It may be hard to believe, but the Mac turned 40 on Wednesday. Feeling old?
The Mac, formerly known as the Macintosh, stands as Apple’s longest-running product line. Sure, over the years, the iPod, followed by the iPhone and iPad have stolen the Mac’s spotlight among consumers. But the real tech heads know that the Mac is the backbone of the company, holding all of Apple’s most popular products together as one synchronized ecosystem.
The first Macintosh
The first Apple computer, the Apple Macintosh, was released on Jan. 24, 1984. The first desktop computer with pretty much everything built-in was a success for the company. And that’s even with a price point of $2,495 — or the rough equivalent of $7,000 today.
With its one-button mouse, monitor and carrying handle built-in to the computer’s body, the Apple Macintosh is likely best known in 2024 for a very specific reason: It’s iconic 1984 Super Bowl ad directed by Ridley Scott.
Today’s Macs
From the Apple Macintosh to the days of the PowerMac (and its sibling line of PowerBook laptops) to today’s Macs and MacBooks powered by Apple’s very own Silicone chipset, Apple computers have evolved greatly over the past 40 years.
In the early days, Macs targeted business people. Then Apple’s computers had a resurgence amid creative workers like graphic designers and filmmakers. Now, Macs are pretty much for anyone as Apple multiple different Mac models for a wide variety of consumers.
There’s the more affordable MacBook Air and Mac mini options. And then there’s a range of MacBook Pros and iMacs for everyday consumers and prosumers. Then, there’s the professional product lines, such as the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, for power users.
And what better way for the Mac to enter year 40 than by being powered by the company’s very own chipset, its most powerful yet, the M3 series.
Readers, if you’re interested in checking out an archive full of commercials for pretty much every Mac that Apple has ever created, a website has been created marking the milestone anniversary: Mac40th.com.
Here’s to another 40, Mac. And hopefully not too severe of a mid-life crisis.
