Macintosh Turns 35 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Macintosh Turns 35

Today marks the 35th anniversary of Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs unveiling the original Macintosh.

macintosh 1984
Jobs pulled the Macintosh out of a bag during Apple's annual shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984 at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, grinning from ear to ear as the crowd erupted in applause.


Macintosh's very first words:

Hello, I'm Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag.

Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I'd like to share with you a maxim I thought of the first time I met an IBM mainframe: NEVER TRUST A COMPUTER YOU CAN'T LIFT!

Obviously, I can talk, but right now I'd like to sit back and listen. So, it is with considerable pride that I introduce a man who's been like a father to me… STEVE JOBS.

Two days earlier, Apple teased the Macintosh's introduction with its iconic "1984" ad during Super Bowl XVIII on CBS:


And here's a lesser-known video of Jobs introducing the Macintosh to the Boston Computer Society on January 30, 1984:


The original Macintosh was priced at $2,495 in the United States, equivalent to just over $6,000 today, and was a big deal because of its graphical user interface rather than command-line interface. Tech specs included an 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor, 128 KB of RAM, and a 400 KB floppy disk drive.

Update: Apple CEO Tim Cook has tweeted in celebration of the Macintosh turning 35.

Popular Stories

Apple TV Thumb 3

Everything Coming in the 2026 Apple TV 4K

Wednesday July 8, 2026 4:51 pm PDT by
The Apple TV 4K hasn't been updated since 2022, and it's due for a refresh. An update is planned for 2026, but Apple is likely going to wait to launch it after Siri AI launches in iOS 27. Design Apple TV design updates don't happen often, and that's not changing. The next Apple TV is going to have the same squircle shape as the current model, and it'll continue to be made from a black...
iphone 16 teal

'Siri AI' Lawsuit Update: Apple to Pay Owners of These iPhone Models

Thursday July 9, 2026 7:08 am PDT by
In May, Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit over Siri AI's delayed launch, and eligible iPhone users could receive up to a $95 payout. This week, the California court overseeing the case held a hearing regarding preliminary approval of the settlement, but the judge has not yet issued a ruling. It will likely be at least a few more months before eligible...
iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Begins Selling a $419 iPhone

Monday July 6, 2026 6:29 am PDT by
Apple recently added the iPhone 16e to its refurbished store, with U.S. pricing starting as low as $419 for a model with 128GB of storage. Originally released in February 2025, the iPhone 16e is a lower-end device with a 6.1-inch OLED display, an A18 chip with 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence support, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, a 12-megapixel front camera, a USB-C port, an Action...

Top Rated Comments

otternonsense Avatar
97 months ago
It's Apple nowadays that needs a girl in jogging year to throw a hammer through the Infinite Loop cafeteria jumbotron.

Their entire product portfolio right now is the result of corporate groupthink and brazen nickel-and-diming.

Sad how they became everything they were standing against.

1984 was not like 1984 but 2019 is.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigBoy2018 Avatar
97 months ago
35 years. Just about enough time for maybe 5 iterations of the Mac Pro (at the current update pace)
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
daveedjackson Avatar
97 months ago
Wouldn’t it have been a huge marketing event to launch the new MacPro today. Instead, no news, no rumours. No buzz. No interest. Professionals have been jumping ship for several years now after the joke that is the current nMp, with its custom everything, not upgradable or expandable in the slightest. Told it’s the best at launch, then when you’ve prted with your hard money Apple politely say “oops, we designed ourselves into a thermal corner” yeah no kidding. And no one thought to look at this?

I’ve been riddled with problems since day one. I’m yet to have a display which doesn’t glitch. New GFXBench cards and still glitches. Took to store to be told “we don’t have 4K displays to test”. What’s the point.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
97 months ago
Lmaooo what are you even talking about?

Apple products have always been more expensive than the competition. Apple has always been first to get rid of a port/drive.

The current products are great. Of course there are annoyances, but to say everything they do sucks... Thats just dumb.
Nope. It's not (just) about price. There was a time you could justify the "Apple Tax". Products were pricy but great. Before they started pushing trashy anaemic laptops with awful keyboards and gimmicky emojibars that can't connect to anything out of the box, outdated desktop Macs with default spinning drives in 2019, pre-bent iPads, €1200 phones with no fast chargers and plugs/earpieces that aren't compatible with Macs etc. Apple products had quality, elegance and interoperability other vendors could only dream of.

Not THAT long ago it wasn’t a problem to pay 399 for iPods, 499 for iPhones, 1599 for iMacs and so on. The product lines were clear and each upgrade provided immediate utility and value. Right now they are complicated, annoying and overpriced. That's exactly what got Apple nearly killed in ‘90 before Steve came back.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
meaning-matters Avatar
97 months ago
My first job was repairing them.
Was amazed by Apple employee signatures embossed inside the cover.
Seeing quality and beauty, of course I fell in love with Apple.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
97 months ago
What a sad anniversary in 2019. I hope the 40th will be much happier. Apple needs a new blood, somebody who cares.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)