Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple in a garage in the 1970s.
Today, the maker of MacBooks, iPhones, and AirPods is valued at nearly $4 trillion
Apple is one of the world’s most iconic brands. In the 1980s, the company, which initially operated out of a garage, helped revolutionize the personal computer industry with its Macintosh lineup. In the 2000s, it took advantage of the digital revolution with the introduction of the iPod music player. In the same decade, the world was made portable with the iPhone, a mobile phone that took photos, sent emails and text messages, and calculated the costs of goods, among other tasks.
Apple became synonymous with style and remains so for those who don’t want a phone powered by Alphabet’s Android operating system.
Here’s a brief history of Apple, followed by a timeline of key events in the company’s history.
We’ve divided Apple’s history into five general phases based on changes in company leadership.
Steve Jobs, lower right, speaks in front of a file photograph of himself and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak during the company’s early days.Photo by Bloomberg on Getty Images
Steve Jobs was the visionary founder, while Steve Wozniak was the technical genius who built the foundation for the company’s hardware and software development. Initially, the two college dropouts built computers in Jobs’ parents’ garage with the goal of making personal computers smaller and more user-friendly.
They established Apple Computer in 1976, starting with Apple I board kits that lacked a keyboard and monitor. Soon, those would be added on, and their Apple II version became popular with households that didn’t want an IBM PC in the early 1980s.
While Wozniak was limited in his ability to think beyond the hardware and software aspects of the PC, Jobs envisioned a computer that would be more user-friendly, and he borrowed Xerox’s use of a mouse and graphical user interface to develop the Macintosh, which incorporated a monitor and a central processing unit into a single casing.
Unlike other PCs that users had to interact with via a command line, the Macintosh’s software applications could be run with the click of a mouse, separate from the keyboard. By the end of the 1980s, Macintoshes would be in hundreds of thousands of homes and schools across the country.
The Macintosh was Apple’s most successful product line during the 1980s and 1990s, but executives were unable to replicate that success in the post-Steve Jobs era.Photo by AAA-pictures on Getty Images
While Jobs demanded perfection and tended to micromanage projects, Apple’s board was averse to Jobs’ seeming lack of management expertise, and he was soon cast to the wayside in 1985 to make room for John Sculley, a seasoned executive from PepsiCo, who lacked knowledge of the computer market but knew what consumers wanted.
Eventually, mismanagement, too many product lines, and the licensing of Apple’s OS to other PC makers were issues of concern for investors, and the declining stock price reflected this. The company failed to replicate the success of its Macintosh computer line with other products.
In 1997, Jobs returned to Apple, which was then on the brink of bankruptcy after years of poor management and failure to seize growth opportunities with new products. He convinced Bill Gates to invest in the company, and in August, Microsoft acquired a reported 18.1 million shares in Apple—a stake of around 5% or 7%—valued at $150 million through a private placement. The move helped stave off bankruptcy and boosted investor confidence that Apple remained a viable company. Had Microsoft held onto those shares instead of selling in 2003 after the collapse of the dot-com bubble, the stake—adjusted for stock splits—would be valued at about $531 billion as of late 2025.
In 1998, Jobs unveiled a new line of Macintosh computers, including one that housed a monitor and CPU in a single casing—a throwback to its 1985 introduction.
Jobs capitalized on the digital revolution brought on by the internet. In 2001, he revamped the PowerBook lineup with the release of a sleek, titanium casing in January—a prelude to the popular MacBook line. In November, Apple released the iPod, a portable MP3 player, and it became an instant hit.
Initially, to download music and transfer songs to the iPod, users would need to buy Apple’s computers. Mobile-first soon became a catchphrase among companies, with Apple leading the way in the age of portable digital devices. A slew of shiny machines and TV advertisements promoting them captivated consumers and made Apple synonymous with coolness.
While Jobs wasn’t shy about launching a new product, he didn’t hesitate to pull the plug. One of his key decisions was to let Jony Ive take creative control of Apple’s product designs to attract customers.
In the 2000s, Apple set the pace on how tech companies could capitalize on changing consumer trends. The iPhone may just be Jobs’ crowning achievement—packing the functionality of calling, texting, taking photos, and sending email into a smartphone. Fans took to the iPad soon after, and other trendy products would follow.
Apple CEO Tim Cook shows off the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch in 2014. The Apple Watch was the company’s first new product under Cook, who later led Apple to become the first trillion-dollar company by market value.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Jobs died from pancreatic cancer in 2011, and he picked Tim Cook, the company’s chief operating officer, to succeed him as CEO. One of Jobs’ parting wishes for Cook and the rest of the company’s leadership was not to question what he would do after he passed away, but rather to think on their own about what’s right.
Apple took off during Cook’s tenure. New products, including the Watch and AirPods, were released, and Cook led the company to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company by market value.
Cook helped to expand Apple’s manufacturing strategy into China, and the company focused on scaling production there. Hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads, and computers would be made in China. This shift toward Chinese production drew criticism from President Trump, who urged Apple to bring its manufacturing to the U.S.
In 2025, Apple, feeling this pressure, committed to investing $600 billion over the next four years as part of an initiative to manufacture some of its products domestically. The “American Manufacturing Program” would partner with thousands of suppliers in the 50 states, supporting over 450,000 supplier and partner jobs. In the next four years, Apple plans to hire 20,000 people in the U.S. with a focus on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning.
Here is a timeline of key events in Apple’s almost 50-year history.
1976: Apple Computer is founded on April 1. In July, the Apple I, a pre-assembled circuit board, is released and sells for a retail price of $666.66.
1977: The Apple II, a unit that now houses a circuit board, keyboard, and power supply, is released. A later unit includes Visicalc, a spreadsheet program, and it becomes popular with business owners. Two years later, an updated version, the Apple Plus, is sold, and in 1983, another improved version, the Apple IIe is released, and millions of units are sold.
1980: Apple has its initial public offering and trades for the first time on the Nasdaq Stock Market in December. Its IPO is reportedly the largest since Ford went public in 1956. A $10,000 investment in Apple on the first day of trading would be valued at $19 million in late 2025.
1984: Apple releases Macintosh, a revolutionary PC that housed a monitor and processing unit and featured a mouse and graphical user interface. The Mac firmly cements Apple as a leader in the PC market, forcing Microsoft to follow suit with its own graphical interface, known as Windows, in 1985.
1985: Wozniak, citing differences of opinion regarding Apple’s direction, steps down from the company in February and sells almost all of his 7% stake along the way. Within months of “the Woz” leaving, Jobs is removed as CEO by the board of directors, and John Sculley, the PepsiCo CEO whom Jobs recruited to succeed him, takes over.
Related: History of Nvidia: Company timeline and facts
1987: Apple makes its first dividend payment. The company also conducts its first stock split, turning every existing share into two shares, each worth half the price.
1989: Apple releases its mobile PC, the Macintosh Portable. Two years later, it would release the PowerBook, its popular laptop lineup.
1993: Apple rides on the coattails of Jobs’ success with the introduction of the Macintosh and its many versions, but fails to innovate. Newer products—including the Newton MessagePad, a touchscreen notepad that was ahead of its time—fail to catch on with consumers. Sculley is forced out amid declining profits and lost market share to Microsoft, its biggest competitor in the operating system realm. He is replaced by Michael Spindler, former president of Apple Europe.
1995: Apple licenses its Mac OS and Macintosh ROM to PC makers, straying from Apple’s direct control of its hardware and software, in a desperate attempt to raise cash and curb further loss of market share. Dividend payments are halted as the company’s cash pile dwindles.
1996: Spindler fails to stem declining profitability and a falling stock price, and he is replaced by board member Gilbert Amelio, the CEO of National Semiconductor, a chipmaker. To improve its OS, Amelio led a $400 million buyout of Jobs’ computer company, NeXT.
1997: Jobs orchestrates his return to Apple, takes a token $1 salary, and replaces Amelio in July. After a 12-year absence, he makes bold moves to bring Apple from the brink of bankruptcy, including halting licensing agreements for its OS.
In August, Microsoft buys a reported 18.1 million shares in Apple, valued at $150 million, via a private placement.
1998: Jobs starts to refresh its lineup of Macintosh computers with the colorful collection of desktop PCs, the iMac and the Power Macintosh G3, and its laptops, the iBook. Sales rise significantly.
1999: Investors’ confidence in Jobs’ leadership grows. Apple’s market capitalization reaches $10 billion, a sharp turnaround from $2 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by CompaniesMarketCap.com.
2000: As Apple’s shares continue to rise, the company undertakes a 2-for-1 stock split (and would again do the same in 2005).
2001: The PowerBook, featuring a sleek titanium casing, is released in January. To showcase its products and to make them easily accessible for purchase, Apple opens its first store. (In 2025, Apple will eventually have about 500 stores worldwide, of which almost half are based in the U.S.)
In November, Apple releases the iPod, a portable MP3 player, and it becomes an instant hit.
2007: Apple releases the iPhone, which would become the company’s biggest revenue generator, overtaking computer and iPod sales. Apple’s cash reserves reach $15.4 billion, and the company has no debt—in stark contrast to Apple’s dismal financial situation just a decade earlier.
2009: Apple’s market value exceeds $100 billion.
2010: The iPad is released, and it becomes another major success story for Apple.
2011: Jobs dies from pancreatic cancer, and Tim Cook, the chief operating officer, succeeds him as CEO.
2010: Apple buys Siri, a company that would later serve as its namesake digital assistant.
More on company timelines:
2012: Apple’s cashpile exceeds $100 billion, and it resumes paying a dividend, its first since 1995. The company begins buying back its stock, and it would later face calls from activist investors, including Carl Icahn, to repurchase more on the view that Apple was undervalued.
2014: At $645 a share, Apple decides to go for a 7-for-1 stock split. It’s a move that would make the company more attractive to small investors.
2015: The Apple Watch is the first major new product released under Cook’s tenure. The accessory becomes another significant source of revenue.
2016: AirPods are released and soon become a must-have accessory among Apple users. Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company led by famed investor Warren Buffett, makes its first purchase of Apple stock.
2018: Apple becomes the first trillion-dollar company, as its market capitalization exceeds $1 trillion. Mobile products, including the iPhone and iPad, lead revenue growth.
President Trump suggests Apple make more of its products in the U.S., as part of his America First platform.
2019: Apple releases the AirTag, an accessory that helps users locate attached items.
2020: Trading at around $500 a share, Apple conducts a 4-for-1 stock split.
2022: The popularity of ChatGPT leads to criticism of Apple being slow to integrate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its products and services.
2024: Apple reportedly abandons a plan, dubbed Project Titan, to develop an electric car.
2025: Apple commits to making an investment of $600 billion over the next four years to bring some of its manufacturing stateside under the “American Manufacturing Program.”
In late October 2025, Apple’s market capitalization nears $4 trillion, making it the third most valuable company after Nvidia and Microsoft.
