The Apple I launched in 1976 as the first computer you could actually buy and take home

The Apple I came out in April 1976. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the first one in a garage in Los Altos, California, and sold it to the Byte Shop, a computer store in Mountain View. The price was $666.66. It was a circuit board—just the processor, memory, and connections—not a complete machine with a case, keyboard, or monitor. You had to supply those yourself or build them.

This matters because before the Apple I, computers were either massive machines that filled rooms and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, or they were kits for hobbyists who knew how to solder and program. The Apple I was the first one priced low enough and straightforward enough that a regular person could own one. That shift changed what computers became.

Key Takeaways

  • The Apple I shipped in April 1976 for $666.66 and was the first computer sold as a complete (if bare-bones) product rather than a kit or industrial machine.
  • The Apple II, released in April 1977, was the first computer to come in a plastic case with a keyboard and power supply included, making it the first truly consumer-ready computer.
  • The Macintosh, released in January 1984, introduced the graphical user interface to a mass audience and changed how people interacted with computers.
  • Each machine represented a step toward making computers simpler and more accessible to people without technical training.

The Apple II made computers something you could actually use without an engineering degree

The Apple II came out in April 1977, exactly one year after the Apple I. This was the machine that mattered for ordinary people. It arrived in a beige plastic case, with a keyboard attached, a power supply built in, and color graphics. You plugged it in and it worked. You didn't have to assemble anything or wire up a separate monitor.

The Apple II cost $1,298 when it launched. That was expensive—equivalent to roughly $6,500 in today's money—but it was affordable enough that small businesses, schools, and serious hobbyists could buy one. It had 4 kilobytes of memory standard, expandable to 64 kilobytes. The processor ran at 1 megahertz. Those numbers mean almost nothing now, but at the time they were enough to run word processors, spreadsheets, and games.

The Apple II became the best-selling computer of the 1980s. Schools bought them. Offices bought them. It stayed in production, with updates and improvements, until 1993. That longevity is why so many people's first experience with a computer was an Apple II.

The Macintosh in 1984 brought the graphical interface to people who weren't programmers

The Macintosh launched on January 24, 1984. It was the first computer Apple sold with a graphical user interface—a screen full of icons and windows instead of text commands you had to type and memorize. You moved a mouse, clicked on pictures, and things happened. That sounds ordinary now because every computer works that way, but in 1984 it was revolutionary.

The original Macintosh had a 9-inch black-and-white screen, 128 kilobytes of RAM, and a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive. It cost $2,495. It was slower and less powerful than the IBM PC, which had launched two years earlier, but it was far easier to use. You didn't need a manual to figure out the basics. The interface did the explaining for you.

The Macintosh didn't dominate the market when ready. IBM and its clones were cheaper and more powerful. But the Macintosh proved that computers could be designed for people, not just for technicians. That idea spread. By the 1990s, every computer maker was copying the graphical interface Apple had shown them.

Why these dates matter: each one marked a shift in who could use a computer

The Apple I in 1976 proved you could sell a computer to someone who wasn't a corporation or a university. The Apple II in 1977 proved you could sell one to someone who wasn't an engineer. The Macintosh in 1984 proved you could sell one to someone who couldn't type commands or read a manual.

Each step removed a barrier. Each step made computers reach more people. That pattern—making things simpler, cheaper, and more forgiving—became Apple's strategy for decades. It's why the company matters in computing history even though it never had the biggest market share.

Other important Apple computers and when they arrived

After the Macintosh, Apple released the Macintosh II in 1987, which added color and more power. The PowerBook arrived in 1991 and essentially invented the modern laptop design—trackpad below the keyboard, palm rests on either side. The iBook came out in 1999 and made laptops colorful and affordable. The MacBook Air launched in 2008 and showed that a laptop could be thin and light without being weak.

Each of these machines had its moment. But the three that changed computing itself were the Apple I, the Apple II, and the Macintosh. Everything else was refinement.

What made Apple's early computers different from what IBM and others were doing

IBM released the IBM PC in August 1981. It was more powerful than the Apple II and cheaper to upgrade. It ran DOS, a text-based operating system. IBM licensed the design to other manufacturers, so clones appeared quickly. By the mid-1980s, IBM-compatible computers dominated offices and businesses.

Apple took a different path. It kept tight control over the hardware and software. It invested in making computers beautiful and straightforward. It marketed to individuals and schools, not just businesses. That strategy meant smaller market share but stronger loyalty. People who used Macs often stayed loyal to them for life.

The IBM approach won the numbers game. The Apple approach won the design game. Both approaches still exist. Windows computers outnumber Macs by a wide margin, but the Mac's influence on how computers look and feel is everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was the Apple I really the first personal computer?

No. The Altair 8800 came out in 1975, a year before the Apple I, and the Commodore PET and TRS-80 both launched in 1977, the same year as the Apple II. But the Apple I was the first one sold as a finished product rather than a kit, and the Apple II was the first one that came ready to use out of the box with a case and keyboard included.

How much would an original Apple II cost in today's money?

The original Apple II cost $1,298 in 1977. Adjusted for inflation, that's roughly $6,500 in 2024 dollars. However, that comparison doesn't account for how much more powerful modern computers are, so the real cost difference is much larger than the dollar amount suggests.

Can you still buy an original Apple II or Macintosh?

You can buy used ones from collectors and online marketplaces, but they are decades old and parts are hard to find. Repair shops that work on vintage computers exist, but they are specialized and expensive. If you want to experience what these machines were like, emulators—software that simulates the old hardware—are free and run on modern computers.

Why did Apple switch from the Macintosh to the MacBook?

Apple didn't switch; it added. The Macintosh was the desktop computer line. The MacBook is the laptop line. Apple still makes desktop Macs, now called the Mac Studio and Mac mini. The MacBook became more popular because laptops became more popular, but both product lines still exist.