a catchphrase amongst corporations, with Apple main the best way within the age of moveable digital units. A slew of shiny machines and TV commercials selling them captivated shoppers and made Apple synonymous with coolness.
Whereas Jobs wasn’t shy about launching a brand new product, he didn’t hesitate to tug the plug. Certainly one of his key selections was to let Jony Ive take artistic management of Apple’s product designs to draw clients.
Within the 2000s, Apple set the tempo on how tech corporations may capitalize on altering client developments. The iPhone could be Jobs’ crowning achievement—packing the performance of calling, texting, taking pictures, and sending e mail right into a smartphone. Followers took to the iPad quickly after, and different stylish merchandise would observe.
Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner exhibits off the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch in 2014. The Apple Watch was the corporate’s first new product underneath Prepare dinner, who later led Apple to turn out to be the primary trillion-dollar firm by market worth.Justin Sullivan/Getty Pictures
Jobs died from pancreatic most cancers in 2011, and he picked Tim Prepare dinner, the corporate’s chief working officer, to succeed him as CEO. Certainly one of Jobs’ parting needs for Prepare dinner and the remainder of the corporate’s management was to not query what he would do after he handed away, however moderately to suppose on their very own about what’s proper.
Apple took off throughout Prepare dinner’s tenure. New merchandise, together with the Watch and AirPods, have been launched, and Prepare dinner led the corporate to turn out to be the world’s first trillion-dollar firm by market worth.
Prepare dinner helped to increase Apple’s manufacturing technique into China, and the corporate targeted on scaling manufacturing there. A whole bunch of tens of millions of iPhones, iPads, and computer systems can be made in China. This shift towards Chinese language manufacturing drew criticism from President Trump, who urged Apple to deliver its manufacturing to the U.S.
In 2025, Apple, feeling this strain, dedicated to investing $600 billion over the subsequent 4 years as a part of an initiative to fabricate a few of its merchandise domestically. The “American Manufacturing Program” would associate with hundreds of suppliers within the 50 states, supporting over 450,000 provider and associate jobs. Within the subsequent 4 years, Apple plans to rent 20,000 folks within the U.S. with a concentrate on analysis and improvement, silicon engineering, software program improvement, and AI and machine studying.
Here’s a timeline of key occasions in Apple’s nearly 50-year historical past.
1976: Apple Laptop is based on April 1. In July, the Apple I, a pre-assembled circuit board, is launched and sells for a retail value of $666.66.
1977: The Apple II, a unit that now homes a circuit board, keyboard, and energy provide, is launched. A later unit consists of Visicalc, a spreadsheet program, and it turns into well-liked with enterprise house owners. Two years later, an up to date model, the Apple Plus, is bought, and in 1983, one other improved model, the Apple IIe is launched, and tens of millions of items are bought.
1980: Apple has its preliminary public providing and trades for the primary time on the Nasdaq Inventory Market in December. Its IPO is reportedly the most important since Ford went public in 1956. A $10,000 funding in Apple on the primary day of buying and selling can be valued at $19 million in late 2025.
1984: Apple releases Macintosh, a revolutionary PC that housed a monitor and processing unit and featured a mouse and graphical consumer interface. The Mac firmly cements Apple as a frontrunner within the PC market, forcing Microsoft to observe swimsuit with its personal graphical interface, often known as Home windows, in 1985.
1985: Wozniak, citing variations of opinion relating to Apple’s course, steps down from the corporate in February and sells nearly all of his 7% stake alongside the best way. Inside months of “the Woz” leaving, Jobs is eliminated as CEO by the board of administrators, and John Sculley, the PepsiCo CEO whom Jobs recruited to succeed him, takes over.
1987: Apple makes its first dividend cost. The corporate additionally conducts its first inventory cut up, turning each current share into two shares, every value half the worth.
1989: Apple releases its cell PC, the Macintosh Moveable. Two years later, it could launch the PowerBook, its well-liked laptop computer lineup.
1993: Apple rides on the coattails of Jobs’ success with the introduction of the Macintosh and its many variations, however fails to innovate. Newer merchandise—together with the Newton MessagePad, a touchscreen notepad that was forward of its time—fail to catch on with shoppers. Sculley is pressured out amid declining income and misplaced market share to Microsoft, its greatest competitor within the working system realm. He’s changed by Michael Spindler, former president of Apple Europe.
1995: Apple licenses its Mac OS and Macintosh ROM to PC makers, straying from Apple’s direct management of its {hardware} and software program, in a determined try to lift money and curb additional lack of market share. Dividend funds are halted as the corporate’s money pile dwindles.
1996: Spindler fails to stem declining profitability and a falling inventory value, and he’s changed by board member Gilbert Amelio, the CEO of Nationwide Semiconductor, a chipmaker. To enhance its OS, Amelio led a $400 million buyout of Jobs’ laptop firm, NeXT.
1997: Jobs orchestrates his return to Apple, takes a token $1 wage, and replaces Amelio in July. After a 12-year absence, he makes daring strikes to deliver Apple from the brink of chapter, together with halting licensing agreements for its OS.
In August, Microsoft buys a reported 18.1 million shares in Apple, valued at $150 million, by way of a personal placement.
1998: Jobs begins to refresh its lineup of Macintosh computer systems with the colourful assortment of desktop PCs, the iMac and the Energy Macintosh G3, and its laptops, the iBook. Gross sales rise considerably.
1999: Buyers’ confidence in Jobs’ management grows. Apple’s market capitalization reaches $10 billion, a pointy turnaround from $2 billion a 12 months earlier, in line with knowledge compiled by CompaniesMarketCap.com.
2000: As Apple’s shares proceed to rise, the corporate undertakes a 2-for-1 inventory cut up (and would once more do the identical in 2005).
2001: The PowerBook, that includes a smooth titanium casing, is launched in January. To showcase its merchandise and to make them simply accessible for buy, Apple opens its first retailer. (In 2025, Apple will finally have about 500 shops worldwide, of which just about half are based mostly within the U.S.)
In November, Apple releases the iPod, a conveyable MP3 participant, and it turns into an immediate hit.
2007: Apple releases the iPhone, which might turn out to be the corporate’s greatest income generator, overtaking laptop and iPod gross sales. Apple’s money reserves attain $15.4 billion, and the corporate has no debt—in stark distinction to Apple’s dismal monetary scenario only a decade earlier.
2009: Apple’s market worth exceeds $100 billion.
2010: The iPad is launched, and it turns into one other main success story for Apple.
2011: Jobs dies from pancreatic most cancers, and Tim Prepare dinner, the chief working officer, succeeds him as CEO.
2010: Apple buys Siri, an organization that might later function its namesake digital assistant.
Extra on firm timelines:
2012: Apple’s cashpile exceeds $100 billion, and it resumes paying a dividend, its first since 1995. The corporate begins shopping for again its inventory, and it could later face calls from activist buyers, together with Carl Icahn, to repurchase extra on the view that Apple was undervalued.
2014: At $645 a share, Apple decides to go for a 7-for-1 inventory cut up. It’s a transfer that might make the corporate extra engaging to small buyers.
2015: The Apple Watch is the primary main new product launched underneath Prepare dinner’s tenure. The accent turns into one other important income.
2016: AirPods are launched and shortly turn out to be a must have accent amongst Apple customers. Berkshire Hathaway, the holding firm led by famed investor Warren Buffett, makes its first buy of Apple inventory.
2018: Apple turns into the primary trillion-dollar firm, as its market capitalization exceeds $1 trillion. Cell merchandise, together with the iPhone and iPad, lead income progress.
President Trump suggests Apple make extra of its merchandise within the U.S., as a part of his America First platform.
2019: Apple releases the AirTag, an adjunct that helps customers find hooked up objects.
2020: Buying and selling at round $500 a share, Apple conducts a 4-for-1 inventory cut up.
2022: The recognition of ChatGPT results in criticism of Apple being gradual to combine the usage of synthetic intelligence (AI) in its services and products.
2024: Apple reportedly abandons a plan, dubbed Venture Titan, to develop an electrical automotive.
2025: Apple commits to investing of $600 billion over the subsequent 4 years to deliver a few of its manufacturing stateside underneath the “American Manufacturing Program.”
In late October 2025, Apple’s market capitalization nears $4 trillion, making it the third most precious firm after Nvidia and Microsoft.
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