Apple released the first Mac computer 40 years ago

The Apple Mac can blow out forty candles on Wednesday. The consumer computer has its origins in the Macintosh, the all-in-one that was introduced on January 24, 1984. Since then, the lineup has expanded to include desktops without built-in screens and laptops.

That Macintosh was later given the suffix 128K and was the first consumer computer that cost relatively little and had a graphical interface. The introduction of the PC was accompanied by the now legendary advertisement below, which was inspired by the book 1984.

The PC had a monochrome 9″ screen with a resolution of 512×342 pixels, a Motorola MC68000 processor with a clock speed of 8MHz, 128KB memory and 3.5″ floppy drive. Apple later expanded that memory to 512KB, because 128KB turned out to be too little for many programs. The 128K went off sale in October 1984.

The all-in-one iMac we know today first appeared in 1998, more than 25 years ago. Over the years, the iMac has become flatter and has a larger screen. In addition, Apple has switched from PowerPC CPUs to Intel CPUs, to now make its own SoCs based on Arm architecture.

At the end of October, Apple announced the latest iMacs, the 24″ version with M3 chips. Previously there was a larger 27″ model, but it missed the transition to Apple Socs. Furthermore, the Mac line-up now consists of the Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro, three desktop PCs without screens. Apple has also been selling MacBook laptops for years, currently there are the Air and the Pro.

While Macs still account for billions in sales, they are far from Apple’s main source of revenue. In fact, services like TV+, Music and Arcade earned Apple $22.3 billion last quarter, compared to $7.6 billion from Macs. However, iPhones generate much more: $43.8 billion.