On January 24, two days after Ridley Scott‘s now legendary 1984 commercial went to air during Super Bowl XVIII, Steve Jobs stepped onto the stage at De Anza College in Cupertino CA, and pulled a beige box out of a canvas bag. As the lights dimmed and the opening notes to Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire filled the room, the excited audience got its first glimpse of the Macintosh (video embedded below).
Macs are known for the intuitive software that makes them great for non-geeks, and Apple has always been consistent in pioneering new technology, but the ability to bundle it all into one super sleek package has given Apple an edge over the rest. Today, as the Mac turned 25, we thought we’d take a look at how its changed over the years. Please enjoy
1984: Macintosh 128K $2495
Inspired by Lisa and originally called the Macintosh, it was renamed after a new version was released to differentiate it. This original Macintosh came with a keyboard, mouse and 3.5″ floppy drive.
1987: Macintosh II $3898
This first modular model (all previous models were all-in-one) came with a color video card and expansion slots.
1989: Macintosh Portable $6500
The Macintosh portable was Apple’s first attempt to make a battery-powered equivalent of the desktop Macintosh. Clunky now, in its day it was quite the prize.
1991: Quadra 700 $6000
The Quadra 700 was of the first Macs to use the Motorola 68040 processor and had built-in Ethernet networking capabilities.
1991: PowerBook 100 $2500
The PowerBook 100 was the low-end model of the first three simultaneously released PowerBooks and the first to really start resembling the notebooks of today.
1993: Macintosh Color Classic $1390
The Color Classic was the first color compact Mac and the last of the classic beige box Macs.
1998: iMac G3 $1299
The iMac G3 was the first model of the iMac line made by Apple Inc. and was an all-in-one computer originally released in a striking blue. With the return of Steve Jobs, Apple suddenly got sleeker.
1999: Power Macintosh G3 $1599
Power Mac was the first to use the PowerPC G3 (PPC750) microprocessor, replacing a number of earlier Power Macintosh models.
1999: iBook $1599
The ‘iMac to go’ was aimed at the consumer and education markets and was originally known to have a ‘clamshell’ design.
2001: PowerBook G4 $2599
Saying goodbye to the old plastic casing, the G4 had a sleek titanium body and black translucent keyboard.
2002: iMac G4 $1299
In yet another design update, the G4 replaced the bulky CRT screen with a flat panel.
2003: Power Mac G5 $1999
When it was introduced, Apple claimed the G5 was the fastest computer ever built. Today it is known as the Mac Pro, still sleek, still super fast.
2008: MacBook Air $1999
“Thinnovation” Apple calls it; the worlds thinnest notebook.
Steve Jobs Introduces the Mac
Video: thanks Dave Winer
Images thanks to Wikimedia Commons
