Year
Apple
Other
Steve Wozniak works for Hewlett-Packard
Steve Jobs works for Atari.
04.01: Apple Computer incorporates.
Apple I introduced for $666.66.
Shugart introduces 5.25" floppy.
BYTE magazine begins.
Micro-soft is one year old.
Apple moves out of Steve Jobs' garage.
Apple II introduced with 4 KB RAM in April for $1,298.
Apple logo designed.
TRS-80 introduced by Tandy.
Commodore PET introduced.
CP/M marketed by Digital Research.
Apple moves into new corporate headquarters.
Apple introduces 5.25" floppy drive.
Apple licenses BASIC from Microsoft.
Microsoft SoftCard lets Apple II use CP/M.
Intel releases 16-bit 8086 CPU.
Apple II Plus introduced with 48 KB RAM for $1,195.
Apple targets education market
May: Apple III introduced at $3,495.
Apple goes public with 4.6 million shares, largest offering
since Ford Motor in 1956.
Apple has over 1,000 employees.
One million personal computers in
US
Novell announces networking software.
First Apple layoff affects 40 employees.
Apple introduces ProFile, 5 MB hard drive for Apple
III.
Over 300,000 Apple II
users.
Apple has over 2,500 employees.
IBM PC introduced on
August 12 with 4.77 MHz 8088 CPU and 16 KB RAM. (Floppy drive and video
card optional.)MS-DOS introduced.
Osborne
introduces first portable computer.
Apple stops flow of illegal clones.
AppleCare introduced.
Intel introduces 80286 CPU.
Time magazine calls 1982 "The Year of the Computer."
01.19: Lisa introduced
with 5 MHz 68000 CPU, 860k 5.25" floppy, 12" b&w screen,
detached keyboard, and mouse for $9,995.
Jan.: Apple IIe introduced .
April: John Sculley becomes
Apple's president and CEO.
Apple enters Fortune 500 at #411.
One-millionth Apple II
produced.
Dec.: Apple III+ introduced at $2,995.
Ten million personal computers in
US
Lotus 1-2-3 introduced, quickly displaces VisiCalc as
spreadsheet of choice.
Microsoft Word introduced.
01.22: Legendary 1984 ad
appears during Super Bowl.
01.24: Macintosh
128K introduced at $2,495 with 128 KB RAM, 400 KB
floppy, built in monitor. (See cover of February 1984 Byte.)
01.24: Macintosh
System 1.0
Jan.: Lisa 2
introduced with 400k 3.5" floppy and 10 MB optional hard drive.
April: Apple IIc introduced at $1,295.
May: Macintosh System 1.1 introduces fonts and Font Mover.
Apple introduces 300 bps and 1200 bps modems.
09.10: Mac 512K
'Fat Mac' introduced at $3,195.
2,000,000 Apple IIs in
existence.
More in Macintosh History:
1984
3.5" floppy drives introduced.
IBM PC/AT uses 6 MHz 80286 CPU, 256 KB RAM, HD 1.2 MB
floppy, 16-bit bus. $4,000. Compare with features and price of Mac 128K
and 512K to the left.
Jan.: Lisa 2 w/10 MB hard drive renamed Macintosh XL. All other
Lisa models discontinued.
Feb.: Steve Wozniak leaves
Apple .
March: LaserWriter
introduced at $6,999.
April: Macintosh System 2.0 introduces New Folder command
and viewing by small icon or as a list.
June: 1,200 employees dropped in reorganization.
Sept.: Steve Jobs leaves Apple
and eventually starts NeXT .
500,000 Macs in use.
More in Macintosh History:
1985
Microsoft ships Windows.
Intel introduces 80386 CPU.
Aldus
PageMaker ships.
01.16: Mac Plus
introduced at $2,599, first Mac with SCSI.
01.16: Macintosh System 3.0 introduces disk cache and HFS,
which allows nested folders.
01.16: LaserWriter Plus
introduced at $6,798.
Feb.: Macintosh System 3.1 is buggy.
04.14: Mac 512Ke
introduced at $1,999.
June: Macintosh System 3.2 fixes bugs in 3.1.
Sept.: Apple IIGS introduced at $999, fastest Apple II at
2.8 MHz, introduced Mac-like GUI.
Japanese and Arabic versions of Mac OS introduced.
More in Macintosh History:
1986
Steve Jobs founds NeXT .
SCSI standard accepted by ANSI.
Compaq ships first 80386-based PC.
Microsoft goes public.
Jan.: Macintosh System 3.3 prepares Mac OS for networking
and AppleShare.
03.02: Mac SE
introduced at $2,898 with two 800 KB floppy drives.
03.02: Mac II , first
68020-based Mac , introduced at $3,898 (1 MB RAM, 800 KB floppy) and
$5,498 (w/40 MB internal hard drive).
03.02: Macintosh System 4.0 has improved Chooser and
Control Panel.
03.17: One-millionth Mac produced.
AppleShare file server software introduced.
April: Macintosh System 4.1 supports Mac II, requires 1 MB
RAM to function.
April: Apple creates an "independent" software company known
as Claris.
Aug.: HyperCard introduced.
Oct.: Macintosh System 4.2, a.k.a. System Software 5.0,
introduces background printing, DA Handler, and MultiFinder.
Nov.: Macintosh System Software 5.1 updates HD SC setup and
LaserWriter drivers.
More in Macintosh History:
1987
IBM and Microsoft release OS/2 .
August 11. Microsoft ships Windows 1.01.
First fax boards for PCs.
Sun introduces first RISC CPU.
30,000,000 MS-DOS users.
January. Microsoft ships Windows 2.03.
Morris
Internet Worm infects 6,000 computers on Internet.October. First NeXT released, the NeXT Cube .
01.19: Mac SE/30
introduced at $4,369, first 68030-based all-in-one Mac.
03.07: Mac IIcx
introduced at $5,369.
March: Two-page and portrait b&w monitors and video cards
introduced in March.
April: 32-bit QuickDraw introduced.
09.20: Mac IIci ,
first 32-bit clean Mac, introduced.
09.20: Mac Portable
(9/89-10/91), first portable Mac, introduced.
More in Macintosh History:
1989
Fifty-four million personal computers
in US
Intel ships 80486 CPU.
September 18. NeXT introduces NeXTstep OS.
May. Microsoft ships Windows 3.0.
First PCs with 80486 CPU ship.
Microsoft ships Windows 3.1.
NeXT releases NeXTstep 3.0 and NeXTstep 486.
Motorola introduces PowerPC CPU.
March. Intel introduces Pentium CPU (with undetected math
bug).
Over 25,000,000 licensed Windows users.
NeXT releases NeXTstep for Intel.
The
02.02: LC 550 and
575 introduced.
Feb.: Quadra 610 DOS
compatible introduced.
03.14: Power Macintosh line introduced with 6100/60 , 7100/66 , and 8100/80 .
April: Workgroup Server 6150, 8150, and 9150 introduced
(based on 6100, 8100, and 9100, respectively).
05.16: Duo 280 and
Duo 280c replace Duo
270.
05.16: PowerBook 520 ,
520c ,
540 , and 540c replace 165 and
180.
05.30: PowerBook 550c (dates
unknown)
June: System 7.5 introduced.
07.18: Quadra 630
introduced.
07.18: PowerBook 150
replaces 145b.
Sept.: Performa 6100
line introduced, first Power PC Performa.
Sept.: Apple announces intent to support
Macintosh clones, licensed to Radius and Power Computing.
11.03: Power
Macintosh 8100/110 introduced.
More in Macintosh History:
1994
Flaw discovered in Intel's Pentium CPU, resulting in huge
recall.
World Wide Web enters our language.
Microsoft introduces Windows 95.
November. Intel introduces Pentium Pro CPU.
Last 680X0-based Mac discontinued.
04.22: Power Mac 7600
replaces 7500, moves to PowerPC 604 CPU.
05.01: DayStar Genesis MP
300 introduced, first Mac OS computer with dual CPUs.
May: Umax joins the Mac clone market.
Aug.: Apple kills Copland project.
Sept.: Motorola joins the Mac clone market.
10.01: PowerBook 1400
introduced.
Oct.: Apple releases System 7.5.5.
10.30: DayStar Genesis MP
528 introduced, first Mac OS computer with four CPUs.
11.07: Power Mac 4400
is Apple's answer to the Mac clones.
Dec.: Apple agrees to acquire NeXT ; Steve Jobs returns to Apple.
More in Macintosh History:
1996
BeOS port to
Intel underway, first available March 1998.56k modems take the industry by storm.
Cable modems and WebTV introduced.
May. Intel ships Pentium II CPU.
June. Intel ships Pentium MMX CPU.
01.19: Mac OS 8.1 introduced.
02.27: Apple discontinues Newton development.
03.17: Beige Power Mac
G3 reaches 300 MHz.
05.04: Apple announces PowerBook G3 Series .
05.06: Steve Jobs announces the iMac , which won't ship
until mid-August, and creates a media feeding frenzy.
05.29: Umax , the last Mac OS
licensee, pulls out of the Mac clone market.
08.15: iMac officially available,
largest model rollout in the industry.
08.31: Apple discontinues support for all 68000- and
68020-based Macs, as well as most 86030-based models.
August to November: iMac top selling US computer,
sells 800,000 units during 1998
Apple has first year with four profitable quarters since
1985.
10.17: Mac OS 8.5 ships, first Mac OS release with no
680x0 support.
10.17: iMac Rev. B replaces first
iMac design.
More in Macintosh History:
1998
April. Intel introduces Celeron CPU.
June. Windows 98 ships.
June. Intel introduces Pentium II Xeon CPU.
The
01.04: iMac
266 introduced.
01.04: Power
Mac G3 (a.k.a. Blue & White G3, Yosemite) introduced at 300,
350, and 400 MHz.
01.24: The Macintosh is 15 years old.
March: Mac OS X Server ships
04.14: iMac
333 ships.
04.14: Mac OS 8.6 ships.
05.10: PowerBook G3
(a.k.a. Lombard, Bronze Keyboard) ships at 333 and 400 MHz.
June: Power Mac G3 reaches 450 MHz.
07.21: iBook announced with
September release.
08.31: 'Yikes' Power
Mac G4/400 available, 450 MHz 'Sawtooth' model
follows in September.
Late September: iBook reaches dealers.
10.13: Apple scales base G4 back to 350 MHz with no
price drop. G4/500 projected for first quarter 2000.
12.01: Apple replaces 'Yikes' G4/350 with model using
'Sawtooth' motherboard.
dd>More in Macintosh History:
1999
Intel introduces Pentium III CPU.
AMD roars past Intel with Athlon CPU, which reaches 800 MHz
by year-end.
AMD roars past Intel with Athlon CPU, which reaches 1
GHz
Intel catches up with 1 GHz Pentium III CPU
Microsoft releases Window Me (Millennium Edition)
01.09 Power
Mac G4 moves to 133 MHz system bus, PowerPC 7410 and 7450
processors, reaches 733 MHz
01.09 PowerBook
G4 announced Jan. 9 at Macworld Expo.
02.22 iMac available in 400 , 500 , and 600 MHz versions;
fastest models use PowerPC 750Cx
03.24 Mac OS X 10.0 ships
05.01 iBook
completely redesigned, reaches 500 MHz, prices start at $1,299.
07.18 'Quicksilver' Power Mac G4
available with 733, 867, and dual 800 MHz CPUs.
07.18 iMac
pushes to 700 MHz, CD-RW standard on all models.
09.25 Mac OS X 10.1 released, noted for improved speed,
reintroduction of some old Mac features
10.16 iBook
pushed to 600 MHz
10.16 TiBook rolled out at 550 MHz and 667 MHz
12.17 Apple makes Combo Drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) standard on
TiBook
More in Macintosh History:
2001
Pentium 4 pushes speed threshold to 2 GHz, but performance
doesn't measure up to clock speed (P4 less efficient per clock cycle
than PIII).
Athlon XP outperforms Pentium 4 at lower clock speed,
becomes serious choice among PC power users.
Windows laptops reach 1 GHz mark.
First Itanium servers ship in July. Intel's bold new CPU
runs at 733 MHz and 800 MHz.
Everyone laughs at Microsoft's push for "secure
computing."
Pentium 4 reaches 3.06 GHz
First Itanium 2 hardware ships in September, runs at 900 MHz
or 1 GHz.
01.07 12"
PowerBook G4 and 17"
PowerBook G4 announced.
01.07 AirPort Extreme announced at nearly 5x speed of
AirPort
01.07 Beta of Safari browser released, quickly becomes #2
browser among Mac users.
01.28 Power
Mac G4 reaches 1.42 GHz with dual CPUs, adds FireWire 800 and
AirPort Extreme support, only runs OS X.
02.04 17" iMac reaches 1
GHz, adds AirPort Extreme support
02.14 Mac OS X 10.2.4 released.
01.25 Slammer
worm infects Microsoft SQL server, rated as fastest spreading worm
to date - despite fact that Microsoft released a security patch six
months earlier.
02.06 Dell drops the 3.5" floppy drive as a standard
feature, but users can still order them as an option.
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