MacBook Doesn't Matter To Apple? Here's Why You're Wrong

Apple Inc. AAPL is hosting a MacBook event later in the day at its California campus, amid a huge amount of buzz — quite customary of any Apple event.

Speculation is rife that the Cupertino, California-based company may refresh its MacBook Pro lineup and unveil a new 13-inch MacBook or the new MacBook Air or even a new iMac, its desktop computers.

Mac, one of Apple's breakthrough products, accounted for roughly 20 percent of its total revenues for the recently reported fiscal year's fourth quarter. This product, just as with any other, had a humble beginning. A walk through its evolution shows how far it has come from.

A Look Back

Launched in 1984 as Macintosh 128k, with a Motorola 68000 CPU and 128 kb RAM, it was priced at $2,495. Apple took the world by storm with its iconic "1984" ad aired at that year's Super Bowl in the run up to the launch.

Later in September of that year, the RAM was upgraded to 512 KB capacity and consequently nicknamed the "Far Mac." The price was hiked to $2,795.

In January 1986, with the capacity upgraded to 1 MB RAM, Apple released the Macintosh Plus, with SCSI port allowing users to plug in external devices. The product was priced at $2,599.

Apple released the Macintosh II in 1987, which was the first Mac to support color display. Then in 1989, Apple came out with its battery-operated Macintosh Portable, priced at $7,300. The market perceived the product as unwieldy and pricey.

The year 1991 was a watershed moment for the MacBook, as Apple released improvised versions of its portable model, named the PowerBook 100, 140 and 170. The company reaped in financial benefits of the innovation, as these ringed in revenues in excess of $1 billion in the first year following their introduction.

Apple unveiled a new iteration of Mac in mid-1998, with 233-700 MHz PowerPC. In July 2000, the company launched the $1,799 Power Mac G4 Cube and followed up with the PowerBook G4s in 2001, boasting a titanium body, modern design, long battery life and processing power.

Following was the iMac G4, nicknamed iLamp, with adjustable floating LCD monitor.

A radical evolution emerged in 2005 when Apple shipped its first Mac, named Mac Mini, without a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

MacBook, the best-selling Mac, made its way into market in 2006, followed by the MacBook Air in 2008. Although Apple wasn't first-time lucky with the product, subsequent iterations made it a hit product in 2010.

Apple came out with its new ultra-thin iMac in 2012, and in 2015, Apple revealed its MacBook (Retina).

The Street waits with bated breath to see more innovation from this iconic company. Along with our readers, we are keyed in, too.