September 2, 1985: Reports claim Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is on the verge of setting up a new company to compete with Cupertino. The rumors fly after Jobs sells Apple stock holdings worth $21.43 million.
For anyone who thinks speculation about Apple’s future is an invention of the blog era, today’s edition of “Today in Apple history” is a reminder that the tech rumor mill was alive and well in 1985.
September 1, 2010: Apple’s new music-focused social network, Ping, ships as part of iTunes 10. Apple says the service will let users discover new music and more easily follow their favorite artists.
Ping racks up 1 million signups in the first 48 hours. Nevertheless, Apple’s social network is doomed from the start.
August 31, 2004: Apple launches the iMac G5, a distinctive, white plastic computer that looks a little like the world’s biggest iPod.
Housed in a 2-inch-thick enclosure reminiscent of Apple’s Cinema Displays, the new all-in-one machine bridges the gap between the pleasing plasticity of the iconic original iMac and the minimalist form factor of the ultra-slim aluminum Macs that will follow.
“Just like the iPod redefined portable digital music players, the new iMac G5 redefines what users expect from a consumer desktop,” says Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a press release. “With the entire system, including a gorgeous 17- or 20-inch display, just two inches thin, a lot of people will be wondering ‘where did the computer go?’”
August 30, 2010: Just two years after opening its virtual doors, the iOS App Store passes a key milestone: one-quarter of a million apps for sale.
It’s a massive demonstration of success for a service Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t even initially want to offer.
August 29, 2001: During a meeting, Apple’s board of directors awards CEO Steve Jobs new stock options that will become part of a stock-backdating scandal several years later.
When the matter eventually ends up in court, Apple’s former general counsel pays $2.2 million to settle charges that she backdated stock options for Jobs, herself and others — and created fake paperwork to hide this fact.
August 28, 1991: Astronauts send the first email from space using a Macintosh Portable and AppleLink software.
Sent by the crew of the Atlantis space shuttle, the message reads, “Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”
August 27, 1999: Apple Computer swaps out the striped, multicolored logo the company had used since 1977 for a new single-color version. The evolution of the iconic Apple logo from rainbow to monochrome shocks many longtime fans.
However, it is part of a sustained, company-wide overhaul led by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The makeover includes new products, the “Think Different” ad campaign and, eventually, the removal of the word “Computer” from the company’s name.
August 26, 1991: In their first joint interview, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates trade barbs and debate “the future of the PC” in Fortune magazine.
The spirited discussion marks 10 years since the first IBM PC shipped. The piece also looks at what the future holds for both men — described as the former “boy wonders of computing, now thirtysomething.”
August 25, 1995: Apple releases the PowerBook 5300, the Mac laptop that will save the world from alien invaders in the 1996 blockbuster movie Independence Day.
The computer will make many more big-screen appearances, too. See some of the laptop’s most high-profile Hollywood cameos below.
August 24, 2011: With his health worsening, a cancer-stricken Steve Jobs resigns from his role leading Apple. Tim Cook assumes the role of Apple’s seventh CEO.
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs writes in his retirement letter to the Apple board. “Unfortunately that day has come.”
August 23, 2011: United Airlines says it will hand out 11,000 iPads to its pilots as part of its “paperless flight deck” filled with essential data. It’s the largest rollout yet of Apple tablets as a replacement for the weighty flight bags previously carried by aircrews.
Going paperless saves around 16 million sheets of paper each year, the equivalent of 1,900 trees not cut down. Even better, the weight difference between the 1.5-pound iPad and the 40-pound flight bag saves 326,000 gallons of jet fuel per year!
August 22, 2001: Apple takes home a technical Emmy Award for developing FireWire, the high-speed serial port that allows users to transfer data quickly between a Macintosh and another device, such as a digital camera.
“Apple enabled the desktop video revolution with its invention of FireWire,” says Jon Rubinstein, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, in a press release about the Emmy win.
FireWire plays a key role in Apple CEO Steve Jobs‘ “digital hub” strategy for the company. However, the technology’s origins go back much further than that.
August 21, 2008: Microsoft recruits comedian Jerry Seinfeld for a series of ads. It’s a naked attempt to shake the company’s reputation as a stodgy oldster (as opposed to Apple’s trendsetting hipster image).
Microsoft pays Seinfeld a reported $10 million for the ads. However, thanks to the Mac’s appearance in virtually every episode of Seinfeld over the years, the comedian remains the world’s most famous Apple fanboy.
August 20, 2019: The Apple Card launch brings the titanium credit card to U.S. consumers for the first time. It gives them a new option for payments when Apple Pay isn’t available.
The iPhone’s Wallet app handles statements and payments. And the innovative card is “designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life,” according to Apple. Surveys show the card soon becomes beloved.
“We’re thrilled with the overwhelming interest in Apple Card and its positive reception,” says Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay, in a press release. “Customers have told us they love Apple Card’s simplicity and how it gives them a better view of their spending.”
August 19, 2004: Google floats its initial public offering on the stock market. The Google IPO cements the company’s status as a tech giant, as founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin turn into instant billionaires.
Relations between Google and Apple are good at the time, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs serving as a mentor to the search company’s two young founders. Google’s Eric Schmidt soon will join Apple’s board of directors. However, the peace won’t last long.
August 18, 2007: A video goes viral on YouTube when 23-year-old internet personality Justine Ezarik, aka iJustine, posts a 300-page iPhone bill mailed to her in a box by AT&T.
The bill — which lists every single action that consumed cellular data on Ezarik’s brand-new iPhone — is quickly viewed by 3 million people and receives extensive media coverage. (You can watch it below.)
August 17, 2012: Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ stolen iPad winds up in the hands of a clown called Kenny, who performs kids’ shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.
It’s a bizarre story all around, and fortunately winds up with the iPad being returned.
August 16, 1993: Apple ships the PowerBook 165, a lower-cost, grayscale version of the PowerBook 165c, which was the company’s first laptop to offer a color display.
The new model lacks the most attention-grabbing feature of the 165c, but it also brings its own claim to fame. The PowerBook 165 is Apple’s most affordable laptop yet.
August 15, 1998: The original iMac — Apple’s brightly colored, translucent Macintosh relaunch — goes on sale to a rabid audience. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs‘ first major new product since returning to Cupertino, 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 14, 1991: As Apple and Microsoft head to court to battle each other, the tide begins to turn against Cupertino and its claims that Windows unlawfully copies the look and feel of Mac OS. A judge’s ruling calls into question the basic tenet of Apple’s copyright lawsuit against Microsoft over Windows 2.03.
The case concerns whether key elements of Apple’s operating system are original enough for copyright protection. The decision turns out to be a major blow against Apple — and the start of the company’s 1990s decline.
August 13, 2002: Apple unveils the final face-lift for its Power Mac G4, the Mirrored Drive Doors model.
The distinctive-looking computer borrows visually from the previous QuickSilver G4, released a year earlier. However, it adds a different front panel, with a mirrorlike finish for the media drive doors. It’s the last visual redesign of Apple’s Power Mac G4.
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 Wall Street Journal. Things won’t stay positive for long, though.
August 11, 1987: The MultiFinder app brings the biggest software update to the Mac since the computer’s launch. Baked into Macintosh System Software 5, MultiFinder allows multitasking with two apps on screen for the first time.
While MultiFinder brings an undeniable boost to the Macintosh’s technical capabilities, it is built on a shaky foundation that soon begins to show its age.
August 10, 2008: The developer of I Am Rich, a pointless iPhone app that sold for a whopping $999.99, defends his notorious creation as “art.”
After Apple removed I Am Rich from the App Store in the wake of controversy over the app’s outrageous price and total lack of usefulness, its creator, German developer Armin Heinrich, says he made it as a sort of joke.
August 9, 2011: Apple overtakes oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
The milestone caps an astonishing turnaround for Cupertino. Just 15 years earlier, it looked like it was just about “game over” for Apple.
