Apple Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Apple Music Playlist Highlighting Songs From Past Ads - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Apple Music Playlist Highlighting Songs From Past Ads

by

On April 1, Apple celebrated its 40th anniversary, marking four decades since Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne co-founded the company.

To mark the occasion, Apple shared a 40th anniversary video, flew a pirate flag at its Cupertino headquarters, held a beer bash, and launched an Apple Music playlist filled with songs that have been used in past Apple advertising spots.

applemusicplaylist
Apple's playlist includes 40 tracks from a wide range of genres, featuring artists and bands from The Rolling Stones to Adele to Coldplay. Songs from Apple ads highlighting a number of products are included, like Paul McCartney's Dance Tonight, used in a well-known iPod commercial, and Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color, used in a recent iPad Pro commercial.

Apple's "Apple 40" anniversary playlist is available to all Apple Music subscribers and can be accessed under the "New" section under Hot Playlists. It can also be accessed through this link.

Top Rated Comments

dampfnudel Avatar
136 months ago
I discovered some great music over the years thanks to Apple.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrgraff Avatar
136 months ago
This will always be my favorite Apple ad:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
136 months ago
Too bad I have not signed up for Apple Music. It was nice when they allowed the radio feature on the free side of the pay wall. Now Apple is pushing me to look to other Music services to discover new music.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
matrix07 Avatar
136 months ago
I discovered some great music over the years thanks to Apple.
I found lots of songs that I forgot for quite some time thanks to Apple Music. They brought back good memories..
[doublepost=1459933392][/doublepost]
I have too. Too bad Apple didn't include any of that great, creative, previously-undiscovered music in their playlist. They only included songs that were already popular. It was a nice try, it's just unfortunate that Apple didn't actually include their best ad songs here.

What about this song? A classic.
Exodus Honey by Honeycut
https://itun.es/us/EUJAk?i=174735019

And this. Not a classic, but good.
Chimes by Hudson Mohawke (from MacBook Air "Stickers" ad).
https://itun.es/us/p4nR1?i=900521565

1:18 by Lemaitre from "Designed Together" ad for iPhone 5c below.
https://itun.es/us/CpAND?i=496870699



While I'm on the music topic, I'll just post the great songs for the first three Apple Watch ads (hard-to-find music).
From "Us"
https://itun.es/us/KrN17
From "Up"
https://itun.es/us/MNM17
From "Rise"
https://itun.es/us/k6M17

Here are two great songs from Apple Watch videos/reveals, one of which is most likely made by Apple and cannot be found elsewhere.

Motifs II - EP by 20syl ("Choose Colorfully")
https://itun.es/us/QYge7


Below, I have the Apple Watch Reveal Video then a 2 hour loop of the music.

Thanks. I added all the songs to my "Apple 40 (2)" playlist. Here.
Apple 40 (2) ('https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/apple-40-2/idpl.bfcf85a282d44e7aa39e37566c5aebf9')

You can add this playlist to play after the official Apple one.

BTW, I just found out that now you can add songs to your playlists but not My Music, which is great. Looks like Apple keep improving the app frequently. I like that.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cwolk Avatar
136 months ago
I discovered some great music over the years thanks to Apple.
I have too. Too bad Apple didn't include any of that great, creative, previously-undiscovered music in their playlist. They only included songs that were already popular. It was a nice try, it's just unfortunate that Apple didn't actually include their best ad songs here.

What about this song? A classic.
Exodus Honey by Honeycut
https://itun.es/us/EUJAk?i=174735019

And this. Not a classic, but good.
Chimes by Hudson Mohawke (from MacBook Air "Stickers" ad).
https://itun.es/us/p4nR1?i=900521565

1:18 by Lemaitre from "Designed Together" ad for iPhone 5c below.
https://itun.es/us/CpAND?i=496870699



While I'm on the music topic, I'll just post the great songs for the first three Apple Watch ads (hard-to-find music).
From "Us"
https://itun.es/us/KrN17
From "Up"
https://itun.es/us/MNM17
From "Rise"
https://itun.es/us/k6M17

Here are two great songs from Apple Watch videos/reveals, one of which is most likely made by Apple and cannot be found elsewhere.

Motifs II - EP by 20syl ("Choose Colorfully")
https://itun.es/us/QYge7


Below, I have the Apple Watch Reveal Video then a 2 hour loop of the music.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darkknight14 Avatar
136 months ago
Been listening to this for a few days, brings back some memories of the iMac and iPod!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....