October 20, 2009: Apple goes big with its iMac redesign, introducing the first 27-inch all-in-one Mac.
The sleek, sophisticated aluminum unibody design looks so good that the iMac will remain virtually unchanged for years. As with the first Macintosh with a built-in CD-ROM drive, the iMac’s 27-inch display represents a sea change for tech. The big, beautiful screen signals that larger displays need no longer remain the domain of pampered professionals.
October 19, 1992: Apple launches the Mac IIvx, the first Macintosh computer to ship with a metal case and, more importantly, an internal CD-ROM drive.
The last of the Macintosh II series, the Mac IIvx experiences one of the more notorious price adjustments in Apple history. Within five months of shipping, Apple slashes the computer’s launch price of $2,949 to $1,899. That’s one way to reward early adopters!
October 18, 2010: Just six months after the original iPad debuts, Steve Jobs reveals that Apple’s tablet already outsells the mighty Macintosh computer.
During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Jobs says Apple sold 4.19 million iPads during the previous three months, compared with 3.89 million Macs.
October 16, 2003: Six months after opening the iTunes Music Store for Mac owners, Apple expands the service to cover Windows PCs as well.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs later quips that making iTunes available to Windows owners is akin to “giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell.”
October 15, 1993: John Sculley, the former CEO responsible for forcing Steve Jobs out of Apple, is forced to leave the company himself.
When Sculley resigns as Apple’s chairman, he takes $1 million in severance pay, a one-year consulting fee of $750,000, a commitment from Apple to buy his $4 million mansion and $2 million Lear jet, and $2.4 million in stock options. Total take: around $10 million.
October 14, 2005: Tim Cook takes the reins as Apple’s chief operating officer, continuing an upward climb through the company’s ranks that will make him CEO less than six years later.
“Tim and I have worked together for over seven years now, and I am looking forward to working even more closely with him to help Apple reach some exciting goals during the coming years,” Steve Jobs says in a statement.
October 9, 1991: A court orders Apple to pay $26.5 million to Apple Corps, The Beatles’ record label and holding company, for trademark infringement. The end of this Beatles versus Apple lawsuit marks the second time Cupertino is forced to pay the English rock band.
The ruling comes a decade after Apple swore it would never get into the music business.
October 8, 2014: Apple says it is “surprised” after GT Advanced Technologies, the supplier previously rumored to make ultra-strong sapphire glass displays for the iPhone 6, says it will file for bankruptcy.
The announcement appears to mark the end of the road for sapphire glass iPhone screens, a highly anticipated upgrade that promised to make devices more durable but never arrived.
October 5, 2011: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies at the age of 56 in his home in Palo Alto, California.
Jobs’ official cause of death is respiratory arrest arising from complications related to a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer eight years earlier, and officially stepped down from his role as Apple CEO in August 2011, just weeks before his death.
October 3, 1994: Apple CEO Michael Spindler reassures the world that Apple “is not a lame-duck company.”
Why would anyone suspect that it is? The answer lies in collapsing Mac sales, massive layoffs and Apple’s $188 million quarterly loss. At 15 months into his stint as CEO, Spindler wants to reassure everyone that the worst is over.
Sadly, things will decline further before they start to turn around.
October 2, 1991: As the Cold War comes to an end, hell freezes over a second time as Apple and IBM agree to put aside their differences. Having been bitter rivals for the past decade, the two tech giants host a press conference at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco to unveil their new partnership.
“We want to be a major player in the computer industry,” Apple CEO John Sculley says. “The only way to do that is to work with another major player.”
October 1, 2011: Just days before Apple plans to unveil the iPhone 4s, the device’s name leaks after the latest iTunes beta inadvertently spills the beans on the new name.
The code also reveals that Apple’s new handset will come in black and white color options.
September 30, 2002: Apple introduces iSync, a tool that lets Mac users synchronize their address books and calendars with their cellphones, iPods and Palm OS-compatible handheld organizers via Bluetooth.
“iSync is the beginning of something really big,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs says in a press release announcing the iSync public beta. “With the push of a button, iSync synchronizes the address book and calendar on your Mac with those on your mobile phone.”
It represents a big leap forward in the ability of computers and mobile devices to talk with one another. And it hints at some of Apple’s later advances.
September 29, 2004: Apple debuts Logic Pro 7, its professional music creation and audio production software. The update brings new tools and a streamlined interface in line with other Apple software.
Coming off the success of the iPod and the iTunes Music Store, the Logic Pro 7 launch — alongside its stripped-down sibling, Logic Express 7 — serves as a reminder of Apple’s dominance in music tech, for consumers and professionals alike.
September 27, 1979: Years before the Macintosh will ship, Steve Jobs and Jef Raskin clash for the first time over the direction of the R&D project to produce Apple’s revolutionary computer. Raskin, the founder of the Macintosh project, wants to produce a machine that’s affordable for everyone. Apple co-founder Jobs wants a computer that’s going to be the best, regardless of price.
Guess who won?
September 21, 1999: A little startup called Google comes out of beta, with the launch of a website that will let the general public easily search the internet for information.
To Apple, which is embracing the internet with its twin iMac G3 and iBook products, Google seems like the perfect ally. Sadly, the relationship between the two companies won’t remain rosy for long.
September 16, 1985 and 1997: Twice on this day, Steve Jobs makes significant moves with regard to his career at Apple. In 1985, he leaves the company he co-founded. Then, a little more than a decade later, he officially returns to Apple as its new interim CEO.
In terms of the emotions associated with those historic occasions, it’s hard to think of two more polarizing days in Jobs’ life.
September 11, 2009: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly snatches an iPhone from an employee during a meeting and pretends to destroy it.
The iPhone freakout isn’t the first time Ballmer behaves in a wacky way and incurs negative publicity as a result. However, it’s an embarrassing moment for a man who ranks among the tech world’s most powerful people.
September 7, 2016: Apple unveils the very first AirPods during a special event in San Francisco. The blindingly white wireless earbuds look undeniably strange at first glance, with their long, slender stems and a charging case that looks like a dental floss container.
However, after their December release, AirPods will quickly become the most popular earbuds in the world.
August 20, 2019: Apple Card reaches U.S. consumers for the first time. The titanium credit card gives a new option for payments when Apple Pay isn’t available.
Statements and payments are handled through the iPhone Wallet app, and the card is “designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life,” according to Apple. Surveys show the card soon becomes beloved.
August 15, 1998: The original iMac — Apple’s brightly colored, translucent Macintosh relaunch — goes on sale to a rabid audience. Steve Jobs’ first major new product since returning to Apple, the internet-ready iMac G3 line will cement his legacy as a forward-thinking tech visionary.
The all-in-one computer also introduces the world to the design talents of Jony Ive — and pretty much saves Apple in the process.
Just another day at the office, eh?
August 12, 1981: The launch of the IBM Personal Computer ignites a long-running Apple-versus-PC rivalry.
Secure in the Apple II’s technical superiority over the new PC, Apple welcomes International Business Machines to the personal computing party in a full-page ad in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Things won’t stay positive for long. This era also saw the introduction of the 3.5 inch floppy disk, a key development in Apple’s hardware evolution.
August 2, 1993: Apple debuts the Newton MessagePad, the first product in its line of handheld personal digital assistants. While it will become the most unfairly maligned product in Apple history, the Newton is a revolutionary device.
It predates Apple’s push toward app-based mobile devices 14 years later. And, while often dismissed as a failure, the Newton ranks near the top of the list of Apple’s most influential creations.
July 22, 1997: Apple launches Mac OS 8, its next-gen operating system for Macintosh computers. The OS introduces a new three-dimensional look and makes surfing the internet easier than ever.
The first major operating system refresh for Macs since System 7’s release in 1991, it gets great reviews and is destined to become a big hit with users. However, it arrives at a very challenging time for Apple.
July 21, 1999: The iBook, Apple’s colorful clamshell laptop that’s a hybrid of the iMac and the PowerBook, arrives and launches a Wi-Fi revolution.
Apple’s new AirPort networking card is the key component that delivers cable-free internet access to the masses for the first time.