Steve Jobs Unveiled 1st Apple Mac Nearly Four Decades Ago — Would You Still Find It Cool?

Former Apple Inc. AAPL CEO Steve Jobs created history 39 years ago on this day when he launched the first-ever Macintosh at $2,495 — a steal at the time. 

What Happened: The Macintosh project was started by Jef Raskin in the late 1970s. On Jan. 24, 1984, Apple unveiled the first-ever Mac during its annual shareholder’s meeting in California. 

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The original Macintosh came with 64KB of ROM, 128KB of RAM, built-in Lisa Technology and weighed 16.5 lbs. 

Two Macintosh application programs — word processing and graphics — were at the center of this technological marvel’s advertising campaign. The company at the time said Macintosh users would get these programs at no cost for the first 100 days.

The tech giant also emphasized the technology behind its “mouse,” which the company called “a small pointing device — to select among functions listed in menus and represented by pictorial symbols on the screen. 

Why It’s Important: Although the Macintosh price tag was expensive for many customers, Apple sold 70,000 units by May 1984, according to MacRumors. In fact, it isn't an exaggeration to say that its introduction played a significant role in making Apple a household name. 

The original Macintosh was the starting point for Apple’s Mac ecosystem domination as the current lineup that includes MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Mini and Mac Pro are fairly popular among modern-day users. 

According to Statista, as of 2022, Apple holds 9.8% of the worldwide personal computer market share, with Lenovo, HP and Dell ahead of it. 

The 1984 Macintosh was discontinued in less than a year. 

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