Apple Computer
Encyclopedia
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation
that designs and markets consumer electronics
, computer software
, and personal computer
s. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh
line of computers, the iPod
, the iPhone
and the iPad
. Apple software includes the Mac OS X
operating system
; the iTunes
media browser; the iLife
suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork
suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio
, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio
, a suite of music production tools; the Safari
web browser; and iOS
, a mobile operating system. , the company operates 357 retail stores in ten countries, and an online store
where hardware and software products are sold. , Apple has recently been the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization, and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.
Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California
, and incorporated January 3, 1977, the company was previously named Apple Computer, Inc., for its first 30 years, but removed the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007, to reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics
market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. , Apple had 46,600 full time employees and 2,800 temporary full time employees worldwide and had worldwide annual sales of $65.23 billion.
For reasons as various as its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its distinctive advertising campaigns
, Apple has established a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. This includes a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand, particularly in the United States. Fortune
magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. The company has however received widespread criticism for its contractors' labor, environmental, and business practices.
Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs
, Steve Wozniak
, and Ronald Wayne
, to sell the Apple I
personal computer kit. They were hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club
. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard
(with CPU, RAM
, and basic textual-video chips)—less than what is today considered a complete personal computer. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($ in dollars, adjusted for inflation.)
Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977 without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multi-millionaire Mike Markkula
provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple.
The Apple II
was introduced on April 16, 1977 at the first West Coast Computer Faire
. It differed from its major rivals, the TRS-80
and Commodore PET
, because it came with character cell based color graphics and an open
architecture
. While early models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk
drive and interface, the Disk II
.
The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app
" of the business world—the VisiCalc
spreadsheet
program. VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II, and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II—compatibility with the office. According to Brian Bagnall, Apple exaggerated its sales figures and was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.
By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the ill-fated Apple III
in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM
and Microsoft
in the business and corporate computing market.
Jobs and several Apple employees including Jef Raskin
visited Xerox PARC
in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto
. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares (800,000 split-adjusted shares) of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share. Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI
), and development of a GUI began for the Apple Lisa
.
When Apple went public, it generated more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company
in 1956 and instantly created more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history.
Steve Jobs began working on the Apple Lisa
in 1978 but in 1982 he was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting, and took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh
. A turf war broke out between Lisa's "corporate shirts" and Jobs' "pirates" over which product would ship first and save Apple. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a GUI, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.
In 1984, Apple next launched the Macintosh. Its debut was announced by the now famous $1.5 million television commercial "1984"
. It was directed by Ridley Scott
, aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII
on January 22, 1984, and is now considered a watershed event for Apple's success and a "masterpiece".
The Macintosh initially sold well, but follow-up sales were not strong due to its high price and limited range of software titles. The machine's fortunes changed with the introduction of the LaserWriter
, the first PostScript
laser printer
to be offered at a reasonable price, and PageMaker, an early desktop publishing
package. The Mac was particularly powerful in this market due to its advanced graphics capabilities, which had necessarily been built in to create the intuitive Macintosh GUI. It has been suggested that the combination of these three products was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market.
In 1985 a power struggle developed between Jobs and CEO John Sculley
, who had been hired two years earlier. The Apple board of directors instructed Sculley to "contain" Jobs and limit his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from his leadership role at Apple. Sculley found out that Jobs had been attempting to organize a putsch
and called a board meeting at which Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties. Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc.
the same year.
Having learned several painful lessons after introducing the bulky Macintosh Portable
in 1989, Apple introduced the PowerBook
in 1991. The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh, but weighed 7.5 kilograms (16.5 lb) with a 12-hour battery life. The same year, Apple introduced System 7
, a major upgrade to the operating system, which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis for Mac OS
until 2001.
The success of the PowerBook and other products brought increasing revenue. For some time, it appeared that Apple could do no wrong, introducing fresh new products and generating increasing profits in the process. The magazine MacAddict named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.
Following the success of the Macintosh LC
, Apple introduced the Centris
line, a low-end Quadra
offering, and the ill-fated Performa line that was sold in several confusing configurations and software bundles to avoid competing with the various consumer outlets such as Sears, Price Club
, and Wal-Mart
, who were the primary dealers for these models. The result was disastrous for Apple as consumers did not understand the difference between models.
During this time Apple experimented with a number of other failed consumer targeted products including digital cameras, portable CD audio players
, speakers, video consoles, and TV appliances
. Enormous resources were also invested in the problem-plagued Newton division
based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts. Ultimately, all of this proved too-little-too-late for Apple as their market share and stock prices continued to slide.
Apple saw the Apple II series
as too expensive to produce, while taking away sales from the low end Macintosh. In 1990, Apple released the Macintosh LC
with a single expansion slot for the Apple IIe Card
to migrate Apple II users to the Macintosh platform. Apple stopped selling the Apple IIe
in 1993.
Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows
, focusing on delivering software to cheap commodity personal computers while Apple was delivering a richly engineered, but expensive, experience. Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response. Instead they sued Microsoft
for using a graphical user interface
similar to the Apple Lisa
in Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation. The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was finally dismissed. At the same time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced by Michael Spindler
.
. Apple had also begun to experiment in providing a Mac-only online portal which they called eWorld
, developed in collaboration with America Online and designed as a Mac-friendly alternative to other online services such as CompuServe
. The Macintosh platform was itself becoming outdated because it was not built for multitasking, and several important software routines were programmed directly into the hardware. In addition, Apple was facing competition from OS/2
and UNIX
vendors like Sun Microsystems
. The Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform, or reworked to run on more powerful hardware.
In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola
in the AIM alliance
. The goal was to create a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform
), which would use IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple's software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind, thus countering Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh
, the first of many Apple computers to use IBM's PowerPC
processor.
In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio
as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs. After multiple failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the Taligent
project, then later with Copland
and Gershwin, Amelio chose to purchase NeXT
and its NeXTSTEP
operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. On July 9, 1997, Gil Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs became the interim CEO and began restructuring the company's product line.
At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office
for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft made a $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock.
On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Online Store
, tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing strategy.
: the iMac
. The iMac design team was led by Jonathan Ive
, who would later design the iPod
and the iPhone
. The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design, and sold almost 800,000 units in its first five months.
Through this period, Apple purchased several companies to create a portfolio of professional and consumer-oriented digital production software. In 1998, Apple announced the purchase of Macromedia
's Final Cut
software, signaling its expansion into the digital video
editing market. The following year, Apple released two video editing products: iMovie
for consumers and, for professionals, Final Cut Pro
, which has gone on to be a significant video-editing program, with 800,000 registered users in early 2007. In 2002 Apple purchased Nothing Real
for their advanced digital compositing
application Shake
, as well as Emagic
for their music productivity application Logic
, which led to the development of their consumer-level GarageBand
application. iPhoto
's release the same year completed the iLife
suite.
Mac OS X
, based on NeXT's OPENSTEP
and BSD Unix was released on March 24, 2001, after several years of development. Aimed at consumers and professionals alike, Mac OS X aimed to combine the stability, reliability and security of Unix
with the ease of use afforded by an overhauled user interface. To aid users in migrating from Mac OS 9
, the new operating system allowed the use of OS 9 applications through Mac OS X's Classic environment
.
On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores
in Virginia and California. Later on July 9 they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring
company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the iPod
portable digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful — over 100 million units were sold within six years. In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store
was introduced, offering online music download
s for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.
Since 2001 Apple's design team has progressively abandoned the use of translucent colored plastics first used in the iMac G3
. This began with the titanium
PowerBook
and was followed by the white polycarbonate
iBook
and the flat-panel iMac
.
At the Worldwide Developers Conference
keynote address on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006. On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro
and iMac
became the first Apple computers to use Intel's Core Duo CPU. By August 7, 2006 Apple had transitioned the entire Mac product line to Intel chips, over one year sooner than announced. The Power Mac, iBook
, and PowerBook
brands were retired during the transition; the Mac Pro
, MacBook
, and MacBook Pro
became their respective successors. On April 29, 2009, The Wall Street Journal
reported that Apple was building its own team of engineers to design microchips.
Apple also introduced Boot Camp to help users install Windows XP
or Windows Vista
on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X.
Apple's success during this period was evident in its stock price. Between early 2003 and 2006, the price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around $6 per share (split-adjusted) to over $80. In January 2006, Apple's market cap surpassed that of Dell
. Nine years prior, Dell's CEO Michael Dell
said that if he ran Apple he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."
Although Apple's market share in computers had grown, it remained far behind competitors using Microsoft Windows, with only about 8% of desktops and laptops in the U.S.
and the Apple TV. The following day, Apple shares hit $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple's share price passed the $100 mark.
In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on the iTunes Store without DRM
(which would allow tracks to be played on third-party players) if record labels would agree to drop the technology. On April 2, 2007, Apple and EMI
jointly announced the removal of DRM technology from EMI's catalog in the iTunes Store, effective in May. Other record labels followed later that year.
In July of the following year, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone
and iPod Touch
. Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and brought in $1 million daily on average, with Jobs speculating that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple. Three months later, it was announced that Apple had become the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.
On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that after over 20 years of attending Macworld, 2009 would be the last year Apple would be attending the Macworld Expo, and that Phil Schiller
would deliver the 2009 keynote in lieu of the expected Jobs. Almost exactly one month later, on January 14, 2009, an internal Apple memo from Jobs announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence
, until the end of June 2009, to allow him to better focus on his health and to allow the company to better focus on its products without having the rampant media speculating about his health. Despite Jobs' absence, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) during the recession with a revenue of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.21 billion.
After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks" Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad runs the same touch based operating system that the iPhone uses and many of the same iPhone apps are compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch even with very little development time before the release. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the US and sold more than 300,000 units on that day and reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week. In May of the same year, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft
for the first time since 1989.
Apple released the fourth generation iPhone
, which introduced video calling, multitasking
, and a new uninsulated
stainless steel
design, which acts as the phone's antenna. Because of this antenna implementation, some iPhone 4 users reported a reduction in signal strength when the phone is held in specific ways. After a large amount of media coverage including mainstream news organizations, Apple held a press conference where they offered buyers a free rubber 'bumper' case, which had been proven to eliminate the signal reduction issue. Later that year Apple again refreshed its iPod
line of MP3 players which introduced a multi-touch
iPod Nano
, iPod Touch
with FaceTime
, and iPod Shuffle
with buttons which brought back the buttons of earlier generations.
In October 2010, Apple shares hit an all-time high, eclipsing $300. Additionally, on October 20, Apple updated their MacBook Air
laptop, iLife
suite of applications, and unveiled Mac OS X Lion
, the latest installment in their Mac OS X operating system
. On January 6, 2011, the company opened their Mac App Store
, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store. Apple was featured in the documentary Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.
took up Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company." Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. In June 2011, Steve Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud
. iCloud is an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing. This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death. It has been argued that Apple has achieved such efficiency in its supply chain that the company operates as a monopsony
(one buyer, many sellers), in that it can dictate terms to its suppliers. Briefly in July 2011, due to the debt-ceiling crisis
, Apple's financial reserves were greater than those of the US Government. On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He was replaced by Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Prior to this, Apple did not have a chairman and instead had two co-lead directors, Andrea Jung
and Arthur D. Levinson
, who continued with those titles.
On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S
, which includes an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, a voice recognition system named Siri
, and cloud-sourced data with iCloud
. One day later, on October 5, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc. The iPhone 4S was officially released on October 14, 2011.
On October 29, 2011, Apple purchased C3 Technologies, a mapping company, for $240 million. C3 is the third mapping company Apple has purchased so far.
Apple also sells a variety of computer accessories for Mac computers including the AirPort
wireless networking products, Time Capsule
, Thunderbolt Display
, Magic Mouse
, Magic Trackpad, Wireless Keyboard
, and the Apple Battery Charger
.
running a modified version of iOS. It offers multi-touch interaction with multimedia formats including newspapers, magazines, ebooks, textbooks, photos, movies, TV shows videos, music, word processing documents, spreadsheets, video games, and most existing iPhone apps. It also includes a mobile version of Safari
for web browsing, as well as access to the App Store, iTunes Library, iBooks Store
, contacts, and notepad. Content is downloadable via Wi-Fi
and optional 3G
service or synced through the user's computer. AT&T
was initially the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad.
On March 2, 2011, Apple introduced an updated iPad model which had a faster processor and two cameras on the front and back respectively. The iPad 2 also added support for optional 3G service provided by Verizon in addition to the existing offering by AT&T. However, the availability of the iPad 2 has been limited as a result of the devastating tsunami
and ensuing earthquake
in Japan in March 2011.
On October 23, 2001, Apple introduced the iPod
digital music player. It has evolved to include various models targeting the wants of different users. The iPod is the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 220 million units shipped . Apple has partnered with Nike
to offer the Nike+iPod
Sports Kit enabling runners to synchronize and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website. Apple currently sells four variants of the iPod.
in January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the long anticipated iPhone
, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone
and iPod. The original iPhone combined a 2.5G quad band GSM
and EDGE
cellular phone with features found in hand held devices, running scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X (dubbed iOS, formerly iPhone OS), with various Mac OS X applications such as Safari
and Mail. It also includes web-based and Dashboard apps such as Google Maps
and Weather. The iPhone features a 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) touch screen display, 4, 8, or 16 GB of memory, Bluetooth
, and Wi-Fi
(both "b" and "g"). The iPhone first became available on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T
contract.
On February 5, 2008, Apple updated the original iPhone to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models. On June 9, 2008, at WWDC
2008, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G would be available on July 11, 2008. This version added support for 3G
networking, assisted-GPS navigation, and a price cut to $199 for the 8 GB version, and $299 for the 16 GB version, which was available in both black and white. The new version was visually different from its predecessor in that it eliminated the flat silver back, and large antenna square for a curved glossy black or white back. Following complaints from many people, the headphone jack was changed from a recessed jack to a flush jack to be compatible with more styles of headphones. The software capabilities changed as well, with the release of the new iPhone came the release of Apple's App Store; the store provided applications for download that were compatible with the iPhone. On April 24, 2009, the App Store surpassed one billion downloads.
On June 8, 2009, at Apple's annual worldwide developers conference, the iPhone 3GS
was announced, providing an incremental update to the device including faster internal components, support for faster 3G speeds, video recording capability, and voice control. On June 7, 2010, at WWDC 2010, the iPhone 4
was announced, which Apple says is its "'biggest leap we've taken" since the original iPhone.
The phone includes an all-new design, 960x640 display, Apple's A4 processor used in the iPad
, a gyroscope
for enhanced gaming, 5MP camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera and FaceTime
video calling. Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, it was realized by consumers that the new iPhone had reception issues. This is due to the stainless steel band around the edge of the device, which also serves as the phones cellular signal and Wi-Fi antenna. The current fix for this issue was a "Bumper Case" for the phone distributed for free to all iPhone 4 owners for a few months. In June 2011, Apple overtook Nokia
to become the world's biggest smartphone maker by volume.
On October 4, 2011, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S
, which was released in the United States
, Canada
, Australia
, United Kingdom
, France
, Germany
, and Japan
on October 14, 2011, with other countries set to follow later in the year. This was the first iPhone model to feature the Apple A5
chip, as well as the first offered on the Sprint
network (joining AT&T and Verizon Wireless
as the United States carriers offering iPhone models). On October 19, 2011, Apple announced an agreement with C Spire Wireless to sell the iPhone 4S with that carrier in the near future, marking the first time the iPhone was officially supported on a regional carrier's network.
Another notable feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri
voice assistant technology, which Apple had acquired in 2010, as well as other features, including an updated 8 megapixel camera with new optics. Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4S phones in the first three days after its release, which made it not only the best iPhone launch in Apple's history, but the most-successful launch of any mobile phone ever.
and component video
, and plays video at a maximum resolution of 720p
. On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV. In September 2009, Apple discontinued the original 40 GB Apple TV and now continues to produce and sell the 160 GB Apple TV. On September 1, 2010, alongside the release of the new line of iPod devices for the year, Apple released a completely redesigned Apple TV. The new device is 1/4 the size, runs quieter, and replaces the need for a hard drive with media streaming from any iTunes library on the network along with 8 GB of flash memory
to cache
media downloaded. Apple with the Apple TV has added another device to its portfolio that runs on its A4 processor along with the iPad and the iPhone. The memory included in the device is the half of the iPhone 4
at 256 MB; the same as the iPad
, iPhone 3GS
, iPod touch
3G, and iPod touch
4G. It has HDMI out as the only video out source. Features include access to the iTunes Store to rent movies and TV shows (purchasing has been discontinued), streaming from internet video sources, including YouTube and Netflix, and media streaming from an iTunes library. Apple also reduced the price of the device to $99.
to run on Macs, Mac OS X
, the latest version being Mac OS X Lion
(version 10.7). Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its Mac OS X operating system. Much of the software Apple develops is bundled with its computers. An example of this is the consumer-oriented iLife software package that bundles iDVD
, iMovie
, iPhoto
, iTunes, GarageBand
, and iWeb
. For presentation, page layout and word processing, iWork
is available, which includes Keynote
, Pages
, and Numbers
. iTunes, QuickTime
media player, Safari
web browser, and Software Update
are available as free downloads for both Mac OS X and Windows
.
Apple also offers a range of professional software titles. Their range of server software includes the operating system Mac OS X Server
; Apple Remote Desktop
, a remote systems management application; WebObjects
, Java EE
Web application server
; and Xsan
, a Storage Area Network
file system. For the professional creative market, there is Aperture for professional RAW
-format photo processing; Final Cut Studio
, a video production suite; Logic
, a comprehensive music toolkit and Shake
, an advanced effects composition program.
Apple also offers online services with MobileMe
(formerly .Mac) that bundles personal web page
s, email
, Groups, iDisk
, backup, iSync
, and Learning Center online tutorials. MobileMe is a subscription-based internet suite that capitalizes on the ability to store personal data on an online server and thereby keep all web-connected devices in sync. Announced at MacWorld Expo 2009, iWork.com
allows iWork users to upload documents for sharing and collaboration.
and Microsoft
. Originally, the company stood in opposition to staid competitors like IBM
by default, thanks to the influence of its founders; Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple was a Fortune 500
company. By the time of the "1984" TV ad
, this trait had become a key way the company attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors.
As the company has grown and been led by a series of chief executives, each with his own idea of what Apple should be, some of its original character has arguably been lost, but Apple still has a reputation for fostering individuality and excellence that reliably draws talented people into its employ, especially after Jobs' return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple Fellows program, awarding individuals who made extraordinary technical or leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple Fellowship has so far been awarded to a few individuals including Bill Atkinson
, Steve Capps
, Rod Holt, Alan Kay
, Guy Kawasaki
, Al Alcorn
, Don Norman, Rich Page
, and Steve Wozniak
.
Numerous employees of Apple have cited that projects without Jobs' involvement often take longer than projects with his involvement. Another presents the image of Jobs "wandering the hall with a flame thrower in hand, asking random people 'do you work on MobileMe
?'".
At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson who was Senior Vice President of Retail Operations until November 1, 2011, was responsible for site selection, in-store service, and store layout, yet he had no control the inventory in his stores (which is done company wide by then-COO and now CEO Tim Cook
who has a background in supply-chain management). This is the opposite of General Electric
's corporate culture which has created well-rounded managers.
Under the leadership of Tim Cook
who joined the company in 1998 and ascended to his present position as CEO, Apple has developed an extremely efficient and effective supply chain which has been ranked as the world's best for the past four years (2007-2010). The company's manufacturing, procurement and logistics enables it to execute massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories; Apple's profit margins have been 40 percent compared with 10-20 percent for most other hardware companies in 2011. Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational edge is “Nobody wants to buy sour milk”.
s were actively engaged by the company, but this was after the phenomenon was already firmly established. Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki
has called the brand fanaticism "something that was stumbled upon". Apple has, however, supported the continuing existence of a network of Mac User Groups
in most major and many minor centers of population where Mac computers are available.
Mac users would meet at the European Apple Expo
and the San Francisco Macworld Conference & Expo
trade shows where Apple traditionally introduced new products each year to the industry and public until Apple pulled out of both events. While the conferences continue, Apple does not have official representation there. Mac developers, in turn, continue to gather at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference
.
Apple Store openings can draw crowds of thousands, with some waiting in line as much as a day before the opening or flying in from other countries for the event. The New York City Fifth Avenue "Cube" store had a line as long as half a mile; a few Mac fans took the opportunity of the setting to propose marriage. The Ginza
opening in Tokyo was estimated in the thousands with a line exceeding eight city blocks.
John Sculley told The Guardian
newspaper in 1997: "People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company. It was the marketing company of the decade."
Research in 2002 by NetRatings
indicate that the average Apple consumer was usually more affluent and better educated than other PC company consumers. The research indicated that this correlation could stem from the fact that on average Apple Inc. products are more expensive than other PC products.
bus in the 7500
/8500
/9500
Power Macs
. Apple has since adopted USB, AGP, HyperTransport
, Wi-Fi
, and other industry standards in its computers and was in some cases a leader in the adoption of standards such as USB. FireWire is an Apple-originated standard that has seen widespread industry adoption after it was standardized as IEEE 1394.
Ever since the first Apple Store opened, Apple has sold third party accessories. This allows, for instance, Nikon
and Canon to sell their Mac-compatible digital cameras and camcorders inside the store. Adobe, one of Apple's oldest software partners, also sells its Mac-compatible software, as does Microsoft, who sells Microsoft Office for the Mac. Books from John Wiley & Sons
, who publishes the For Dummies series of instructional books, are a notable exception, however. The publisher's line of books were banned from Apple Stores in 2005 because Steve Jobs disagreed with their decision to publish an unauthorized Jobs biography, iCon
.
, at 1-6 Infinite Loop
, Cupertino
, California. This Apple campus has six buildings that total 850000 ft2 and was built in 1993 by Sobrato Development Cos.
.
On June 7, 2011, Steve Jobs gave a presentation to Cupertino City Council, detailing the architectural design of the new building and its environs. The new campus is planned to house up to 13,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building (with a café for 3,000 sitting people integrated) surrounded by extensive landscape (with parking mainly underground and the rest centralized in a parking structure). There will be additional buildings such as an auditorium, R&D facilities, a fitness center and a dedicated generating plant as primary source of electricity (powered by natural gas and other more environmentally sound means).
to the more modern 'Get a Mac
' adverts, Apple has been recognized in the past for its efforts towards effective advertising and marketing for its products, though its advertising has been criticized for the claims of some more recent campaigns, particularly 2005 Power Mac ads and iPhone ads in Britain.
Apple's first logo, designed by Ron Wayne, depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree.
Almost immediately, though, this was replaced by Rob Janoff
's "rainbow Apple", the now-familiar rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. Janoff presented Jobs with several different monochromatic themes for the "bitten" logo, and Jobs immediately took a liking to it. While Jobs liked the logo, he insisted it be in color to humanize the company. The Apple logo was designed with a bite so that it wouldn't be recognized as another fruit. The colored stripes were conceived to make the logo more accessible, and to represent the fact the Apple II could generate graphics in color.
This logo is often erroneously referred to as a tribute to Alan Turing
, with the bite mark a reference to his method of suicide. Both the designer of the logo and the company deny that there is any homage to Turing in the design of the logo.
In 1998, with the roll-out of the new iMac, Apple discontinued the rainbow theme and began to use monochromatic themes, nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation, on various products, packaging and advertising. An Aqua
-themed version of the monochrome logo was used from 2001–2003, and a Glass-themed version has been used since 2003.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were Beatles
fans, but Apple Inc. had trademark issues with Apple Corps Ltd.
, a multimedia company started by The Beatles in 1967, involving their name and logo. This resulted in a series of lawsuits and tension between the two companies. These issues ended with their most recent law suit in 2007.
into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s. From 1997–2002, Apple used the slogan "Think Different
" in advertising campaigns. Although the slogan has been retired, it is still closely associated with Apple. Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac" was used in 1998 to promote the iMac, and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements. "Hello" was also used to introduce the original Macintosh, Newton
, iMac ("hello (again)"), and iPod.
" song in its ad campaign. Later, Apple used the song "New Soul
" by French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naïm
to promote the MacBook Air
. The debut single shot to the top of the charts and sold hundreds of thousands of copies in a span of weeks.
has campaigned against Apple on various environmental issues, including a global end-of-life take-back plan, non-recyclable hardware components and toxins within iPhone
hardware. Since 2003 Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple's chemical policies, in particular the inclusion of PVC
and BFRs in their products. On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs
released a report announcing plans to eliminate PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008. Apple has since eliminated PVC and BFRs across its product range, becoming the first laptop maker to do so.
In November 2011 Apple featured in Greenpeace
's Guide to Greener Electronics that ranks electronics manufacturers on sustainability, climate and energy and how green their products are. The company ranked 4th out of 15 electronics companies (moving up five places from the previous year) with a score of 4.6/10 down from 4.9. Greenpeace praises Apple's sustainability, noting that the company exceeded its 70% global recycling goal in 2010. It continues to score well on the products rating with all Apple products now being free of PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants. However, the guide criticizes Apple on the Energy criteria for not seeking external verification of its greenhouse gas emissions data and for not setting out any targets to reduce emissions.
In the first edition, released in August 2006, Apple scored 2.7/10.
In 2010, Climate Counts
, a nonprofit organization dedicated to directing consumers toward the greenest companies, gave Apple a score of 52 points out of a possible 100, which puts Apple in their top category "Striding". This was an increase from May 2008, when Climate Counts only gave Apple 11 points out of 100, which placed the company last among electronics companies, at which time Climate Counts also labeled Apple with a "stuck icon", adding that Apple at the time was "a choice to avoid for the climate conscious consumer".
The Environmental Protection Agency
rates Apple highest amongst producers of notebook computers, and fairly well compared to producers of desktop computers and LCD displays.
In June 2007, Apple upgraded the MacBook Pro
, replacing cold cathode
fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury
-free LED
backlit LCD displays and arsenic
-free glass, and has since done this for all notebooks. Apple has also phased out BFRs and PVCs from various internal components. Apple offers information about the emissions, materials, and electrical usage of each product.
In June 2009, Apple's iPhone 3GS was free of PVC, arsenic, BFRs and had an efficient power adapter.
In October 2009, Apple upgraded the iMac and MacBook, replacing the cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury-free LED backlit LCD displays and arsenic-free glass. This means all Apple computers have mercury free LED backlit displays, arsenic-free glass and are without PVC cables. All Apple computers also have EPEAT Gold status.
In october 2011 chinese authorities have ordered
an Apple supplier to close part of its
plant in Suzhou after residents living
nearby raised significant
environmental concerns.<
conditions existed in some factories in China, where the contract manufacturers, Foxconn
and Inventec
, operate the factories that produce the iPod. The article stated that one complex of factories that assembles the iPod (among other items), for instance, had over 200,000 workers that lived and worked in the factory, with employees regularly working more than 60 hours per week. The article also reported that workers made around $100 per month and were required to live on the premises and pay for rent and food from the company, which generally amounted to a little over half of workers' earnings.
Immediately after the allegations, Apple launched an investigation and worked with their manufacturers to ensure that conditions were acceptable to Apple. In 2007, Apple started yearly audits of all its suppliers regarding worker's rights, slowly raising standards and pruning suppliers that did not comply. Yearly progress reports have been published since 2008. In 2010, workers in China planned to sue iPhone contractors over poisoning by a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that he and his coworkers had not been informed of possible occupational illnesses. After a spate of suicides in a Foxconn facility in China making iPads and iPhones, workers were forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they would not kill themselves. In 2011 Apple admitted that its suppliers' child labor practices in China had worsened.
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
that designs and markets consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
, computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
, and personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
line of computers, the iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
, the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and the iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
. Apple software includes the Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
; the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
media browser; the iLife
ILife
iLife is a suite of software applications developed by Apple for organizing, editing, and publishing photos, movies, and music. The suite comprises five applications: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb, all of which run on the Mac OS X operating system....
suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork
IWork
iWork is an office suite of desktop applications created by Apple for the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. The first version of iWork, iWork '05, was released in 2005. The suite originally bundled Keynote, a presentation program which had previously been sold as a standalone application, and...
suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio
Final Cut Studio
Final Cut Studio is a professional video and audio production suite for Mac OS X from Apple Inc., and a direct competitor to Avid Media Composer in the high-end movie production industry...
, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio
Logic Studio
Logic Studio is a music production suite by Apple Inc. The first version of Logic Studio was unveiled on September 12, 2007.It claims to be the largest collection of modeled instruments, sampler instruments, effect plug-ins, and audio loops ever put in a single box.The package contains Logic Pro,...
, a suite of music production tools; the Safari
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
web browser; and iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
, a mobile operating system. , the company operates 357 retail stores in ten countries, and an online store
Apple Store (online)
The Apple Store is the online store of Apple Inc.. All of Apple's product lines are carried as well as select brands of accessories for its products. It is owned and operated by Apple in Cupertino, California...
where hardware and software products are sold. , Apple has recently been the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization, and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.
Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
, and incorporated January 3, 1977, the company was previously named Apple Computer, Inc., for its first 30 years, but removed the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007, to reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. , Apple had 46,600 full time employees and 2,800 temporary full time employees worldwide and had worldwide annual sales of $65.23 billion.
For reasons as various as its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its distinctive advertising campaigns
Apple Inc. advertising
In the past two decades, Apple Inc. has become well known for its advertisements, which are designed to reflect a plan of marketing their products to creative individuals. Their most significant ad campaigns include the "1984" Super Bowl commercial, the 1990s Think Different campaign, and the "iPod...
, Apple has established a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. This includes a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand, particularly in the United States. Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. The company has however received widespread criticism for its contractors' labor, environmental, and business practices.
1976–1980: The early years
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
, Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
, and Ronald Wayne
Ronald Wayne
Ronald Gerald Wayne founded Apple Computer with Steve Wozniak and the late CEO Steve Jobs but soon gave up his share of the new company for a total of $2,300.-Biography:...
, to sell the Apple I
Apple I
The original Apple Computer, also known retroactively as the Apple I, or Apple-1, is a personal computer released by the Apple Computer Company in 1976. They were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. Wozniak's friend Steve Jobs had the idea of selling the computer...
personal computer kit. They were hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club
Homebrew Computer Club
The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist users' group in Silicon Valley, which met from March 5, 1975 to December 1986...
. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard
Motherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
(with CPU, RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
, and basic textual-video chips)—less than what is today considered a complete personal computer. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($ in dollars, adjusted for inflation.)
Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977 without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multi-millionaire Mike Markkula
Mike Markkula
Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula, Jr. is an American entrepreneur who was an angel investor and second CEO of Apple Computer, Inc., providing early critical funding and managerial support...
provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple.
The Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
was introduced on April 16, 1977 at the first West Coast Computer Faire
West Coast Computer Faire
The West Coast Computer Faire was an annual computer industry conference and exposition most often associated with San Francisco, its first and most frequent venue. The first fair was held in 1977 and was organized by Jim Warren and Bob Reiling. At the time it was the biggest computer show in the...
. It differed from its major rivals, the TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
and Commodore PET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
, because it came with character cell based color graphics and an open
Open architecture
Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture that allows adding, upgrading and swapping components. For example, the IBM PC and Apple IIe have an open architecture, whereas the Apple IIc and Amiga 500 computers have a closed architecture...
architecture
Computer architecture
In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
. While early models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
drive and interface, the Disk II
Disk II
The Disk II Floppy Disk Subsystem was a 5¼-inch floppy disk drive designed by Steve Wozniak and manufactured by Apple Computer. It was first introduced in 1978 at a retail price of US$495 for pre-order; it was later sold for $595 including the controller card and cable...
.
The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app
Killer application
A killer application , in the jargon of marketing teams, has been used to refer to any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, or an operating system...
" of the business world—the VisiCalc
VisiCalc
VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program available for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool...
spreadsheet
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Each cell contains alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas...
program. VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II, and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II—compatibility with the office. According to Brian Bagnall, Apple exaggerated its sales figures and was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.
By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the ill-fated Apple III
Apple III
The Apple III is a business-oriented personal computer produced and released by Apple Computer that was intended as the successor to the Apple II series, but largely considered a failure in the market. Development work on the Apple III started in late 1978 under the guidance of Dr. Wendell Sander...
in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
in the business and corporate computing market.
Jobs and several Apple employees including Jef Raskin
Jef Raskin
Jef Raskin was an American human-computer interface expert best known for starting the Macintosh project for Apple in the late 1970s.-Early years and education:...
visited Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto
Xerox Alto
The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use , making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973...
. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares (800,000 split-adjusted shares) of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share. Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
), and development of a GUI began for the Apple Lisa
Apple Lisa
The Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....
.
When Apple went public, it generated more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
in 1956 and instantly created more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history.
1981–1985: Lisa and Macintosh
Apple Lisa
The Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....
in 1978 but in 1982 he was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting, and took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
. A turf war broke out between Lisa's "corporate shirts" and Jobs' "pirates" over which product would ship first and save Apple. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a GUI, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.
1984 (television commercial)
"1984" is an American television commercial which introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer for the first time. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day, Venice, produced by New York production company Fairbanks Films, and directed by Ridley Scott. Anya Major...
. It was directed by Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
, aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII
Super Bowl XVIII
Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, deciding the National Football League champion following the 1983 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Los Angeles Raiders defeated the National Football Conference...
on January 22, 1984, and is now considered a watershed event for Apple's success and a "masterpiece".
The Macintosh initially sold well, but follow-up sales were not strong due to its high price and limited range of software titles. The machine's fortunes changed with the introduction of the LaserWriter
LaserWriter
The LaserWriter was a laser printer with built-in PostScript interpreter introduced by Apple in 1985. It was one of the first laser printers available to the mass market...
, the first PostScript
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
laser printer
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
to be offered at a reasonable price, and PageMaker, an early desktop publishing
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
package. The Mac was particularly powerful in this market due to its advanced graphics capabilities, which had necessarily been built in to create the intuitive Macintosh GUI. It has been suggested that the combination of these three products was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market.
In 1985 a power struggle developed between Jobs and CEO John Sculley
John Sculley
John Sculley is an American businessman. Sculley was vice-president and president of PepsiCo , until he became CEO of Apple on April 8, 1983, a position he held until leaving in 1993...
, who had been hired two years earlier. The Apple board of directors instructed Sculley to "contain" Jobs and limit his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from his leadership role at Apple. Sculley found out that Jobs had been attempting to organize a putsch
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and called a board meeting at which Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties. Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc.
NeXT
Next, Inc. was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets...
the same year.
1986–1993: Rise and fall
Macintosh Portable
The Macintosh Portable was Apple Inc.'s first attempt at making a battery-powered portable Macintosh personal computer that held the power of a desktop Macintosh...
in 1989, Apple introduced the PowerBook
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
in 1991. The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh, but weighed 7.5 kilograms (16.5 lb) with a 12-hour battery life. The same year, Apple introduced System 7
System 7
System 7 is the name of a Macintosh operating system introduced in 1991.System 7 may also refer to:* System 7 , a British dance/ambient band* System 7 , 1991 album* IBM System/7, a 1970s computer system...
, a major upgrade to the operating system, which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis for Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
until 2001.
The success of the PowerBook and other products brought increasing revenue. For some time, it appeared that Apple could do no wrong, introducing fresh new products and generating increasing profits in the process. The magazine MacAddict named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.
Following the success of the Macintosh LC
Macintosh LC
The Macintosh LC was Apple Computer's product family of low-end consumer Macintosh personal computers in the early 1990s. The original Macintosh LC was released in 1990 and was the first affordable color-capable Macintosh. Due to its affordability and Apple II compatibility the LC was adopted...
, Apple introduced the Centris
Macintosh Centris
Macintosh Centris is a line of Macintosh computers, introduced in 1993, that were built around the Motorola 68LC040 and 68040 CPUs. The name was chosen to indicate that the consumer was selecting a Macintosh in the center of Apple's product line: lower performance than the Quadra computers, but...
line, a low-end Quadra
Macintosh Quadra
The Macintosh Quadra series was Apple Computer's product family of professional high-end Apple Macintosh personal computers built using the Motorola 68040 CPU. The first two models in the Quadra line were introduced in 1991, and the name was used until the Power Mac was introduced in 1994...
offering, and the ill-fated Performa line that was sold in several confusing configurations and software bundles to avoid competing with the various consumer outlets such as Sears, Price Club
Price Club
Price Club was the pioneer of the warehouse store. Founded by Sol Price in San Diego, California in 1976, the company charged shoppers a $25 annual membership fee to purchase bulk products at discount prices in a no-frills warehouse setting. Price Club's high sales volume enabled Price to give his...
, and Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, who were the primary dealers for these models. The result was disastrous for Apple as consumers did not understand the difference between models.
During this time Apple experimented with a number of other failed consumer targeted products including digital cameras, portable CD audio players
PowerCD
Apple PowerCD was a US$499 CD player sold by Apple Computer in 1993 and discontinued several years later. It was a re-badged Philips-designed product which was sold in addition to Apple's speakers and also included a remote control. The PowerCD was capable of reading Kodak photo CDs, data CDs and...
, speakers, video consoles, and TV appliances
Apple Interactive Television Box
The Apple Interactive Television Box was a set-top box developed by Apple Computer in partnership with a number of global telecommunications firms, including British Telecom and Belgacom amongst others...
. Enormous resources were also invested in the problem-plagued Newton division
Newton (platform)
The Newton platform was an early personal digital assistant and the first tablet platform developed by Apple, the second platform being iOS, used in the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Development of the Newton platform started in 1987 and officially ended on February 27, 1998. Some electronic...
based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts. Ultimately, all of this proved too-little-too-late for Apple as their market share and stock prices continued to slide.
Apple saw the Apple II series
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
as too expensive to produce, while taking away sales from the low end Macintosh. In 1990, Apple released the Macintosh LC
Macintosh LC
The Macintosh LC was Apple Computer's product family of low-end consumer Macintosh personal computers in the early 1990s. The original Macintosh LC was released in 1990 and was the first affordable color-capable Macintosh. Due to its affordability and Apple II compatibility the LC was adopted...
with a single expansion slot for the Apple IIe Card
Apple IIe Card
The Apple IIe Card is a compatibility card which allows compatible Macs to run software designed for Apple II computers...
to migrate Apple II users to the Macintosh platform. Apple stopped selling the Apple IIe
Apple IIe
The Apple IIe is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The e in the name stands for enhanced, referring to the fact that several popular features were now built-in that were only available as upgrades and add-ons in earlier models...
in 1993.
Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, focusing on delivering software to cheap commodity personal computers while Apple was delivering a richly engineered, but expensive, experience. Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response. Instead they sued Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for using a graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
similar to the Apple Lisa
Apple Lisa
The Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....
in Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation. The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was finally dismissed. At the same time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced by Michael Spindler
Michael Spindler
Michael Spindler , nicknamed "the Diesel" for his reputed around-the-clock work habits, was president and CEO of Apple from 1993 to 1996....
.
1994–1997: Attempts at reinvention
By the early 1990s, Apple was developing alternative platforms to the Macintosh, such as the A/UXA/UX
A/UX was Apple Computer’s implementation of the Unix operating system for some of their Macintosh computers. The later versions of A/UX ran on the Macintosh II, Quadra and Centris series of machines as well as the SE/30. A/UX was first released in 1988, with the final version released in 1995...
. Apple had also begun to experiment in providing a Mac-only online portal which they called eWorld
EWorld
eWorld was an online service operated by Apple Inc. between June 1994 and March 1996. The services included email , news, and a bulletin board system...
, developed in collaboration with America Online and designed as a Mac-friendly alternative to other online services such as CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
. The Macintosh platform was itself becoming outdated because it was not built for multitasking, and several important software routines were programmed directly into the hardware. In addition, Apple was facing competition from OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
and UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
vendors like Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
. The Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform, or reworked to run on more powerful hardware.
In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
in the AIM alliance
AIM alliance
The AIM alliance was an alliance formed on October 2, 1991, between Apple Inc. , IBM, and Motorola to create a new computing standard based on the PowerPC architecture. The stated goal of the alliance was to challenge the dominant Wintel computing platform with a new computer design and a...
. The goal was to create a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform
PowerPC Reference Platform
PowerPC Reference Platform was a standard system architecture for PowerPC based computer systems developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture...
), which would use IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple's software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind, thus countering Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh
Power Macintosh
Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, was a line of Apple Macintosh workstation-class personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors that were developed, marketed, and supported by Apple Inc. from March 1994 until August 2006. The first models were the Power Macintosh 6100,...
, the first of many Apple computers to use IBM's PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
processor.
In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio
Gil Amelio
Gilbert Frank Amelio is an American technology executive. He grew up in Miami, Florida and received a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D. in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology...
as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs. After multiple failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the Taligent
Taligent
Taligent was the name of an object-oriented operating system and the company dedicated to producing it...
project, then later with Copland
Copland (operating system)
Copland was a project at Apple Computer to create an updated version of the Macintosh operating system. It was to have introduced protected memory, preemptive multitasking and a number of new underlying operating system features, yet still be compatible with existing Mac software...
and Gershwin, Amelio chose to purchase NeXT
NeXT
Next, Inc. was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets...
and its NeXTSTEP
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. On July 9, 1997, Gil Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs became the interim CEO and began restructuring the company's product line.
At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft made a $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock.
On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Online Store
Apple Store (online)
The Apple Store is the online store of Apple Inc.. All of Apple's product lines are carried as well as select brands of accessories for its products. It is owned and operated by Apple in Cupertino, California...
, tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing strategy.
1998–2005: Return to profitability
On August 15, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the Macintosh 128KMacintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
: the iMac
IMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
. The iMac design team was led by Jonathan Ive
Jonathan Ive
Jonathan "Jony" Ive, CBE is an English designer and the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Inc. He is the leading designer and conceptual mind behind the iMac, titanium and aluminum PowerBook G4, G4 Cube, MacBook, unibody MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.- Early...
, who would later design the iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
and the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
. The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design, and sold almost 800,000 units in its first five months.
Through this period, Apple purchased several companies to create a portfolio of professional and consumer-oriented digital production software. In 1998, Apple announced the purchase of Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
's Final Cut
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors...
software, signaling its expansion into the digital video
Digital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
editing market. The following year, Apple released two video editing products: iMovie
IMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
for consumers and, for professionals, Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors...
, which has gone on to be a significant video-editing program, with 800,000 registered users in early 2007. In 2002 Apple purchased Nothing Real
Nothing Real
Nothing Real L.L.C, founded in October 1996 by Allen Edwards and Arnaud Hervas, developed high-end digital effects software for the feature film, broadcast and interactive gaming industries. Apple Inc...
for their advanced digital compositing
Compositing
Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...
application Shake
Shake (software)
Shake is a discontinued image compositing package used in the post-production industry. Shake was widely used in visual effects and digital compositing for film, HD and commercials. Shake exposes its node graph architecture graphically. It enables complex image processing sequences to be designed...
, as well as Emagic
Emagic
Emagic was a music software and hardware company based in Rellingen, Germany and a satellite office in Grass Valley, CA. On July 1, 2002 Emagic was bought by Apple Computer. Emagic's Windows-based product offerings were discontinued on September 30, 2002....
for their music productivity application Logic
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002...
, which led to the development of their consumer-level GarageBand
GarageBand
GarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package on Mac OS X.-Audio recording:...
application. iPhoto
IPhoto
iPhoto is a digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. and released with every Macintosh personal computer as part of the iLife suite of digital life management applications...
's release the same year completed the iLife
ILife
iLife is a suite of software applications developed by Apple for organizing, editing, and publishing photos, movies, and music. The suite comprises five applications: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb, all of which run on the Mac OS X operating system....
suite.
Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, based on NeXT's OPENSTEP
OpenStep
OpenStep was an object-oriented application programming interface specification for an object-oriented operating system that used a non-NeXTSTEP operating system as its core, principally developed by NeXT with Sun Microsystems. OPENSTEP was a specific implementation of the OpenStep API developed...
and BSD Unix was released on March 24, 2001, after several years of development. Aimed at consumers and professionals alike, Mac OS X aimed to combine the stability, reliability and security of Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
with the ease of use afforded by an overhauled user interface. To aid users in migrating from Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9 is the final major release of Apple's Mac OS before the launch of Mac OS X. Introduced on October 23, 1999, Apple positioned it as "The Best Internet Operating System Ever," highlighting Sherlock 2's Internet search capabilities, integration with Apple's free online services known as...
, the new operating system allowed the use of OS 9 applications through Mac OS X's Classic environment
Classic (Mac OS X)
Classic, or Classic Environment, was a hardware and software abstraction layer in Mac OS X that allowed applications compatible with Mac OS 9 to run on the Mac OS X operating system...
.
On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores
Apple Store (retail)
The Apple Retail Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc., dealing in computers and consumer electronics. The stores sell Macintosh personal computers, software, iPods, iPads, iPhones, third-party accessories, and other consumer electronics such as Apple TV...
in Virginia and California. Later on July 9 they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring
DVD authoring
DVD authoring is the process of creating a DVD video capable of playing on a DVD player. DVD authoring software must conform to the specifications set by the DVD Forum group in 1995...
company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
portable digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful — over 100 million units were sold within six years. In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
was introduced, offering online music download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
s for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.
Since 2001 Apple's design team has progressively abandoned the use of translucent colored plastics first used in the iMac G3
IMac G3
The iMac G3 was the first model of the iMac line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. , and the originator of the Legacy-free PC market category. Like the first Macs, the iMac G3 is an all-in-one personal computer, encompassing both the monitor and the system unit in a single enclosure...
. This began with the titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
PowerBook
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
and was followed by the white polycarbonate
Polycarbonate
PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...
iBook
IBook
The iBook was a line of laptop computers sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2006. The line targeted the consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the PowerBook, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers....
and the flat-panel iMac
IMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
.
2005–2007: The Intel transition
Worldwide Developers Conference
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions...
keynote address on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006. On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
and iMac
IMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
became the first Apple computers to use Intel's Core Duo CPU. By August 7, 2006 Apple had transitioned the entire Mac product line to Intel chips, over one year sooner than announced. The Power Mac, iBook
IBook
The iBook was a line of laptop computers sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2006. The line targeted the consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the PowerBook, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers....
, and PowerBook
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
brands were retired during the transition; the Mac Pro
Mac Pro
The Mac Pro is a workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc. The machines are based on Xeon microprocessors, but are similar to the Power Mac G5 they replaced in terms of outward appearance and expansion capabilities...
, MacBook
MacBook
The MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
, and MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
became their respective successors. On April 29, 2009, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
reported that Apple was building its own team of engineers to design microchips.
Apple also introduced Boot Camp to help users install Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
or Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X.
Apple's success during this period was evident in its stock price. Between early 2003 and 2006, the price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around $6 per share (split-adjusted) to over $80. In January 2006, Apple's market cap surpassed that of Dell
Dell
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
. Nine years prior, Dell's CEO Michael Dell
Michael Dell
Michael Saul Dell is an American business magnate and the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Inc. He is the 44th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$14.6 billion in 2011, based primarily on the 243.35 million shares of Dell stock worth $3.5 billion that he owns,...
said that if he ran Apple he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."
Although Apple's market share in computers had grown, it remained far behind competitors using Microsoft Windows, with only about 8% of desktops and laptops in the U.S.
2007–2011: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
Delivering his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc., because computers were no longer the main focus of the company, which had shifted its emphasis to mobile electronic devices. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhoneIPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and the Apple TV. The following day, Apple shares hit $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple's share price passed the $100 mark.
In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on the iTunes Store without DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
(which would allow tracks to be played on third-party players) if record labels would agree to drop the technology. On April 2, 2007, Apple and EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
jointly announced the removal of DRM technology from EMI's catalog in the iTunes Store, effective in May. Other record labels followed later that year.
In July of the following year, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
. Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and brought in $1 million daily on average, with Jobs speculating that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple. Three months later, it was announced that Apple had become the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.
On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that after over 20 years of attending Macworld, 2009 would be the last year Apple would be attending the Macworld Expo, and that Phil Schiller
Philip W. Schiller
Philip W. Schiller is the senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple Inc. He is a prominent figure in Apple's public presentations. He aids Apple CEO Tim Cook and has been a member of the company's executive leadership team since Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997.-Early life:Schiller...
would deliver the 2009 keynote in lieu of the expected Jobs. Almost exactly one month later, on January 14, 2009, an internal Apple memo from Jobs announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence
Leave of absence
Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
, until the end of June 2009, to allow him to better focus on his health and to allow the company to better focus on its products without having the rampant media speculating about his health. Despite Jobs' absence, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) during the recession with a revenue of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.21 billion.
After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks" Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad runs the same touch based operating system that the iPhone uses and many of the same iPhone apps are compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch even with very little development time before the release. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the US and sold more than 300,000 units on that day and reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week. In May of the same year, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for the first time since 1989.
Apple released the fourth generation iPhone
IPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling , consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games, and for general web and e-mail...
, which introduced video calling, multitasking
Computer multitasking
In computing, multitasking is a method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU. In the case of a computer with a single CPU, only one task is said to be running at any point in time, meaning that the CPU is actively executing instructions for...
, and a new uninsulated
Electrical insulation
thumb|250px|[[Coaxial Cable]] with dielectric insulator supporting a central coreThis article refers to electrical insulation. For insulation of heat, see Thermal insulation...
stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
design, which acts as the phone's antenna. Because of this antenna implementation, some iPhone 4 users reported a reduction in signal strength when the phone is held in specific ways. After a large amount of media coverage including mainstream news organizations, Apple held a press conference where they offered buyers a free rubber 'bumper' case, which had been proven to eliminate the signal reduction issue. Later that year Apple again refreshed its iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
line of MP3 players which introduced a multi-touch
Multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...
iPod Nano
IPod nano
iPod Nano is a digital media player designed and marketed by Apple Inc.. The first generation of iPod Nano was introduced on September 7, 2005 as a replacement for iPod Mini. It uses flash memory for storage. iPod Nano has gone through six models, or generations, since its introduction...
, iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
with FaceTime
FaceTime
FaceTime is a video calling software application and related protocol developed by Apple for supported mobile devices running the iOS, in addition to Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.6.6 and higher...
, and iPod Shuffle
IPod shuffle
The iPod Shuffle is a digital audio player designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the smallest model in Apple's iPod family, and was the first to use flash memory...
with buttons which brought back the buttons of earlier generations.
In October 2010, Apple shares hit an all-time high, eclipsing $300. Additionally, on October 20, Apple updated their MacBook Air
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air family is a line of Apple ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers.The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, previously promoted as the World's Thinnest Notebook, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. It featured a custom Intel Merom CPU...
laptop, iLife
ILife
iLife is a suite of software applications developed by Apple for organizing, editing, and publishing photos, movies, and music. The suite comprises five applications: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb, all of which run on the Mac OS X operating system....
suite of applications, and unveiled Mac OS X Lion
Mac OS X Lion
Mac OS X Lion is the eighth and current major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers....
, the latest installment in their Mac OS X operating system
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. On January 6, 2011, the company opened their Mac App Store
Mac App Store
The Mac App Store is a digital distribution platform for Mac OS X applications developed by Apple Inc.. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010 at Apple's "Back to the Mac" event. Apple began accepting app submissions from registered developers on November 3, 2010 in preparation for its launch...
, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store. Apple was featured in the documentary Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.
2011–present: Post–Steve Jobs era
On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite period, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim CookTim Cook
Timothy D. "Tim" Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple Inc., having joined the company in March 1998. He was named the CEO of Apple after Steve Jobs announced his resignation on August 24, 2011.- Early life :...
took up Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company." Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. In June 2011, Steve Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud
ICloud
iCloud is a cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple Inc. announced on June 6, 2011 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference . The service allows users to store data such as music files on remote computer servers for download to multiple devices such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, and...
. iCloud is an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing. This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death. It has been argued that Apple has achieved such efficiency in its supply chain that the company operates as a monopsony
Monopsony
In economics, a monopsony is a market form in which only one buyer faces many sellers. It is an example of imperfect competition, similar to a monopoly, in which only one seller faces many buyers...
(one buyer, many sellers), in that it can dictate terms to its suppliers. Briefly in July 2011, due to the debt-ceiling crisis
United States debt-ceiling crisis
The United States debt-ceiling crisis was a financial crisis in 2011 that started as a debate in the United States Congress about increasing the debt ceiling. The immediate crisis ended when a complex deal was reached that raised the debt ceiling and reduced future government spending...
, Apple's financial reserves were greater than those of the US Government. On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He was replaced by Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Prior to this, Apple did not have a chairman and instead had two co-lead directors, Andrea Jung
Andrea Jung
Andrea Jung is a Canadian-American business executive. In 2001, she was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal....
and Arthur D. Levinson
Arthur D. Levinson
Arthur D. Levinson is the chairman of Genentech and the chairman of Apple Inc....
, who continued with those titles.
On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S
IPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, a device that combines a widescreen iPod with a touchscreen, mobile phone, and internet communicator. It retains the exterior design of its predecessor, iPhone 4, but is host to a range...
, which includes an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, a voice recognition system named Siri
Siri (software)
Siri is an intelligent software assistant and knowledge navigator functioning as a personal assistant application for iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services...
, and cloud-sourced data with iCloud
ICloud
iCloud is a cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple Inc. announced on June 6, 2011 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference . The service allows users to store data such as music files on remote computer servers for download to multiple devices such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, and...
. One day later, on October 5, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc. The iPhone 4S was officially released on October 14, 2011.
On October 29, 2011, Apple purchased C3 Technologies, a mapping company, for $240 million. C3 is the third mapping company Apple has purchased so far.
Mac and accessories
- Mac miniMac MiniThe Mac Mini is a small form factor desktop computer manufactured by Apple Inc. Like earlier mini-ITX PC designs, it is uncommonly small for a desktop computer: 7.7 inches square and 1.4 inches tall. It weighs 2.7 pounds...
, consumer sub-desktop computer and server introduced in 2005. - iMacIMacThe iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
, consumer all-in-one desktop computer introduced in 1998. - Mac ProMac ProThe Mac Pro is a workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc. The machines are based on Xeon microprocessors, but are similar to the Power Mac G5 they replaced in terms of outward appearance and expansion capabilities...
, workstation-class desktop computer introduced in 2006, replacing the Power Macintosh. - MacBookMacBookThe MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
, consumer notebook introduced in 2006, replacing the iBook, now only being sold to educational institutions. - MacBook ProMacBook ProThe MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
, professional notebook introduced in 2006, replacing the PowerBook. - MacBook AirMacBook AirThe MacBook Air family is a line of Apple ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers.The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, previously promoted as the World's Thinnest Notebook, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. It featured a custom Intel Merom CPU...
, ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook introduced in 2008.
Apple also sells a variety of computer accessories for Mac computers including the AirPort
AirPort
AirPort and AirPort Extreme are local area wireless networking products from Apple Inc. based on the IEEE 802.11 standard ....
wireless networking products, Time Capsule
Time Capsule (Apple)
The Time Capsule is a wireless network-attached storage device combined with a wireless residential gateway router made by Apple Inc. It is described as a "Backup Appliance", designed to work in tandem with the Time Machine backup utility, introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".The device includes a...
, Thunderbolt Display
Apple Thunderbolt Display
The Apple Thunderbolt Display is the current flat panel computer monitor sold by Apple Inc. Introduced on July 20, 2011, it immediately replaced the LED Cinema Display, continuing with the same form factor and technical specification for the display portion of the product...
, Magic Mouse
Apple Magic Mouse
The Magic Mouse is a multi-touch mouse manufactured and sold by Apple, and it was announced and sold for the first time on October 20, 2009. The Magic Mouse is the first consumer mouse to have multi-touch capabilities...
, Magic Trackpad, Wireless Keyboard
Apple Wireless Keyboard
The Apple Wireless Keyboard is a wireless keyboard built for Macintosh computers and the iPad. It interacts over Bluetooth wireless technology and unlike its wired version, it has no USB connectors or ports. Both generations have low-power features when not in use.-History:On September 16, 2003,...
, and the Apple Battery Charger
Apple Battery Charger
The Apple Battery Charger is a battery charger made by Apple Inc. Apple has designed the charger and batteries to draw less energy from the national power grid than other comparable chargers; as a result, energy efficiency is improved. According to Apple, the standard power usage of the charger is...
.
iPad
On January 27, 2010, Apple introduced their much-anticipated media tablet, the iPadIPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
running a modified version of iOS. It offers multi-touch interaction with multimedia formats including newspapers, magazines, ebooks, textbooks, photos, movies, TV shows videos, music, word processing documents, spreadsheets, video games, and most existing iPhone apps. It also includes a mobile version of Safari
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
for web browsing, as well as access to the App Store, iTunes Library, iBooks Store
IBooks
iBooks is an e-book application by Apple Inc. It was announced in conjunction with the iPad on January 27, 2010, and was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch in mid-2010, as part of the iOS 4 update. At that time, it was described by Apple as being available only in the United States...
, contacts, and notepad. Content is downloadable via Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
and optional 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
service or synced through the user's computer. AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
was initially the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad.
On March 2, 2011, Apple introduced an updated iPad model which had a faster processor and two cameras on the front and back respectively. The iPad 2 also added support for optional 3G service provided by Verizon in addition to the existing offering by AT&T. However, the availability of the iPad 2 has been limited as a result of the devastating tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
and ensuing earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
in Japan in March 2011.
iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
digital music player. It has evolved to include various models targeting the wants of different users. The iPod is the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 220 million units shipped . Apple has partnered with Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
to offer the Nike+iPod
Nike+iPod
The Nike+iPod Sports Kit is a device which measures and records the distance and pace of a walk or run. The Nike+iPod consists of a small accelerometer attached to or embedded in a shoe, which communicates with either the Nike+ Sportband, a receiver plugged into an iPod Nano, or directly with a...
Sports Kit enabling runners to synchronize and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website. Apple currently sells four variants of the iPod.
- iPod ShuffleIPod shuffleThe iPod Shuffle is a digital audio player designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the smallest model in Apple's iPod family, and was the first to use flash memory...
, ultraportable digital audio player first introduced in 2005, currently available in a 2 GB model. - iPod NanoIPod nanoiPod Nano is a digital media player designed and marketed by Apple Inc.. The first generation of iPod Nano was introduced on September 7, 2005 as a replacement for iPod Mini. It uses flash memory for storage. iPod Nano has gone through six models, or generations, since its introduction...
, portable media player first introduced in 2005, currently available in 8 and 16 GB models. The latest generation has a FM radio, a pedometerPedometerA pedometer is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hips...
, and a new multi-touchMulti-touchIn computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...
interface that replaced the traditional iPod click wheelIPod Click WheelThe iPod click wheel is the navigation component of several iPod models. It uses a combination of touch technology and traditional buttons, involving the technology of capacitive sensing, which senses the energy of the user's fingers. The wheel allows a user to find music, videos, photos and play...
. - iPod ClassicIPod classicThe iPod Classic is a portable media player marketed by Apple Inc...
(previously named iPod from 2001 to 2007), portable media playerPortable media playerA portable media player or digital audio player, is a consumer electronics device that is capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, video, documents, etc. the data is typically stored on a hard drive, microdrive, or flash memory. In contrast, analog portable audio...
first introduced in 2001, currently available in a 160 GB model. - iPod TouchIPod TouchThe iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, portable media player that runs iOS, first introduced in September 2007 after the iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
went on sale. Currently available in 8, 32, and 64 GB models. The latest generation features the Apple A4Apple A4The Apple A4 is a package on package system-on-a-chip designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung. It combines an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU with a PowerVR GPU, and emphasizes power efficiency. The chip commercially debuted with the release of Apple's iPad tablet; followed shortly by the iPhone 4...
processor, a Retina Display, and dual cameras on the front and back. The back camera allows for HD video recording at 720p720p720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
.
iPhone
At the Macworld Conference & ExpoMacworld Conference & Expo
Produced by Boston-based IDG World Expo, Macworld | iWorld is a trade-show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple Macintosh platform. It is held annually in the United States, usually during the second week of January...
in January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the long anticipated iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
and iPod. The original iPhone combined a 2.5G quad band GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
and EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM...
cellular phone with features found in hand held devices, running scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X (dubbed iOS, formerly iPhone OS), with various Mac OS X applications such as Safari
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
and Mail. It also includes web-based and Dashboard apps such as Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
and Weather. The iPhone features a 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) touch screen display, 4, 8, or 16 GB of memory, Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
, and Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
(both "b" and "g"). The iPhone first became available on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
contract.
On February 5, 2008, Apple updated the original iPhone to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models. On June 9, 2008, at WWDC
Worldwide Developers Conference
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions...
2008, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G would be available on July 11, 2008. This version added support for 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
networking, assisted-GPS navigation, and a price cut to $199 for the 8 GB version, and $299 for the 16 GB version, which was available in both black and white. The new version was visually different from its predecessor in that it eliminated the flat silver back, and large antenna square for a curved glossy black or white back. Following complaints from many people, the headphone jack was changed from a recessed jack to a flush jack to be compatible with more styles of headphones. The software capabilities changed as well, with the release of the new iPhone came the release of Apple's App Store; the store provided applications for download that were compatible with the iPhone. On April 24, 2009, the App Store surpassed one billion downloads.
On June 8, 2009, at Apple's annual worldwide developers conference, the iPhone 3GS
IPhone 3GS
-Camera:The iPhone 3GS features an improved 3 megapixel camera manufactured by OmniVision. In addition to the higher megapixel count, it also features auto-focus, auto white balance and auto macro and is capable of capturing VGA video...
was announced, providing an incremental update to the device including faster internal components, support for faster 3G speeds, video recording capability, and voice control. On June 7, 2010, at WWDC 2010, the iPhone 4
IPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling , consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games, and for general web and e-mail...
was announced, which Apple says is its "'biggest leap we've taken" since the original iPhone.
The phone includes an all-new design, 960x640 display, Apple's A4 processor used in the iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, a gyroscope
Gyroscope
A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation...
for enhanced gaming, 5MP camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera and FaceTime
FaceTime
FaceTime is a video calling software application and related protocol developed by Apple for supported mobile devices running the iOS, in addition to Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.6.6 and higher...
video calling. Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, it was realized by consumers that the new iPhone had reception issues. This is due to the stainless steel band around the edge of the device, which also serves as the phones cellular signal and Wi-Fi antenna. The current fix for this issue was a "Bumper Case" for the phone distributed for free to all iPhone 4 owners for a few months. In June 2011, Apple overtook Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
to become the world's biggest smartphone maker by volume.
On October 4, 2011, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S
IPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, a device that combines a widescreen iPod with a touchscreen, mobile phone, and internet communicator. It retains the exterior design of its predecessor, iPhone 4, but is host to a range...
, which was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on October 14, 2011, with other countries set to follow later in the year. This was the first iPhone model to feature the Apple A5
Apple A5
The Apple A5 is a package on package system-on-a-chip designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung to replace the Apple A4. The chip commercially debuted with the release of Apple's iPad 2 tablet, and also powers the iPhone 4S...
chip, as well as the first offered on the Sprint
Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
network (joining AT&T and Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
as the United States carriers offering iPhone models). On October 19, 2011, Apple announced an agreement with C Spire Wireless to sell the iPhone 4S with that carrier in the near future, marking the first time the iPhone was officially supported on a regional carrier's network.
Another notable feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri
Siri (software)
Siri is an intelligent software assistant and knowledge navigator functioning as a personal assistant application for iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services...
voice assistant technology, which Apple had acquired in 2010, as well as other features, including an updated 8 megapixel camera with new optics. Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4S phones in the first three days after its release, which made it not only the best iPhone launch in Apple's history, but the most-successful launch of any mobile phone ever.
Apple TV
At the 2007 Macworld conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV), a set-top video device intended to bridge the sale of content from iTunes with high-definition televisions. The device links up to a user's TV and syncs, either via Wi-Fi or a wired network, with one computer's iTunes library and streams from an additional four. The Apple TV originally incorporated a 40 GB hard drive for storage, includes outputs for HDMIHDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
and component video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
, and plays video at a maximum resolution of 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
. On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV. In September 2009, Apple discontinued the original 40 GB Apple TV and now continues to produce and sell the 160 GB Apple TV. On September 1, 2010, alongside the release of the new line of iPod devices for the year, Apple released a completely redesigned Apple TV. The new device is 1/4 the size, runs quieter, and replaces the need for a hard drive with media streaming from any iTunes library on the network along with 8 GB of flash memory
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
to cache
Cache
In computer engineering, a cache is a component that transparently stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster. The data that is stored within a cache might be values that have been computed earlier or duplicates of original values that are stored elsewhere...
media downloaded. Apple with the Apple TV has added another device to its portfolio that runs on its A4 processor along with the iPad and the iPhone. The memory included in the device is the half of the iPhone 4
IPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling , consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games, and for general web and e-mail...
at 256 MB; the same as the iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, iPhone 3GS
IPhone 3GS
-Camera:The iPhone 3GS features an improved 3 megapixel camera manufactured by OmniVision. In addition to the higher megapixel count, it also features auto-focus, auto white balance and auto macro and is capable of capturing VGA video...
, iPod touch
IPod touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
3G, and iPod touch
IPod touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
4G. It has HDMI out as the only video out source. Features include access to the iTunes Store to rent movies and TV shows (purchasing has been discontinued), streaming from internet video sources, including YouTube and Netflix, and media streaming from an iTunes library. Apple also reduced the price of the device to $99.
Software
Apple develops its own operating systemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
to run on Macs, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, the latest version being Mac OS X Lion
Mac OS X Lion
Mac OS X Lion is the eighth and current major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers....
(version 10.7). Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its Mac OS X operating system. Much of the software Apple develops is bundled with its computers. An example of this is the consumer-oriented iLife software package that bundles iDVD
IDVD
iDVD is a DVD creation software application made by Apple Inc. for Mac OS X. iDVD allows the user to add QuickTime Movies, MP3 music, and digital photos to a DVD that can then be played on a commercial DVD player. It is often considered the last step of Apple's iLife suite, bringing together all...
, iMovie
IMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
, iPhoto
IPhoto
iPhoto is a digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. and released with every Macintosh personal computer as part of the iLife suite of digital life management applications...
, iTunes, GarageBand
GarageBand
GarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package on Mac OS X.-Audio recording:...
, and iWeb
IWeb
iWeb was a template-based website creation tool developed by Apple Inc. The first version of iWeb was announced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 10, 2006 as part of the iLife '06 suite of digital lifestyle applications...
. For presentation, page layout and word processing, iWork
IWork
iWork is an office suite of desktop applications created by Apple for the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. The first version of iWork, iWork '05, was released in 2005. The suite originally bundled Keynote, a presentation program which had previously been sold as a standalone application, and...
is available, which includes Keynote
Keynote (software)
Keynote is a presentation software application developed as a part of the iWork productivity suite by Apple Inc. Keynote 5 was announced on January 6, 2009, and is the most recent version for the Macintosh. It adds new themes, transitions and animations, and the ability to control the slideshow...
, Pages
Pages
Pages is a word processor and page layout application developed by Apple. It is part of the iWork productivity suite and runs on the Mac OS X & iOS operating systems. The first version of Pages was announced on January 11, 2005, and was released one month later. The most recent Macintosh version,...
, and Numbers
Numbers (software)
Numbers is a spreadsheet application developed by Apple Inc. as part of the iWork productivity suite alongside Keynote and Pages. Numbers 1.0 was announced on August 7, 2007 and thus it is the newest application in the iWork Suite. Numbers runs on Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" or newer...
. iTunes, QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
media player, Safari
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
web browser, and Software Update
Software Update
Software Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9. A Windows version has been available since the introduction of iTunes 7, under the name Apple Software Update....
are available as free downloads for both Mac OS X and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
Apple also offers a range of professional software titles. Their range of server software includes the operating system Mac OS X Server
Mac OS X Server
Mac OS X Server is a Unix server operating system from Apple Inc. The server edition of Mac OS X is architecturally identical to its desktop counterpart, except that it includes work group management and administration software tools...
; Apple Remote Desktop
Apple Remote Desktop
Apple Remote Desktop is a Macintosh application produced by Apple Inc., first released on March 14, 2002, that replaced a similar product called Apple Network Assistant...
, a remote systems management application; WebObjects
WebObjects
WebObjects was a Java web application server from Apple Inc., and a web application framework that ran on the server. It was available at no additional cost. Its hallmark features were its object-orientation, database connectivity, and prototyping tools...
, Java EE
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition or Java EE is widely used platform for server programming in the Java programming language. The Java platform differs from the Java Standard Edition Platform in that it adds libraries which provide functionality to deploy fault-tolerant, distributed, multi-tier...
Web application server
Application server
An application server is a software framework that provides an environment in which applications can run, no matter what the applications are or what they do...
; and Xsan
Xsan
Xsan is Apple Inc.'s storage area network or clustered file system for Mac OS X. Xsan enables multiple Mac desktop and Xserve systems to access shared block storage over a Fibre Channel network. With the Xsan file system installed, these computers can read and write to the same storage volume at...
, a Storage Area Network
Storage area network
A storage area network is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices...
file system. For the professional creative market, there is Aperture for professional RAW
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
-format photo processing; Final Cut Studio
Final Cut Studio
Final Cut Studio is a professional video and audio production suite for Mac OS X from Apple Inc., and a direct competitor to Avid Media Composer in the high-end movie production industry...
, a video production suite; Logic
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002...
, a comprehensive music toolkit and Shake
Shake (software)
Shake is a discontinued image compositing package used in the post-production industry. Shake was widely used in visual effects and digital compositing for film, HD and commercials. Shake exposes its node graph architecture graphically. It enables complex image processing sequences to be designed...
, an advanced effects composition program.
Apple also offers online services with MobileMe
MobileMe
MobileMe was a subscription-based collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. Originally launched on January 5, 2000, as iTools, a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9, Apple relaunched it as .Mac on July 17, 2002, when it became a paid subscription...
(formerly .Mac) that bundles personal web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
s, email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, Groups, iDisk
IDisk
iDisk is a file hosting service offered by Apple to all MobileMe members that enables them to store their digital photos, movies and personal files online so they can be accessed remotely. With a standard subscription, MobileMe users receive a 20 GB iDisk.iDisk integrates with Mac OS X,...
, backup, iSync
ISync
iSync is a software application published by Apple Inc. It runs only under Mac OS X and is used to synchronize contact and calendar data from Address Book and iCal with many non-Apple SyncML-enabled mobile phones via a Bluetooth or USB connection. Support for many devices is built-in, with newer...
, and Learning Center online tutorials. MobileMe is a subscription-based internet suite that capitalizes on the ability to store personal data on an online server and thereby keep all web-connected devices in sync. Announced at MacWorld Expo 2009, iWork.com
IWork.com
iWork.com is an online service by Apple complementing the iWork suite of office productivity software. It was released as a public beta on January 6, 2009 at the Macworld Conference & Expo. The iWork.com service provides a web interface for viewing, downloading, and commenting uploaded documents...
allows iWork users to upload documents for sharing and collaboration.
Corporate
Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s that bucked the traditional notions of what a corporate culture should look like in organizational hierarchy (flat versus tall, casual versus formal attire, etc.). Other highly successful firms with similar cultural aspects from the same period include Southwest AirlinesSouthwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. Originally, the company stood in opposition to staid competitors like IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
by default, thanks to the influence of its founders; Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple was a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company. By the time of the "1984" TV ad
1984 (television commercial)
"1984" is an American television commercial which introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer for the first time. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day, Venice, produced by New York production company Fairbanks Films, and directed by Ridley Scott. Anya Major...
, this trait had become a key way the company attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors.
As the company has grown and been led by a series of chief executives, each with his own idea of what Apple should be, some of its original character has arguably been lost, but Apple still has a reputation for fostering individuality and excellence that reliably draws talented people into its employ, especially after Jobs' return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple Fellows program, awarding individuals who made extraordinary technical or leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple Fellowship has so far been awarded to a few individuals including Bill Atkinson
Bill Atkinson
Bill Atkinson is an American computer engineer and photographer. Atkinson worked at Apple Computer from 1978 to 1990. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, where Apple Macintosh developer Jef Raskin was one of his professors...
, Steve Capps
Steve Capps
Steve Capps is a computer programmer and engineer who is best known for his work on the Apple Inc. Macintosh computer and Newton OS during the 1980s and 1990s. He started working at the Xerox Corporation while still a computer science student at the Rochester Institute of Technology...
, Rod Holt, Alan Kay
Alan Kay
Alan Curtis Kay is an American computer scientist, known for his early pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface design, and for coining the phrase, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."He is the president of the Viewpoints Research...
, Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, bestselling author, and Apple Fellow. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. He is currently a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, and has been involved in the rumor reporting...
, Al Alcorn
Al Alcorn
Allan Alcorn is an American pioneering engineer and computer scientist. He grew up in San Francisco, California, and attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences in 1971.- Atari and Pong :He worked for...
, Don Norman, Rich Page
Rich Page
Richard Page was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer in the 1980s, and he later joined Steve Jobs at NeXT. In 1992 Rich Page left Next and within weeks after his resignation, several VP at Next left too....
, and Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
.
Numerous employees of Apple have cited that projects without Jobs' involvement often take longer than projects with his involvement. Another presents the image of Jobs "wandering the hall with a flame thrower in hand, asking random people 'do you work on MobileMe
MobileMe
MobileMe was a subscription-based collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. Originally launched on January 5, 2000, as iTools, a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9, Apple relaunched it as .Mac on July 17, 2002, when it became a paid subscription...
?'".
At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson who was Senior Vice President of Retail Operations until November 1, 2011, was responsible for site selection, in-store service, and store layout, yet he had no control the inventory in his stores (which is done company wide by then-COO and now CEO Tim Cook
Tim Cook
Timothy D. "Tim" Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple Inc., having joined the company in March 1998. He was named the CEO of Apple after Steve Jobs announced his resignation on August 24, 2011.- Early life :...
who has a background in supply-chain management). This is the opposite of General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's corporate culture which has created well-rounded managers.
Under the leadership of Tim Cook
Tim Cook
Timothy D. "Tim" Cook is the chief executive officer of Apple Inc., having joined the company in March 1998. He was named the CEO of Apple after Steve Jobs announced his resignation on August 24, 2011.- Early life :...
who joined the company in 1998 and ascended to his present position as CEO, Apple has developed an extremely efficient and effective supply chain which has been ranked as the world's best for the past four years (2007-2010). The company's manufacturing, procurement and logistics enables it to execute massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories; Apple's profit margins have been 40 percent compared with 10-20 percent for most other hardware companies in 2011. Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational edge is “Nobody wants to buy sour milk”.
Users
While this brand loyalty is considered unusual for any product, Apple appears not to have gone out of its way to create it. At one time, Apple evangelistApple evangelist
An Apple evangelist, also known as Mac evangelist, Mac advocate or Apple fanboy is a promoter of Apple products such as the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. As a group, the followers are called the Cult of Mac....
s were actively engaged by the company, but this was after the phenomenon was already firmly established. Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, bestselling author, and Apple Fellow. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. He is currently a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, and has been involved in the rumor reporting...
has called the brand fanaticism "something that was stumbled upon". Apple has, however, supported the continuing existence of a network of Mac User Groups
Macintosh User Group
A Macintosh User Group is a group of people who use Macintosh computers made by Apple Inc. or other manufacturers and who use the Apple Macintosh operating system . These groups are primarily locally situated and meet regularly to discuss Macintosh computers, the Mac OS, software and peripherals...
in most major and many minor centers of population where Mac computers are available.
Mac users would meet at the European Apple Expo
Apple Expo
The Apple Expo is a European annual sales conference and technology exposition held by Apple Inc. The conference features over 250 exhibitors annually, with Apple being its main exhibitor...
and the San Francisco Macworld Conference & Expo
Macworld Conference & Expo
Produced by Boston-based IDG World Expo, Macworld | iWorld is a trade-show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple Macintosh platform. It is held annually in the United States, usually during the second week of January...
trade shows where Apple traditionally introduced new products each year to the industry and public until Apple pulled out of both events. While the conferences continue, Apple does not have official representation there. Mac developers, in turn, continue to gather at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference
Worldwide Developers Conference
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions...
.
Apple Store openings can draw crowds of thousands, with some waiting in line as much as a day before the opening or flying in from other countries for the event. The New York City Fifth Avenue "Cube" store had a line as long as half a mile; a few Mac fans took the opportunity of the setting to propose marriage. The Ginza
Ginza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
opening in Tokyo was estimated in the thousands with a line exceeding eight city blocks.
John Sculley told The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper in 1997: "People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company. It was the marketing company of the decade."
Research in 2002 by NetRatings
Nielsen Online
Nielsen Online, a service of the Nielsen Company, provides measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumer behavior. Previously a majority investor in both companies, Nielsen purchased NetRatings and BuzzMetrics in the...
indicate that the average Apple consumer was usually more affluent and better educated than other PC company consumers. The research indicated that this correlation could stem from the fact that on average Apple Inc. products are more expensive than other PC products.
Corporate affairs
During the Mac's early history Apple generally refused to adopt prevailing industry standards for hardware, instead creating their own. This trend was largely reversed in the late 1990s beginning with Apple's adoption of the PCIPeripheral Component Interconnect
Conventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
bus in the 7500
Power Macintosh 7500
The Power Macintosh 7500 was one of the first PCI capable Macs manufactured by Apple Computer. It was released alongside the Power Macintosh 7200, and the Power Macintosh 8500 in October 1995. The 7500 had a PowerPC 601 processor rated at 100 MHz that was replaceable via a daughtercard...
/8500
Power Macintosh 8500
The Power Macintosh 8500 was a high-end Macintosh personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1995 until 1997. Billed as a high-end graphics computer, the Power Macintosh 8500 was also the first Macintosh to ship with a replaceable daughtercard...
/9500
Power Macintosh 9500
The Power Macintosh 9500 was a high-end Macintosh personal computer which was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from May 1995 until early 1997. It was powered by a PowerPC 604 processor, a second-generation PowerPC chip which was faster than the earlier PowerPC 601 chip...
Power Macs
Power Macintosh
Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, was a line of Apple Macintosh workstation-class personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors that were developed, marketed, and supported by Apple Inc. from March 1994 until August 2006. The first models were the Power Macintosh 6100,...
. Apple has since adopted USB, AGP, HyperTransport
HyperTransport
HyperTransport , formerly known as Lightning Data Transport , is a technology for interconnection of computer processors. It is a bidirectional serial/parallel high-bandwidth, low-latency point-to-point link that was introduced on April 2, 2001...
, Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
, and other industry standards in its computers and was in some cases a leader in the adoption of standards such as USB. FireWire is an Apple-originated standard that has seen widespread industry adoption after it was standardized as IEEE 1394.
Ever since the first Apple Store opened, Apple has sold third party accessories. This allows, for instance, Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
and Canon to sell their Mac-compatible digital cameras and camcorders inside the store. Adobe, one of Apple's oldest software partners, also sells its Mac-compatible software, as does Microsoft, who sells Microsoft Office for the Mac. Books from John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
, who publishes the For Dummies series of instructional books, are a notable exception, however. The publisher's line of books were banned from Apple Stores in 2005 because Steve Jobs disagreed with their decision to publish an unauthorized Jobs biography, iCon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
.
Headquarters
Apple Inc.'s world corporate headquarters are located in the middle of Silicon ValleySilicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
, at 1-6 Infinite Loop
Infinite Loop (street)
Infinite Loop is a street encircling the six main buildings of Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. Each building has a number which corresponds to its single-digit address on the Loop, and so Apple's official mailing address is "1 Infinite Loop". The numbers increment in the clockwise...
, Cupertino
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
, California. This Apple campus has six buildings that total 850000 ft2 and was built in 1993 by Sobrato Development Cos.
Future plans
In 2006, Apple announced its intention to build a second campus on 50 acres (202,343 m²) assembled from various contiguous plots (east of N Wolfe Road between Pruneridge Avenue and Vallco Parkway). Later aquisitions increased this to 175 acres. The new campus, also in Cupertino, will be about 1 miles (1.6 km) east of the current campus. The new campus building will be designed by Norman FosterNorman Foster
Norman Foster or Norm Foster may refer to:* Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank , English architect and designer* Norman Foster * Norman Foster , U.S...
.
On June 7, 2011, Steve Jobs gave a presentation to Cupertino City Council, detailing the architectural design of the new building and its environs. The new campus is planned to house up to 13,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building (with a café for 3,000 sitting people integrated) surrounded by extensive landscape (with parking mainly underground and the rest centralized in a parking structure). There will be additional buildings such as an auditorium, R&D facilities, a fitness center and a dedicated generating plant as primary source of electricity (powered by natural gas and other more environmentally sound means).
Advertising
Since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 with the 1984 Super Bowl commercial1984 (television commercial)
"1984" is an American television commercial which introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer for the first time. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day, Venice, produced by New York production company Fairbanks Films, and directed by Ridley Scott. Anya Major...
to the more modern 'Get a Mac
Get a Mac
The Get a Mac campaign is a television advertising campaign created for Apple Inc. by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the company's advertising agency, that ran from 2006 to 2009...
' adverts, Apple has been recognized in the past for its efforts towards effective advertising and marketing for its products, though its advertising has been criticized for the claims of some more recent campaigns, particularly 2005 Power Mac ads and iPhone ads in Britain.
Name
According to Steve Jobs, Apple was so named because Jobs was coming back from an apple farm, and he was on a fruitarian diet. He thought the name was "fun, spirited and not intimidating".Logos
- See also: U+F8FFU+F8FFUnicode code point U+F8FF or is the last code point in the Private Use Area in BMP. Its meaning and appearance vary depending on the font in use, but its usage in several fonts makes it the most notable code point in the private use area....
or , seen as the Apple logo in some fonts.
Apple's first logo, designed by Ron Wayne, depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree.
Almost immediately, though, this was replaced by Rob Janoff
Rob Janoff
Rob Janoff is a graphic designer of corporate logos and identities, printed advertisements and television commercials. He is known for his creation of the Apple logo....
's "rainbow Apple", the now-familiar rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. Janoff presented Jobs with several different monochromatic themes for the "bitten" logo, and Jobs immediately took a liking to it. While Jobs liked the logo, he insisted it be in color to humanize the company. The Apple logo was designed with a bite so that it wouldn't be recognized as another fruit. The colored stripes were conceived to make the logo more accessible, and to represent the fact the Apple II could generate graphics in color.
This logo is often erroneously referred to as a tribute to Alan Turing
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
, with the bite mark a reference to his method of suicide. Both the designer of the logo and the company deny that there is any homage to Turing in the design of the logo.
In 1998, with the roll-out of the new iMac, Apple discontinued the rainbow theme and began to use monochromatic themes, nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation, on various products, packaging and advertising. An Aqua
Aqua (user interface)
Aqua is the GUI and primary visual theme of Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system. It is based around the theme of water, as its name suggests, with droplet-like elements and liberal use of translucency and reflection effects...
-themed version of the monochrome logo was used from 2001–2003, and a Glass-themed version has been used since 2003.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
fans, but Apple Inc. had trademark issues with Apple Corps Ltd.
Apple Corps
Apple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...
, a multimedia company started by The Beatles in 1967, involving their name and logo. This resulted in a series of lawsuits and tension between the two companies. These issues ended with their most recent law suit in 2007.
Slogans
Apple's first slogan, "ByteByte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s. From 1997–2002, Apple used the slogan "Think Different
Think Different
"Think Different" is an advertising slogan created for Apple Computer in 1997 by the Los Angeles office of advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day.It was used in a television commercial, several print advertisements and a number of TV promos for Apple products. Apple's use of the slogan was discontinued...
" in advertising campaigns. Although the slogan has been retired, it is still closely associated with Apple. Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac" was used in 1998 to promote the iMac, and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements. "Hello" was also used to introduce the original Macintosh, Newton
Newton (platform)
The Newton platform was an early personal digital assistant and the first tablet platform developed by Apple, the second platform being iOS, used in the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Development of the Newton platform started in 1987 and officially ended on February 27, 1998. Some electronic...
, iMac ("hello (again)"), and iPod.
Commercials
Apple's product commercials gained fame for launching musicians into stardom as a result of their eye-popping graphics and catchy tunes. First, the company popularized Canadian singer Feist's "12341234 (song)
"1234" is a song from Feist's third studio album, The Reminder. It is Feist's most successful single to date. The song was co-written by Sally Seltmann, an Australian singer-songwriter who also recorded under the name New Buffalo, and Feist...
" song in its ad campaign. Later, Apple used the song "New Soul
New Soul
"New Soul" is a song by the French-Israeli indie folk singer Yael Naïm, from her eponymous album. The song has gained popularity in the U.S. following its use by Apple in an advertisement for their MacBook Air laptop. In the song Naïm sings of being a new soul who has come into the world to learn...
" by French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naïm
Yael Naim
Yael Naïm , is a French-Israeli singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 2008 in the US after her hit single "New Soul" was used by Apple in an advertising campaign for its MacBook Air. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.-Biography:Yael Naïm was born in Paris, France to Tunisian Jewish...
to promote the MacBook Air
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air family is a line of Apple ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers.The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, previously promoted as the World's Thinnest Notebook, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. It featured a custom Intel Merom CPU...
. The debut single shot to the top of the charts and sold hundreds of thousands of copies in a span of weeks.
Environmental record
GreenpeaceGreenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
has campaigned against Apple on various environmental issues, including a global end-of-life take-back plan, non-recyclable hardware components and toxins within iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
hardware. Since 2003 Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple's chemical policies, in particular the inclusion of PVC
Polyvinyl chloride
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
and BFRs in their products. On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
released a report announcing plans to eliminate PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008. Apple has since eliminated PVC and BFRs across its product range, becoming the first laptop maker to do so.
In November 2011 Apple featured in Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
's Guide to Greener Electronics that ranks electronics manufacturers on sustainability, climate and energy and how green their products are. The company ranked 4th out of 15 electronics companies (moving up five places from the previous year) with a score of 4.6/10 down from 4.9. Greenpeace praises Apple's sustainability, noting that the company exceeded its 70% global recycling goal in 2010. It continues to score well on the products rating with all Apple products now being free of PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants. However, the guide criticizes Apple on the Energy criteria for not seeking external verification of its greenhouse gas emissions data and for not setting out any targets to reduce emissions.
In the first edition, released in August 2006, Apple scored 2.7/10.
In 2010, Climate Counts
Climate Counts
- Climate Counts :Climate Counts, spearheaded by Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg, is a non-profit campaign that scores companies annually on the basis of their voluntary action to reverse climate change...
, a nonprofit organization dedicated to directing consumers toward the greenest companies, gave Apple a score of 52 points out of a possible 100, which puts Apple in their top category "Striding". This was an increase from May 2008, when Climate Counts only gave Apple 11 points out of 100, which placed the company last among electronics companies, at which time Climate Counts also labeled Apple with a "stuck icon", adding that Apple at the time was "a choice to avoid for the climate conscious consumer".
The Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
rates Apple highest amongst producers of notebook computers, and fairly well compared to producers of desktop computers and LCD displays.
In June 2007, Apple upgraded the MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
, replacing cold cathode
Cold cathode
A cold cathode is a cathode used within nixie tubes, gas discharge lamps, discharge tubes, and some types of vacuum tube which is not electrically heated by the circuit to which it is connected...
fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
-free LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
backlit LCD displays and arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
-free glass, and has since done this for all notebooks. Apple has also phased out BFRs and PVCs from various internal components. Apple offers information about the emissions, materials, and electrical usage of each product.
In June 2009, Apple's iPhone 3GS was free of PVC, arsenic, BFRs and had an efficient power adapter.
In October 2009, Apple upgraded the iMac and MacBook, replacing the cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury-free LED backlit LCD displays and arsenic-free glass. This means all Apple computers have mercury free LED backlit displays, arsenic-free glass and are without PVC cables. All Apple computers also have EPEAT Gold status.
In october 2011 chinese authorities have ordered
an Apple supplier to close part of its
plant in Suzhou after residents living
nearby raised significant
environmental concerns.<
Labor practices
In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported that sweatshopSweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
conditions existed in some factories in China, where the contract manufacturers, Foxconn
Foxconn
The Foxconn Technology Group is a multinational business group anchored by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. , a Taiwan-registered corporation headquartered in Tucheng, Taiwan...
and Inventec
Inventec
Inventec Corporation is a Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturer making notebook computers, servers and mobile devices. Originally established in 1975 to develop and manufacture electronic calculators, the company has since grown significantly to become one of the world's top computer...
, operate the factories that produce the iPod. The article stated that one complex of factories that assembles the iPod (among other items), for instance, had over 200,000 workers that lived and worked in the factory, with employees regularly working more than 60 hours per week. The article also reported that workers made around $100 per month and were required to live on the premises and pay for rent and food from the company, which generally amounted to a little over half of workers' earnings.
Immediately after the allegations, Apple launched an investigation and worked with their manufacturers to ensure that conditions were acceptable to Apple. In 2007, Apple started yearly audits of all its suppliers regarding worker's rights, slowly raising standards and pruning suppliers that did not comply. Yearly progress reports have been published since 2008. In 2010, workers in China planned to sue iPhone contractors over poisoning by a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that he and his coworkers had not been informed of possible occupational illnesses. After a spate of suicides in a Foxconn facility in China making iPads and iPhones, workers were forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they would not kill themselves. In 2011 Apple admitted that its suppliers' child labor practices in China had worsened.
See also
- Apple CampusApple CampusThe Apple Campus is the headquarters of Apple Inc., a consumer electronics and PC corporation, located in Cupertino, California. The facility is referred to as a campus because its design resembles the campus of a university, with the buildings arranged around green spaces...
- Music used by Apple Inc.Music used by Apple Inc.This is a list of songs used by Apple Inc. in commercials, keynote addresses, presentations, and other marketing materials....
- PixarPixarPixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...