Apple marks its 40th birthday today, officially entering middle age.
The tech giant was founded in 1976 out of a garage in Los Altos, California, and has since grown to become a market-leading multinational company with a current market value of 601.16 billion dollars.
Over the years it has been the source of many important technological innovations, especially in the mobile industry. Follow our photo series to see how Apple has evolved over the years.
Apple was one of the first companies to bring personal computing to the masses with the success of the Apple II launched in 1977. In 1984, the company introduced the Macintosh, the first personal computer to have a graphical user interface and mouse.
The iMac series launched with the gumdrop-shaped G3 in 1998. It was the first computer released after Steve Job’s return to the company in 1997, and its design became an iconic aspect of 90s pop culture.
Released in 2001 as a device that could put 1,000 songs in your pocket, the iPod made music more accessible and mobile than ever. By 2002 it had leapt to a storage capacity of 10,000 songs and kept growing.
The iPhone was announced in 2007, the first mobile phone with multi-touch display. The motto was the confident—and ultimately accurate—statement, “This is only the beginning.”
The first iPad was released early April 2010, and within a month sold a million devices. Apple has released a new version every year, most recently announcing the iPad Pro 9.7.
The most recent iPhone releases are the 6S and 6S Plus, which were launched in 2015. With advancements from previous versions including 3D touch the motto for this version is, “The only thing that’s changed is everything.”
The long-awaited Apple Watch launched April 2015 and shipped 4.2M device in that quarter, becoming the best-selling wearable at that time.
Apple’s come a long way from the garage days. The neo-futuristic Apple Campus II is expected to open its doors in 2017 and accommodate 12,000 staff, concluding the ambitious project announced by Jobs in 2006.
Related reading: Apple Pay will reportedly support mobile e-commerce websites later this year
[source]Apple[/source]
