The Evolution of Apple: From Garage to Tech Giant

In 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple in a garage in Los Altos, California. Their first product was the Apple I, hand-built by Wozniak and sold as a motherboard.

Launched in 1977, the Apple II became one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputers. It featured color graphics, an open architecture, and a floppy disk drive, the Disk II.

Released in 1980, the Apple III aimed at business users. Plagued by design issues and a recall, it became a commercial failure, overshadowed by its successful predecessor and the emerging Macintosh.

Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984 with a groundbreaking Super Bowl commercial. It was the first successful computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse, setting the standard for future personal computers.

During the 1990s, Apple struggled with internal turmoil, product flops like the Newton MessagePad, and stiff competition from Microsoft's Windows. By 1997, Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, revitalizing the company with the iMac's launch in 1998. The iMac's innovative design and simplicity reestablished Apple's reputation as an industry leader.

With the 2001 introduction of the iPod, the 2007 release of the iPhone, and the 2010 unveiling of the iPad, Apple ushered in a new era of consumer electronics, becoming one of the world's most valuable companies.

Apple spent nothing on advertising for the first iPhone, relying solely on buzz and media coverage.